Black Tusk/Fight Amp/In The Hills

The Anvil, Bournemouth

Tuesday night – a god-awful day for a gig in my opinion but when you have three bands of this quality you have to make the effort. In The Hills supported Black Tusk in London the previous evening and playing to a home crowd they show why they have the chops to support such high calibre bands over from the states.

Their Ferocious sludge metal was very welcome and the perfect way to start an excellent show. The crowd was a bit thin on the ground to start off with but In The Hills still delivered the goods to maximum effect.

In The Hills 1–2–3–4–5

Fight Amp come out blasting, buzz saw riffs flying out, cutting the audience in two. A mixture of American hardcore punk and sludgy grooves with a hint of stoner thrown in. The drummer is in a league of his own pounding away on the skins like it’s going out of fashion. He elevated the performance and all eyes were drawn to him as he went through his Keith Moon inspired set. Iíd not heard of them before but now they are definitely on my radar

Fight Amp 1–2–3–4–5

Black Tusk from Sacramento, up the level some more. Although complaining about horrendous hangovers, they still deliver an accomplished set. With guitars and basses being flung around with abandon, the music is loud and heavy and more powerful than a kick in the happy sacks from Jackie Chan. Raw and ragged riffs fight for space beside rampant drumming. With all three members taking turns with the vocal duties, they delivered an epic set, soured only slightly be the stage monitors giving out buzzy feedback three songs from the end. ‘We don’t need ’em’, Jonathan Athon says ‘you guys can hear us alright, yes?’ And the answer to that?…we sure can, loud & clear and we want more!