After an extensive US tour, Red Fang return to the UK with a fantastic new album, support comes from Fellow Portland Metallers Lord Dying and the energetic The Shine hailing from Venice, California. It may be a school night but let’s rock!
Lord Dying were first on the bill. Having missed the first couple of songs while speaking to Red Fang’s Aaron Beam (read the interview here) I made my way from their small tour bus, past the merch stalls and crowded bar, hearing the band upstairs.
Playing to a decent sized crowd, singer and guitarist E. Olsen has a commanding presence, he’s a big guy, with a big beard and some very big riffs. Probably the heaviest band of the night, their complex chugging guitars and vicious vocals got the crowd going for the final few tracks, if somewhat helped by a small section of very enthusiastic fans. Pure metal through and through their debut albums title track “Summon the Faithless” was a stand out.
Next up were Cali classic skate metallers (if that is a thing) The Shrine, starting the set with some self-indulgent feedback and soloing. “Welcome to the shrine” screamed Josh Landau (guitar/vocals) before laying straight into “Tripping Corpse”, a fast and energetic it prepped the audience well, there was no respite before playing “Worship”. The rest of the set follows suit, their high-energy hybrid of old school metal and punk soon had the growing crowd’s attention. Front man Josh Landau, confident and in the wide legged rock stance looks like the love child of Toni Iommi, Dave Grohl and Slash. “The Duke” is a slower number reminiscent of early Sabbath which offered up a little breather. It’s easy to see The Shrine’s influences in their music, with some songs sounding like lost riffs from classic bands. The slow pace doesn’t last long however and the band are soon at full pelt again. Jeff Murray is going wild on the drums, think Animal only less pink. His enthusiasm is so much so at one point he snaps a stick clean in half, which is no easy feat. Glancing at the remaining stub in his hand and continues playing, recovering seamlessly before picking up a new stick. There’s a great energy in the room, but after a few more songs and wining over the ever-increasing crowd they’re done, almost as swiftly as they started.
The Shrine are definitely worth checking out for anyone feeling nostalgic yet with an appetite for new material, their raw vintage fuzzy style comes across even more so on record.
Just time for a quick beer before headliners, Red Fang, with a chanting crowd becoming impatient, the band took stage to bring their distinct brand of stoner metal. A few discordant riffs ring out as some gentlemanly handshakes go on between the bands.
“Hank is Dead” kicks things off, the crowd instantly lapping it up and surging forward. The band plays straight through to “Voices of the Dead”, and while a few technical and sound issues slightly mar the first 2 tracks, nobody cares, the groove has the crowd hooked. As the blistering intro to “DOEN” begins there’s an air of anticipation, and as Aaron’s vocals start the band just seems to kick it up a gear. With the crowd singing back there’s an energy flowing between the band and crowd, both thrashing in unison.
Time for a change of vocals, Guitarist Bryan Giles lends his more guttural snarling pipes to “Throw Up”. The slow, heavy sludge riff has fans throwing up their horns, pumping the air in to the beat, keeping the band playing the final riff longer than usual. Finishing up, there’s a moment of quiet as a fan shouts “Aaron! You make me moist” which is met with the reply “thanks, I’m pretty moist already!”. The air is saturated with sweat as the small venue is now packed.
Pits open up for “no hope” and “number thirteen”, and as they keep playing the band just get better. The pushing and shoving in the crowd continues into “Dirt Wizard” and we start to see the first crowd surfers coming over the top. Thunderous bass from the verse of “Sharks” shakes the room, after thanking the other acts the band storm through “1516”, “Malverde” and “Crows in Swine”. Recent single “Blood like Cream” and crowd pleaser “Wires” whip the crowd into frenzy again as yet more fans clamber over the top. Ending with guitars raised high the band leave the stage to an appreciative crowd, but the cheers don’t die off they just change, the crowd want more.
Before long the band are back on stage, and after Aaron explaining the fan blew his fart in John’s (drums) face they close the show with “good to die”, and of course “Prehistoric Dog”. The fan favorite has the crowd wild, more and more crowd surfers are coming over as the crowd bounce along.
As ever Red Fang put on a great show, but I’m sure all bands gained new fans that night, international readers, be sure to check out the tour as they head through the rest of Europe.
Playing to a decent sized crowd, singer and guitarist E. Olsen has a commanding presence, he’s a big guy, with a big beard and some very big riffs. Probably the heaviest band of the night, their complex chugging guitars and vicious vocals got the crowd going for the final few tracks, if somewhat helped by a small section of very enthusiastic fans. Pure metal through and through their debut albums title track “Summon the Faithless” was a stand out.
Next up were Cali classic skate metallers (if that is a thing) The Shrine, starting the set with some self-indulgent feedback and soloing. “Welcome to the shrine” screamed Josh Landau (guitar/vocals) before laying straight into “Tripping Corpse”, a fast and energetic it prepped the audience well, there was no respite before playing “Worship”. The rest of the set follows suit, their high-energy hybrid of old school metal and punk soon had the growing crowd’s attention. Front man Josh Landau, confident and in the wide legged rock stance looks like the love child of Toni Iommi, Dave Grohl and Slash. “The Duke” is a slower number reminiscent of early Sabbath which offered up a little breather. It’s easy to see The Shrine’s influences in their music, with some songs sounding like lost riffs from classic bands. The slow pace doesn’t last long however and the band are soon at full pelt again. Jeff Murray is going wild on the drums, think Animal only less pink. His enthusiasm is so much so at one point he snaps a stick clean in half, which is no easy feat. Glancing at the remaining stub in his hand and continues playing, recovering seamlessly before picking up a new stick. There’s a great energy in the room, but after a few more songs and wining over the ever-increasing crowd they’re done, almost as swiftly as they started.
The Shrine are definitely worth checking out for anyone feeling nostalgic yet with an appetite for new material, their raw vintage fuzzy style comes across even more so on record.
Just time for a quick beer before headliners, Red Fang, with a chanting crowd becoming impatient, the band took stage to bring their distinct brand of stoner metal. A few discordant riffs ring out as some gentlemanly handshakes go on between the bands.
“Hank is Dead” kicks things off, the crowd instantly lapping it up and surging forward. The band plays straight through to “Voices of the Dead”, and while a few technical and sound issues slightly mar the first 2 tracks, nobody cares, the groove has the crowd hooked. As the blistering intro to “DOEN” begins there’s an air of anticipation, and as Aaron’s vocals start the band just seems to kick it up a gear. With the crowd singing back there’s an energy flowing between the band and crowd, both thrashing in unison.
Time for a change of vocals, Guitarist Bryan Giles lends his more guttural snarling pipes to “Throw Up”. The slow, heavy sludge riff has fans throwing up their horns, pumping the air in to the beat, keeping the band playing the final riff longer than usual. Finishing up, there’s a moment of quiet as a fan shouts “Aaron! You make me moist” which is met with the reply “thanks, I’m pretty moist already!”. The air is saturated with sweat as the small venue is now packed.
Pits open up for “no hope” and “number thirteen”, and as they keep playing the band just get better. The pushing and shoving in the crowd continues into “Dirt Wizard” and we start to see the first crowd surfers coming over the top. Thunderous bass from the verse of “Sharks” shakes the room, after thanking the other acts the band storm through “1516”, “Malverde” and “Crows in Swine”. Recent single “Blood like Cream” and crowd pleaser “Wires” whip the crowd into frenzy again as yet more fans clamber over the top. Ending with guitars raised high the band leave the stage to an appreciative crowd, but the cheers don’t die off they just change, the crowd want more.
Before long the band are back on stage, and after Aaron explaining the fan blew his fart in John’s (drums) face they close the show with “good to die”, and of course “Prehistoric Dog”. The fan favorite has the crowd wild, more and more crowd surfers are coming over as the crowd bounce along.
As ever Red Fang put on a great show, but I’m sure all bands gained new fans that night, international readers, be sure to check out the tour as they head through the rest of Europe.
