Tribes, Plug

Since the success of their debut album 'Baby', Camden's Tribes have gone from strength to strength. They've had sell-out tours, played huge festivals both at home and abroad, and frontman Johnny Lloyd has even penned his first novel, 'A Journey Through The Heart Of A Pig'. The band are currently on tour ahead of their sophomore release 'Wish To Scream' on May 20th, and I caught them at Sheffield's Plug, just less than a year since I'd first seen them play The Leadmill in May 2012.

The crowd is warmed up by Sheffield favourites Blue Lip Feel; a local band who regularly do the rounds of the city's venues. While it's clear the band work hard at getting their music taken seriously, their dated sound and image do little to inspire me for the night ahead. Still, if there's ever a trend for a 1970s rock revival Blue Lip Feel will be at the forefront of it.

A few pints of cider and blackcurrant later and Tribes take to the stage, opening with 'When My Day Comes'. Favourites like 'Sappho' and 'Whenever' go down a storm, but left me feeling nostalgia for the feeling of excitement I'd felt back when I'd first heard them play. Months of relentless touring means the band seem to have misplaced their messy, Libertines-esque swagger and instead created a more polished sound. Tribes are still the band we know and love, but with their edges taken off. You can't knock a band for becoming better musicians, but hearing them now just leaves me feeling a bit deflated. I can't help thinking it would have been nicer to see them in a more intimate venue, where Tribes could have connected more with their loyal audience. I can't fault Johnny Lloyd's vocals, which are just as distinctive and captivating as ever, but the band's general stage presence is a bit flat, bordering on complacent.

In between the classics Tribes treat us to a few newer offerings, including 'Never Heard of Graceland' and new single 'Dancehall'. By the sounds of it, it's clear recording in America has rubbed off on them; the new songs are more fitting to the Californian sun or Nevada desert than the English countryside, in a similar vein to Mystery Jets with recent release 'Radlands'. From the chatter echoing around the venue it seems the new songs fail to grip audience's attention, except for a few hardcore fans (of which there are several). Earlier I bear witness to a teenage girl's conversation in the loo, who reveals her pre-prepared list of the order of preference in which she would sleep with each band member. As I can't see them winning over many new ones, it's these die-hard fans who will potentially keep Tribes riding high on their previous successes this year. 

Saturday 6th April @ The Plug, Sheffield