Live Review : Those Damn Crows + James Bruner @ O2 Academy 2, Liverpool on March 25th 2025

“Liverpool!” yells Crows Frontman Shane as they come on stage. “Are. You. Ready ?!!” A familiar sound, they have introduced themselves like this for many years and it seems that Liverpool is indeed ready.  

Even for support act James Bruner the “little” Academy is pretty full tonight. Later on it will become uncomfortably so, but for now the sardines at the front give James a warm scouse welcome even if those at the back are a little more subdued. This is partly due to the sound – this room is not the best for acoustics anyway and this band (yes it’s a band not a person) have turned the bass up to 11. The crowd is literally vibrating, and not necessarily in a good way. Despite this, James Bruner provide a fresh and fairly spirited set.

They have come all the way from Nashville, Tennessee to do the support on this tour and it seems that they want to make the most of every moment. The songs are short and quite punchy, in a guitar-led country indie style with just a touch of grunge. You’re shaking your head about that aren’t you? Well imagine if you took the songs of REM but dropped Kurt Cobain in to sing them instead of Michael Stipe, that was how the sound came across. It was performed with enthusiasm, and the band came across as friendly and happy to be there. There were no standout moments but the whole thing gelled quite neatly and warmed the crowd up nicely. 

So, was Liverpool ready for Those Damn Crows? Oh hell yes. The “little” Academy was sold out, with people rammed together all the way to the back. In fact, several attendees expressed surprise that the show wasn’t in the big room next door, and that’s kind of where the Crows are at right now. With the release of their fourth album imminent (in fact you could pre-order it at the merch desk with all kinds of extra goodies) and some really great supports under their collective Bridgend belts Those Damn Crows are currently teetering on the edge of a precipice. On this current tour they have sold out pretty much all of the smaller club-sized venues, but are they ready? Ready to take the next step into the bigger rooms? ROCKFLESH thinks so. 

The music stays the same, with the new songs having the same flavour as the older ones and the plethora of singalong bits growing ever larger with every release. That’s the thing you see, from the first notes of opening song ‘Let’s Go Psycho!’ to the last strains of closer “Rock n’ Roll ain’t Dead” the energy level barely fluctuates. Every riff, every chorus is thrown out and caught by the slavish crowd who then return it threefold. There’s barely room in here to lift an arm but arms are lifted nonetheless and each song is savoured by the crowd like a glass of cold water after hours in a desert.

Their mastery of a whoah-oh chorus is perfection tonight, yet despite there being so many of them each song is uniquely crafted and different to the last. The ego boxes are put to good use, and those at the back get an occasional glimpse of the top of the band’s heads on a regular basis. In the meantime, the songs just keep on coming. There’s a couple of new ones (‘Glass Heart’ and ‘Dreaming’) which show a move to a more Americana-influenced sound, but these are tempered by the old favourites and the balance is maintained. ‘Blink of an Eye’, which has in its time been a massive ballad, is returned to being an upbeat anthem. This leaves the mellow spot to be filled by ‘This Time I’m Ready’, and it does it in goosebump-inducing style.  

The biggest thing that comes across when watching Those Damn Crows though isn’t the musicianship, or the quality of the writing. No, it’s the togetherness. This is a band. Frontman Shane (who surprisingly isn’t out in the crowd tonight, mostly cos there was no room for him) shares the ego box with all his bandmates, and they too trade licks and riffs with grace and precision. Despite the boxes there are no egos here, no solos, no divas, just 5 Welsh lads doing what they love and doing it together. The crowd too is passionate, involved and enthusiastic.

Who said rock n’ roll is dead? Well it definitely wasn’t Liverpool tonight! It just remains to be seen if Those Damn Crows can take the leap of faith to the next level – we’ll see you in the “big” Academy next year maybe guys? 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Those Damn Crows + James Bruner