Photo: WENN.com
In many ways the open plan unisex toilets in Islington’s Electrowerkz are an apt reflection of Tribes’ crowd tonight. An unusual hybrid of mosh-pit starters, mothers and daughters, and devoted fans (frontman Johnny even dedicated ’Halfway Home’ to three girls who’d camped out in a bus shelter to make the gig.) With such a diverse pool of people Tribes had their work cut out to please everyone there. Luckily for Tribes their homecoming show demonstrated how far they’ve come as a band since releasing their debut album last year.
With new member CJ in tow, the band took to the stage looking a bit like a Topman campaign. It would be easy for Tribes to slip into the category of style over substance; another London band with a cool name, cool clothes and cool fans. The difference is that they actually have sufficient talent to pass go into real-life 'good band' territory. Tonight Johnny’s vocals are strong and naturally distinctive, as opposed to a well-honed affectation. Opening song ‘When My Day Comes’ proves this, invoking a wave of recognition from the crowd and prompting a mass sing along.
Maybe it’s the intimate, basement-style atmosphere of the not so secret ‘secret’ show here tonight, but what’s striking is the confidence with which Tribes perform - confidence in the quality of their songs, and the way they’ll be received, as opposed to an arrogance. The anthemic choruses of ‘Sappho’and ‘Halfway House’ cause the most movement in the room, complete as always with token crowd surfer. New songs like ‘How The Other Half Live’ and ‘Sons and Daughters’ sound like a collage and solidification of the sounds from debut album ‘Baby’ and are welcomed with equal enthusiasm from the crowd.
Tribes never quite manage to make the room erupt into total carnage. Instead there’s a sense of respect and latent excitement for a band now confident with their sound, and ready to showcase it to whoever will lend them their ears. Tribes end the night with ‘Coming of Age’, a twee nod to a band now comfortable in their sound, and ready to make their mark, not as style over substance, but as a kind of stylish substance.
