The Cribs end festival season on a high: “This is the big one for us”

From The Great Escape to Glastonbury, Live at Leeds to Coachella, it’s safe to say that this summer The Cribs have played their fair share of festivals. It’s today, however, that they’re finally gearing up to draw their festival season to a close. “This is the big one for us,” confirms Ryan Jarman. “This is the place to end it really.”

“Reading was the one we came to as kids,” explains Gary Jarman, ahead of their slot on the Main Stage later today, “and so, in some ways, even though Leeds was the hometown show, Reading always had slightly more gravity, since we used to travel down here. I guess it’s kinda nice to build up to Reading,” he goes on, emphasising how special it is for the brothers. “Leeds, with it being such a passionate hometown crowd, in a lot of ways , makes you feel a lot better about Reading. Reading is quite nerve-wracking because of our history with it, so Leeds being so supportive and warm is a good way of preparing for it.”

Judging by the reaction they received on Friday, when they played the northern leg of the weekender, today’s set is going to go down a storm too. “Leeds was really good,” confirms Ryan. “We always kind of get a bit worked up before the Leeds gig because it still feels like something of a hometown show, even though we’re all spread out these days.

“We always like being on the Main Stage,” he continues. “It’s the third time that we’ve played. We went through a phase of headlining a lot of the tents and I think everyone assumed we preferred to play those smaller sets, but to be honest, on this record, we’ve only been playing outdoor stages so we’ve gotten really used to it now. I actually much prefer doing outdoor stages so it was really fun.”