By Jase Walker
So, on my current run of shows throughout this weekend I’ve another chance to catch Dutch punk act Tusky once again after being totally knocked back by how good their album release show in Utrecht was. Not only that but handily this is at Melkweg, which is about five minutes from my apartment, so why not eh?
Tonight’s show is another one of those shows that’s still a bit odd to me where the band is rolling without any support. It’s just them on their own so you know that every person who’s turning up to this show is a proper fan because you need to be good to draw a crowd in on your own! So, as I’ve mentioned before a few times with some of the previous solo act shows, this may be a bit shorter than your average write-up.
The venue has filled up very suddenly about 15 minutes prior to kick off so I guess that quite a few were drinking around the corner before finding their way to Melkweg. The room darkens (as is tradition) before blasting Kiss’ ‘I Was Made For Lovin’ You’ as they take the stage. It’s time for a bit of dumb fun with a veritable assload of good music!
It’s good to see a big singalong like ‘Circles’ early on in the set, this is the sort of bouncy energy I fell in love with and happy to revel in it again! This is one of those moments that tests the Dutch I know so far with the in-between commentary done entirely in Dutch but that’s how it goes: Dutch band, Dutch crowd, etc. Also I know I say this a lot and it’s getting boring by now but please, please turn the bass up a bunch; It’d be great if it had that bit more grunt to help with driving the songs.
Every time I listen to Tusky, and with this second experience to see them live, I can’t help but feel that 2000Trees and Slam Dunk back in old Blighty would be all over these like a rash. This is the sort of punk that those places would eat up and ask for seconds before even getting to the end of their plate. The energy does seem to be a bit different compared to the nuts evening in Utrecht last time. People are definitely having a great time watching them but it’s a bit of a different vibe where people were flinging their mates around and jumping off stage at least. Not that this is a criticism of the show by any means because it’s really not, it’s just tonight’s show is a lot more stripped back overall.
We’ve got a solid core of people bouncing around down the front at least and the band seem to be buzzing off the energy too. Making sure to hammer out a bit to hype up their new EP, ‘Trapped Under Nice’ which is the first single from ’Pure Heart Sounds’ keeps the energy bouncing along. Just like that, before I even know it an hour’s passed already, this is how much I enjoy a Tusky show!
I noticed that some lad down the front who seems a bit hammered places his pint on the stage and literally 30 seconds later the singer of Tusky spits into the air and I’m fairly sure a bunch of that landed in that gent’s pint: lovely. It’s great watching a ten year old (?) do some crowd surfing as well, Tusky are here for all ages to have a bunch of fun.
I’m surprised they didn’t play ‘Crow Without Caws’ admittedly, it’s such a fantastic song, but overall another great show from them. I hope the ÜK is listening, and these are going to be gracing your stages soon!
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