The Joiners, Southampton
April the 15th and two American bands, Red Fang and Black Tusk took huge bites into Southampton’s music scene, pun intended. They topped the bill at The Joiners Pub and it was also a debut gig for Bournemouth based outfit In The Hills.
The stage lights were shut off. An overhead projector aimed at a sheet of white cloth burst into life. A verity of weird animations, films of trees in winter and crows taking flight was the backdrop to In The Hills, menacing, doom laden metal. With half the band shrouded in darkness the audience were forced to concentrate on the music. Grinding riffs and throaty vocals delivered with unrelenting ferocity had the Joiners audience spellbound throughout the set. If this was the first show then sign me up for the second one right now.
The Georgia trio Black Tusk waste no time in tearing it up! Right from the get go they blitz the pub from front to back. Producing a sound like Kyuss and Cancer Bats having a dust up behind a strip-joint! The band jumped, flailed, headbanged, and generally kicked our asses. They describe their sound as Swamp Metal and indeed the crowd were happy to be sucked down into the swirling mixture of killer riffs and thundering rhythm’s that washed over the stage. Come back soon.
With such strong support headliners Red Fang had to up their game to finish the evening off with honour intact. This they accomplish in spades, giving the crowd a fistful of their Stoner doom rock laced with a pinch of 70’s underground Heavy Metal. The Portland, Oregon combo, are touring their excellent second album “Murder the Mountains” and we got a few of the killer tunes from their self-titled debut. With the superb heavy riffs and pounding drums that came rumbling out from speaker stacks it isn’t wonder that I awoke the next morning with a sore “headbang” neck. For the last couple of tracks the audience descended into mosh-pit mode and by the time the awesome song Prehistoric Dog had finished, it was time to raise a few glasses in celebration of three exceptional bands and a great evening.
Setlist
Red Fang
1. Hank is Dead
2. Throw Up
3. Number Thirteen
4. Birds on Fire
5. Painted Parade
6. Malverde
7. Wires
8. Night Destroyer
9. Into the Eye
10. Humans Remain Human Remains
11. Good to Die
12. Sharks
13. Prehistoric Dog
Words and pictures by Dan O’Gara .
