Last year Bristol-based quartet Tax The Heat unveiled their critically acclaimed debut album Fed To The Lions via Nuclear Blast records.
Subsequently, the band has been touring relentlessly in support of their latest offering. This includes a recent tour with Scandinavian rockers Royal Republic, an extensive UK headline tour as well as appearances booked for Download and a whole raft of European festivals this summer.
Tonight Tax The Heat make a welcome return to Tyneside four years after their initial appearance in the region opening for The Union. This being the band’s first headline show in the city and the intimate surroundings of Jumpin’ Jacks in Newcastle are packed out by the Geordie rock fraternity.
Many in the crowd tonight had the pleasure of witnessing the band at the neighboring O2 Academy back in 2013, whilst others had traveled from as far afield as Edinburgh having witnessed the band the night prior in Glasgow and returned for a second glance. Yes, this band are so good that you feel the need to see them again immediately.
With only one album behind them, Tax The Heat’s sixty-minute set is largely taken from Fed To The Lions, with only one track off the record omitted from the show tonight. There’s no fillers, extended noodling or covers to draw the set out, just an hour of no messing, high octane, infectious rock and roll. These boys may be wearing suits, but don’t be fooled by their dapper appearance, they came here tonight to rock and do exactly that.
Tax The Heat take their classic rock influences and give them a contemporary twist. This is largely characterized by fuzz-fueled bass riffs of Antonio Angotti who perfectly compliments the devastating drum groove of Jack Taylor in the rhythm section. JP Jacyshyn delivers blistering slide guitar licks all night long and is the perfect foil for front man Alex Veale’s to play off.
There is a real anthemic quality to many of the tracks feature in the band’s set tonight, with singles like “Some Sympathy” and the frantic “Fed To The Lions” really standing out in the show. On the other hand, fast and furious numbers like “Animals” and “Stood On The Platform To Leave” in places have an almost Queens of the Stone Age-esque quality to them.
In between touring Tax The Heat have been working on their eagerly anticipated sophomore album. Tonight they take the opportunity to road test a couple of incredible new tracks in the shape of “Money In The Bank” and “Taking The Hit”. One of these songs being so fresh that it has only been played live once previously the night prior. Judging by the response the band receives tonight, the new album is set to be a future classic in the making.
Tax The Heat brings their set to a close with “Highway Home”, which results in a mass sing along as the band and the room come together as one.
As Tax The Heat leaves the stage, the resounding feeling in the room is that tonight the crowd has witnessed something very special. Chants of one more tune reverberate around the room, but with no encore this evening, the crowd will have to wait until next year when the band returns with their new album.
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Tax the Heat
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Event Date: 26-APR-2017