TRIBES were back home in Camden this weekend (Friday, September 22) to deliver a rip-roaring, yet emotional set fit for a group of their calibre and experience.
Equally at home in a field of scything guitars and heartfelt ballads, this was a performance from an older, more mature and reflective group now beyond the raucous, hedonistic years of prime indie-era Camden. The crowd inside KOKO, made up mostly of furry-faced blokes between 30 and 60, was eagerly expectant as they waited for the four-piece to come on.
Nicely teed up by support acts Attawalpa and Tough Cookie, this night felt like the group had made a trip back home, to the scene of those wild days of Camden’s prime indie rock debauchery and drama – but now with the wisdom and reflection earned by time away. TRIBES split in 2013, when many of the bearded thirty-somethings in KOKO this night were in their early 20s, but released their first music in 10 years in March — much to the delight of fans.
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Made up of lead singer and guitarist Johnny Lloyd, bassist Jim Cratchley, guitarist Dan White and drummer Miguel Demelo, their set featured music from the old days as well as new pieces – a promise laid out by Lloyd as he took a moment after the night’s second track to say: “Good evening Camden! What a sight. We’re gonna play old sh*t we’re gonna play some new sh*t, and a bit of everything in between”.
(Image: Harry Thompson)
The crowd loved this, of course, and so began a one hour and 20-minute love-in between loyalists desperate for the band to get back together, and four old mates who seemed like they were re-finding their love of performing together.
Emotions were of course running high. In the set was the tear-jerking Nightdriving, an emotional tribute to Lloyd and the band’s great friend and fellow musician Charles Haddon, who took his own life after fearing he had hurt a member of a crowd after he carried out a stage dive.
Other moments of clear connection between the band and crowd followed, with Dad I’m Not a Tough Guy receiving rapturous applause and soppy blokes swaying arm in arm.
(Image: Harry Thompson)
“For everyone who’s been with us from the start,” Lloyd announced mid-set, “[This is] for anyone who’s walked through the mud at a festival to see us,” as the whoops and cheers went up a gear and fan favourite Corner of an English Field began.
By this point, the crowd were putty in their hands, with even slower, gentler parts of the track list inducing friendly mosh pits — while other numbers were met with gooey-eyed arm waves and lighters (phone lights) in the air. As the set wore on the dance floor became a throbbing, thronging sea of movement and joy.
By the time TRIBES walked off for an encore, all little laughs between them, the crowd had gone through all the stages of emotional joy with people up on their shoulders and periods of clear euphoria. TRIBES seemed ego-free and genuinely like they were mates with their adoring fans, – it seemed that this return wasn’t just for the four up on stage but for the crowd of people in front of them too.
Cratchley’s sister Laura told the Daily Star how “proud” she was, while Lloyd’s partner and screen star Billie Piper was spotted stalking through the back of the KOKO at the end of the night. The families and loved ones were in the house and this felt like a celebration.
When they finally exited stage left to rapturous applause the mood was jubilant and you would be hard-pressed to find someone in KOKO who hadn’t had a brilliant time.
They are back, their fans are buzzing and, at least as far as one could tell, they are enjoying themselves massively. For indie heads who weren’t TRIBES fans during their first iteration, this feels like a very good time to give them a try.
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