The Crimea – Portland Arms, Cambridge – 2nd November The Crimea are no strangers to playing live, having recently supported the likes of Ash, Keane, Travis and The Bravery on tour, to name but a few. The Crimea even carry a pristine new record deal with the mighty Warner Bros, and are well set to make their mark as newcomers today.
 | | The Crimea |
The night started with a solid splash of The Strokes influenced, garage rock from The Heights, who supported the event. But soon enough, The Crimea made a striking entrance, with front man Davey Macmanus performing from within the small crowd that assembled around him. With moves reminiscent of the late Jim Morrison of The Doors, the vocals were delivered with passion and sincerity. The group gave an onslaught of experimental, alternative soft rock that explored a variety of mindsets and emotions. With poetry and abstract music combined, the Crimea have developed a variety of sounds for their exciting performance. Interestingly, it was not always obvious where a song was heading. But the music did not lack direction at all. Instead, it would just continue seamlessly, often without the predictable structure of verses and a chorus. This kind of composition is very refreshing, especially considering that each instrument part still spoke out from amongst the rest. Also, the feel of the performance undulated along the way, with moods of anguish intertwined with moods of self belief. Some song sections even came out of the blue, such as launches from tuneful melodies into syncopated jives. Such transitions in the music were handled very well indeed, and the beautiful flow was always kept up. Admittedly, this playful approach provides a sense of uncertainty to the music at times, but I don’t think classic rockers would be dissatisfied, as the energy was always emphatic, believable and moving. Certain songs, such as the highly acclaimed “Lottery Winners on Acid” have much ‘sing along’ potential. Yet sometimes the music becomes quite haunting in places. Surely these two characteristics can’t match up? It’s clear that The Crimea have a willingness to explore both themselves, and many more frontiers of music. Are they actually from Russia? No, but regardless, I believe they’re on a journey to the stars, and their music could easily take you on a long journey too. |
