July is enough of a gnarly month for concerts that we know it is usually a good change-up regardless of how high the mercury rises. A big surprise came when Red Fang, one of the three featured groups of the Clutch and Dinosaur Jr summer tour, would warm up with a trio of headline dates. I was excited knowing that one of those gigs would wrap up in New York at the Gramercy Theatre with support from Teen Mortgage.
After enjoying a savory Eastsider Burger at Paul’s Da Burger Joint in the East Village, I cruised towards the venue, soaking in the tropical waves of the wavy July air quality as I waited for the doors to open at seven.
The direct support for all three of the exclusive gigs was the DC punk-rock duo Teen Mortgage. I had never seen them, and with limited time to spare, James Guille (vocals/guitars) and Ed Barakauskas (drums) showed off their intense live energy and ravaged Manhattan in the process. Their set was full of extremity. It was amusing when the duo segued into one of their songs using the Nintendo Wii’s shop channel music!
The razor-sharp, thunderous lineup of Aaron Beam, Maurice Bryan Giles, John Sherman, and David Sullivan got on stage at around nine and wasted no time to throw down with New York for an hour of bombed-out, doomy hard rock.
The set started with Blood Like Cream. Red Fang kicked out jam after jam with a mixture of cuts from their discography. No theatrics or long-winded stage wraps, yet they still rocked, and the audience loved every moment of the finale of the trio of headline shows. Their presence was immense. The superfans in the first few rows further amplified that as they were glad to see some of the best songs like Crows in Swine, Dirt Wizard, Arrows, and my favorite track of the set, Into the Eye. The band and the crowd volleyed amazing energy back and forth at crucial velocities throughout the performance. Red Fang ruled over the Gramercy Theatre with tasty jams and that Portland heaviness to the city.
Red Fang ended their set by throwing it back to the million-zoic era for Prehistoric Dog with a great and seemingly endless ooga, ooga caveman style jam from the quartet to slam down the evening. That said, what I saw was excellent. Red Fang sounded great.
I concluded what was a red-hot American summer night by sprinting to the front of the stage and gifted a Red Fang set list to one of the fans that were front to the barrier all night. We all deserve a little love and to feel like we have treasured memories, something I would like all of you to bear in mind. It was an overall stellar concert and one of the best shows of the summer. Whether headlining or on tour, see Red Fang. You will love every moment of them!
