On Thursday June 19th,indie alt rock darling Blondshell returned for her first Boston show in a year. On tour in support of her sophomore album If You Asked For A Picture, she upgraded her originally-planned Massachusetts stop from The Sinclair to Royale.
Brooklyn-based indie artist Daffo was the only opener for the evening, but they came on strong and won the crowd over immediately. Their high energy performance was met with a proportionally enthusiastic crowd response, and Daffo made the most out of their short time on stage. It was an impressive feat for their largest audience to date.
Blondshell elicited a similarly excited response from the crowd but went about her performance with a casually cool attitude. Where Daffo jumped and thrashed during their set, Blondshell’s Sabrina Teitelbaum paced and bopped around the stage while she sang. But for the moments of crowd interaction, her stage presence was the picture of someone comfortably vibing at home. Between songs she joked in deadpan, “I actually wore my glasses so that I could see you tonight and I’ve never done that before, but there’s something about a Boston crowd.” In something of a contrast to her relaxed demeanor, she forcefully performed her soul-searching and emotionally charged music with a vulnerability that was heard rather than seen.
Buoyed by an eager crowd that readily complied with her encouragement to sing along, Blondshell delivered a set evenly divided between If You Asked For A Picture and her debut self-titled album. The 90s alt rock influence was unmistakable as her vocals cut through the fuzzy grungy guitar of some of Blondshell’s most infectiously catchy tracks like “Sepsis,” “Docket,” and “T&A.” Fan favorites like “Veronica Mars” and “Kiss City” were not to be missed, but curiously she did not perform “What’s Fair,” the lead single from her new album. She did however delight the crowd with a performance of a new song, “Berlin TV Tower,” and an exceedingly well-received cover of Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi.”
The concert concluded with an intriguing two-song encore combo: the plaintive existential crisis of “Event of a Fire” paired with the seething frustration of “Salad.” Keeping consistent with the rest of the show, there was almost an incongruity between Blondshell’s relatively casual stage presence and the intensity of her words and force of her singing. The crowd screamed along with the final lines “Gonna make it hurt, gonna make it hurt / But I don’t know how to do that within the framework / ‘Cause we were never violent” and then Blondshell simply smiled, waved, said her goodbye, and walked off stage as unpretentiously as she had arrived: cool and collected with much hidden to the casual observer.
Check out all of Greg’s photos from the show below.
New England post-hardcore outfit Actor Observer are back with their first single since 2022. It’s called “Found Wanting” and it comes with an absolutely riotous video. The clip pits the band against an antagonistic papier-mâché goose who serves as the embodiment for all Internet haters and their own self doubt.
For what the band has described as a “shoestring budget,” the video sports some pretty extraordinary editing and cinematography from Ben Eames as well as production design and direction from Greg Marquis and Michelle Mee. There are stunts, great uses of light, and splashes of visual comedy. The signature goose prop is well realized and, like the shark in Jaws, gains power from how sparingly it’s shown.
And it wouldn’t be an Actor Observer video without some iconic locations. “Found Wanting” was filmed inside the legendary Model Cafe and in the snowy woods of Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont.
Watch the full video below and comment “wild_g00se_69.”
Batten down the hatches, the march of the pigs is coming to Boston. The British metal band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are coming back around town on Sunday, June 29th, to take over Brighton Music Hall. They’ll be joined by the awesomely-named Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, a doom band based in Austin.
Pigs x7 are touring behind their excellent new album, Death Hilarious. The band got their start in doom metal – their debut album has only three songs, two of which are 15+ minutes. With each passing album, they’ve incorporated more and more old-school heavy metal, imagining what it might sound like if Sleep and Motorhead intertwined. The music is ferocious and heavy, and totally fun. The band’s name and imagery prove that they aren’t one of the more serious metal bands out there, but they still deliver serious riffs and cover genuine topics in their songs. Each album sees them branching out even further – Death Hilarious even features a totally unexpected feature from El-P, of all people. It should go down as one of the premier metal albums of 2025, and like all of their previous albums, it’s full of tunes designed to pummel a live audience.
Recent setlists indicate that the band will pull from most of their albums, so if you’re a fan of either delectable doom or riffy heavy metal, this is a gig to mark on your calendar. The band’s thunderous live show was previously captured in their Live In New York album and will certainly fit right in at Brighton Music Hall. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and the full tour schedule is available on the band’s site.
Julia Wolf stopped by the Brighton Music Hall to celebrate the release of her sophomore record, PRESSURE alongside Worry Club and Ellis.
Julia Wolf is one of the hottest “new” artists on the scene; “new” is in quotations because she’s been around for over half a decade. She is new in the grand scheme of things, but just know that the NY–based singer-songwriter has been putting in the work to finally get her flowers. Wolf’s recent release gained serious traction with a tonal shift and a little viral boost of the lead single, “In My Room.” Released on her own DIY music label “girls in purgatory,” Wolf laid all her cards on the table and the gamble is paying off.
The band started to play in almost complete darkness as Wolf came out and launched into the third single “Loser,” off her new album. Technical issues caused Wolf’s vocals to cut out shortly into the song, but the crowd took over as the band played on and the staff tried to fix the issue. Once the mic was up and running again, Wolf apologized for the problems before asking if the crowd would like to hear the song again. “Alright, let’s run it back,” said Wolf as the crowd cheered. Despite how awkward or embarrassing technical issues may seem, Wolf gracefully handled the situation and kept singing along with the audience to maintain the energy until they were back in working order.
In between blocks of songs, Wolf took the time to introduce herself and talk about the excitement of releasing her sophomore record, mentioning the reception from the internet and people in front of her. She told brief stories of the inspiration behind some of her songs and how she came up with the lyrical content, even dedicating some of them to the people that inspired those very songs. “This one is for Megan Fox,” she said as the venue roared and the band segued into “Jennifer’s Body,” a song directly influenced by the movie of the same name.
Julia Wolf wraps up the PRESSURE US tour before supporting Halsey on two dates and flying over to Europe to support PVRIS and headline a few of her own shows. Catch her soon if you can because she won’t be playing in small rooms for very long.
It might seem uncharitable to call a band “meat and potatoes” but let’s face it, there’s nothing that fills you up better. When executed by skilled craftsmen, well, there’s nothing I’d rather be eating.
Invisible Rays, one of Boston’s best power-poppers, are a band I can trust to cater to my appetites: hard-charging, energetic rock n’ roll earworms in the tradition of Big Star, The Replacements and The Lemonheads. This week, the Rays return with “Interstellar Sweetheart,” their first single since 2023’s sublime Sequin Dream.
The track glances at glam with a T. Rex-y strut and far-flung lyrics about alien girls with plasma eyes invading our galaxy. Singer Sam Worthington has hewn pretty close to street level in his lyrical territory, so to hear him sing about hijacking a warp-speed spacecraft feels seismic.
As ever, Invisible Rays bring a muscular sound that grounds the spaced-out subject matter. Danny Boyd’s drums and Greg Witz’s bass keep things moving at a healthy clip and give Cooper Loughlin room to bring some elegant chiming riffage where needed.
“Interstellar Sweetheart” is streaming on all platforms in the observable universe.
June 22nd, 2025. BANKS performs at House of Blues. Photo by Samantha Davidson.
Singer-songwriter BANKS stopped by House of Blues Boston on June 22nd as part of the Off With Her Head Tour promoting her new album of the same name. Mesmerizing English songstress Absolutely kicked off the night with her powerful vocal runs. She skipped out in a knee-length black bubble skirt, blue polka-dotted blouse, black corset, and stage headphones. She started her set with the sparkling track “Goodbye Glitter,” captivating the crowd with her resonant voice. She played an array of catchy tracks, including her upcoming single “I JUST DON’T KNOW YOU YET,” out Friday, June 27th. The song is having a moment on social media, with the heavy bass line and emotional R&B sound resonating with fans. Absolutely charmed everyone in the room, smiling between songs, showing off her Michelle Obama socks, and grabbing some sunglasses a fan handed her from the crowd.
Soon after, a stage crew member placed a clear chair in the center of the stage, and BANKS emerged, carrying a white papier-mâché mask. She wore a black ribbed corset top, a statement choker necklace, and sleek black flowy pants. The rumbling synth notes of “Guillotine,” the opening track on Off With Her Head, blasted through the speakers as she posed on the chair, holding the mask just like she does on the album cover. She used expressive arm and body movements to underscore her signature hard-hitting instrumentals. She effortlessly weaved between high-energy moments and sultry choreography. On the right side of the stage sat a black grand piano. Instead of using it only as a traditional instrument, she harnessed it as a set piece, climbing on top to dance silhouetted, bringing the drama during songs like “Meddle In The Mold.” About midway through the set, she slowed down the tempo and played the vulnerable track “Someone New,” lulling the audience into a trance with her raspy vocals. She ended the night with the album’s avant-pop lead single, “I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend,” before escaping backstage for the final time. Through dynamic abstract visuals and rich, colorful lighting, BANKS curated an immersive show that transported the House of Blues to her electric world. Make sure to catch BANKS live before the Off With Her Head Tour ends in November. Buy tickets here.
Check out all of Samantha’s photos from the show below.
From left: Mike Chandler, Nate Perry, Connor Milligan, Ollie Nash
Allston Pudding: How are you guys feeling after performing today?
Nate Perry: I feel fantastic. It was a lot of work going into it, and just to see it go well, and to see the crowd reaction, yeah, I feel incredible.
Connor Milligan: Yeah, that was incredible. Coming from having attended this festival for however many years in the past, it’s incredible to be on the other side of it. It was a dream come true, really.
Mike Chandler: I’m buzzing. Man, my adrenaline’s pumping, and I’m also really relieved. This has kind of been our Super Bowl, and we’ve just been working real hard towards it this whole time, and now we’re gonna kick back, enjoy ourselves. have some drinks…
AP: When did you guys know that you were performing at Boston Calling?
NP: We were hearing things in email chains, we knew things were happening in the background.
CM: It was right around the time of the Boston Music Awards, and we had been nominated for ‘New Act of the Year”.
AP: The BMAs are like an unofficial sourcing opportunity for Boston Calling.
CM: Seems like that.
MC: It came about early in the mid-fall, I want to say we started talking about it because of Michael Marotta at Knyvet. We basically just had the conversation where he really believed in us and said, “I think you guys would be great for Boston calling, you know, no promises, but I’ll talk to who I can talk to and see if I can make it happen.” By December we got the “Ok”.
AP: There’s a bit of backstory on your website as far as how you guys met and came together as a band. But could you give a little bit more of a glimpse into that process of how you found everyone?
NP: Yeah, so after I got into the army in January 2018, I moved back home. I was looking to get involved in music and bands. I started a band, got fired from it, started another band, and that one just fell apart. But then I got real frustrated one day, and I went on Craigslist, of all places, and looked.
CM: I have to add that using Craigslist in the year 2018, 2020, whatever era. That’s wild.
MC: I was unaware of that. [laughs] But okay.
NP: It’s good that he and I were both unaware, because I went on and I saw Mike had made a post needing a lead singer, which he had posted like 12 hours before. I was like, “all right, do you know how to write songs? …Yeah, man.” But I’d never written a song before. But that night, I actually ended up writing “another day”.
MC: I’ll give you a TL;DR answer: So basically I was running another band that was winding down, and I was looking for new people to play with. Nate was coming back from the army at that time, also looking for new people to play with. We linked up at that time, basically just hit it off and built it from the ground up.
NP: We really locked in as Nate Perry & Ragged Company when we got Connor here.
CM: I was coming off of a couple of different bands that I had played with in college, and then COVID happened. Those bands broke up, and Mike reached out to me on Instagram. Or was it like that? It was like: Tinder for bands.
MC:I found you on Tinder for bands, yeah. And when I reached out to you on Instagram, I sniped you from another band that I knew that had just broken up.
AP: That works.
CM: It was great. Yeah. I mean, I was poached.
Ollie Nash: Me too. I’m the keyboardist, I was the last one to join. I made a post on the Boston Musicians Network page and Mike Chandler reached out to me. Just asked me to interview/jam and audition. That was basically it. That was my first post trying to join a band. I was, like, a closeted musician, just kind of playing piano every morning. I’m like, when am I gonna do this? And then I finally got the cojones to reach out, make some posts and then it just sort of happened really quickly.
NP: I remember your audition too. I think we we’re playing Maria, and as soon as we got into it, you were like, “oh, I can sing back up too!” I was like, okay, yeah. So that was a pretty easy choice.
AP: I was curious from your time in the military, has anything translated to help you tour or work as a musician?
NP: Yeah, I think so. I was in the Army infantry, and basically what you learn from that is just how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I mean, there’s always stressors. I don’t have to explain, but like, getting on stage is scary, and so is getting in a helicopter with the door open, you know?
AP: Wild comparison.
MC: From a perspective of noticing it, I would say, it really helps him sort of understand the importance of drilling and repetition. Knowing how to lock in and saying, I’m not good at this, so let’s do this.
AP: What’s your favorite song to perform?
NP: I think “tonight” just won that for me. Yeah, that’s fun, man. It’s not released yet, but it will be out soon.
CM: I would say “Maria”, just because I remember when I first joined the band, they were like, “Oh, we’ve kind of been sitting on this song for a while”, and I was like, why?? Why wasn’t that what you led with? It’s still, to me, my favorite song to play.
MC: I really like our new single, “Count on you” a lot. I really, really like playing “all I need”, it’s kind of a sleeper in our set. It’s one of the fewer streamed songs that we have, but it’s one of the more high energy ones. Got a really cool, different drum beat to it. And I just have a great guitar solo that I think is a lot of fun to play.
ON: My favorite song is probably “preacher”. It’s so energetic. It’s just a classic blues riff. It brings such amazing energy. I can always feel the energy reverberating through me whenever we start to play it. And I can start to let loose a little bit more on that song.
AP: What would a Ragged or Rag Fest or Nate Perry Fest look like? What would you guys bring to a festival if you could?
CM: It would be us, podcasting about obscure history topics. Anytime, Nate and I are together for a period beyond two hours, somehow World War One comes up. We both studied history in college, so it’s like, something.
NP: We’ll get there. Reliably.
AP: I’ve heard a couple people have echoed wanting to learn something at a festival. So you might have an avenue there.
NP: After my set, I’ll do a full lecture.
ON: In between songs, we just have a history fact, and that’s our schtick.
AP: What’s next for you guys, I guess, what’s up for the rest of the summer, the rest of the year?
NP: We’re done recording our new EP that’s gonna come out soon, and then we just got a whole mess of shows coming up that we’re really excited about.
MC: We got some notable ones. New England Americana fest next month. We’re at the cut up in Gloucester in September. That’s gonna be a really cool one. We got some other stuff, but those are the ones we’re really excited about. It.
CM: In Beverly! Lobster Fest is also going to be really fun!
For more information regarding Nate Perry & Ragged Company, click here!
Josh Homme and his motley crew arrived in Boston on June 11th and 12th for their rescheduled two-night series at MGM Music Hall. The band had to cancel the original dates due to health reasons, but the energy of the show proved the wait was worth it.
The Kills opened the show with an unconventional, but electric set to loosen the crowd up. Comprised of Allison Mosshart and Jamie Hince, the duo are touring their 2023 release God Games alongside their longtime friends in QOTSA. Despite being a two-piece, The Kills put on a show that leaves nothing to be desired; the two veterans carry themselves with a swagger and enthusiasm that you can’t help but respect.
Queens of the Stone Age released their eighth studio album In Times New Roman… back in June 2023, but they still have plenty of gas left in the tank with the touring cycle. They also recently released their live album Alive in the Catacombs, which featured five tracks recorded acoustically in the historic Catacombs of Paris. With that momentum, Homme reignited the flame and set MGM on fire for two consecutive nights. Fans attending both nights were treated to a nice collection of tracks, with only about eight songs repeated across the sets. The band played hits and deep cuts spanning 7 albums, dating back to Rated R, ending with the obvious hits “Song for the Dead” and “No One Knows.”
“The End is Nero” tour continues on with The Kills supporting until QOTSA heads across the pond to close out the final leg.
June 15th, 2025. Saba performing at Royale Boston on The Big Picture Tour. Photo by Samantha Davidson.
Chicago-born rapper Saba brought The Big Picture Tour to the Royale on June 15. His trip to Boston marked the midpoint of the tour promoting his newest project, From The Private Collection of Saba & No I.D. The night began with Californian rapper Ovrkast, who performed selections from his latest album, While The Iron Is Hot. He split his time between a programmed drum pad and interacting with the audience, making sure to shake hands and dap up all the fans in the front few rows.
Soon after, Saba stepped into the spotlight wearing a black turtleneck and what appeared to be a charming crocheted chicken hat, made from fluffy chunky yarn. He vowed to create an extra special show to make up for the fact that he hadn’t played the city in three years. He committed to this promise by playing high-energy tracks from his entire discography, including “Stoney (feat. Phoelix & BJRNCK)” and the viral hit “Photosynthesis” from his 2016 album Bucket List Project. Fans knew every word, proving themselves worthy of the show.
Piano-fueled tracks like “Every Painting Has a Price (feat. BJ The Chicago Kid and Eryn Allen Kane)” and “BIG PICTURE (feat. Ogi)” from his newest album complemented the immersive stage set. White wall panels with framed black and white photo prints, reminiscent of the album cover, were scattered across the stage, making the venue a gallery come to life. His ability to effortlessly weave cadences hypnotized the crowd and the element of live instrumentals provided by his band fostered the level of authenticity that Saba is known for. He closed the night with the horn-heavy “Westside Bound Pt. 4.” Over the course of the performance, he exemplified his ability to tell a story through live performance just as he does in songwriting, making it fitting that the final song on the setlist was a follow up to Westside Boud parts 1-3 from his previous albums. Make sure to catch Saba before The Big Picture Tour ends later this month. Buy tickets here.
Check out all of Samantha’s photos from the show below.
Saturday, June 7th was a busy night of indie rock at Brighton Music Hall as Phoneboy brought their Heartbreak Designer tour to town. The New Jersey-founded, Brooklyn-based band celebrated their third album and the penultimate show of the first leg of their tour with friends and family in the crowd.
The sold-out event featured two supporting bands prior to Phoneboy: Double Standard and INOHA. First up was the five-piece Double Standard, who made their Boston debut to a large crowd that steadily grew as attendees steamed in from the rainy weather outside. INOHA, the indie rock group hailing from San Antonio, were second on the billing but drew a headliner’s level of enthusiasm from the audience. They delivered an exciting set that had the crowd jumping, and it became apparent that a sizable number were already fans.
The audience at Brighton Music Hall was loud during the opening performances, but it was near deafening when Phoneboy made their presence known. The headliners joked about the way it always seems to rain whenever they play Boston, but spirits were hardly dampened. The resounding enthusiasm from fans in the all-ages crowd was persistent, as Phoneboy blazed through a 20-song setlist that included almost all of their recently-released Heartbreak Designer and an even mix of songs from their first and second albums. They ended their encore with a cover of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy,” a throwback almost certainly older than most of the audience that was nevertheless a crowd-pleaser. With that fun, indulgent conclusion, Phoneboy triumphantly hopped off stage to thunderous applause and a rockstar send-off.
