Toxica at the Fox and Duck

Toxica are a rock covers band that mixes the classics, Led Zep etc., with some more recent stuff, such as Metallica. That's all that I knew about them and that was enough to get me in to the Fox and Duck on a Saturday night.

They had a fairly standard line up of lead, bass, vocal and drums. The lack of keyboards or a third guitar limited their repertoire and sound a little but they played well within that and kept to songs that they could do justice too.

I found there playing to be competent and while that might sound like faint praise that is not meant to be the case. There is nothing wrong with competent and flamboyance is not always attractive or necessary.

Obviously I did not recognise all of the songs that they played, I'd not tell a Green Day song from anything else produced in the last twenty years, but I did recognise things like Paranoid, Whole Lotta Love, and All Right Now.

I also recognised Zombie which was their penultimate song. That was the one that pushed me over the edge and got me singing and dancing to some extent, though nothing like as vigorously as the enthusiastic regulars near to me.

Toxica were very well received and deservedly so. They had an intelligent and stimulating set and they played all of the songs well. The singing, dancing and cheering were testament to that.

I'll make a point of seeing Toxica again when they next make it to the Fox and Duck.