Anthrax/Hagar the Womb/Part 1

Green Door Store, Brighton - 22 February 2014

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"A revelatory performance from Anthrax"

I wasn’t intending to review this, so I unfortunately missed Eastfield as I was too busy chatting in the bar, but what a great gig! Having had several months to settle in the new rhythm section, Part 1 were much more focussed than the last time I saw them. The short(er) set meant that there was a slight lack of experimental head-fuck guitar FX work (although Mark F’s ‘Flanger of Doom’™ was certainly put through its paces), but this was made up for by the PA having a proper amount of heft to it and Chris Low battering the shit out of his drums in a very satisfying fashion. The highlight of the night for me. 8/10



Photos [L-R]: gig poster, Part 1, Part 1

Hagar the Womb were their usual shambolic selves, and although they were well received by a good sized crowd, their performance was marred by a weird crunchy guitar sound, and what seemed like a very long pause to replace a broken string. But then, you don’t go to see Hagar for slick professionalism. U2 they are not. At least bassist Mitch kept his clothes on this time. 6/10



Photos [L-R]: Hagar the Womb, Anthrax, Anthrax

And so, on to a revelatory performance from Anthrax, who as I had only really liked three or four of their songs first time round, I wasn’t expecting very much from. To my delight, they were seriously, seriously, good; with lots of new material that was ridiculously catchy and powerful. Standout songs were Another, Sleeping Dogs and Grin (all new) and of course old favourites Capitalism is Cannibalism and They’ve Got It All Wrong. Old anarcho band reforms and produces killer new material shocker! I even bought a CD and having listened to it several times (sober), the new stuff is still really good, maybe better than the old stuff. I'll definitely be making the effort to see them more often. 7/10

Review: Nick Hydra
Photos: Des Hoskins

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