The Offspring and Bad Religion Rock Grand Rapids!

On a cold, late-winter night in Grand Rapids, Michigan, The Offspring brought the latest edition of their Supercharged! tour to Van Andel Arena for a night of hits, surprise covers, and general merry mayhem. Now 32 years after their breakthrough album Smash, these So-Cal skate punks have maintained a loyal fanbase as they've continued to explore different sounds and styles alongside their traditional alternative rock meets novelty music approach and have been on a tour that's sort of amounted to a victory lap for over two years. That's not to say songs from their latest album, like "Looking Out for #1" and "Make It All Right" haven't received some love on rock radio, but audiences undoubtably see them live to enjoy their mid-'90s and early '00s hits, which wisely form the structure of their show. With each leg of the tour featuring progressively better opening acts (Hoobastank and Simple Plan? How about Jimmy Eat World and New Found Glory instead?), the inclusion of O.G. L.A. punks Bad Religion made attending an even stronger draw.

What wasn't expected as shivering cold fans shuffled into the arena was the shock that the show was so undersold the entire second level of the venue was closed down, and fans with tickets in those sections were upgraded to first level seats. This isn't the first such Van Andel show I've attended where such a thing has occurred (NIN '08, anyone?), and there's a good chance the cold, winter, Wednesday night worked against the bands in this case, but it's incredibly tough to be both excited to see a great show and also know it must be disheartening for the bands themselves to play to a half-empty room. Maybe GLC Live at 20 Monroe (or whatever the hell they're calling it now) would have been a better sized venue.

The legendary Bad Religion started things off right, ripping through 19 songs in an hour (that's breaking the speed limit in some areas) that mixed hits and older deep cuts with tracks from the band's last few albums and engaged much of the GA pit area and pockets of people in the seats. Now celebrating the 46th year of the project, they've played to crowds big, small, and in-between so many times the size or engagement of the crowd didn't seem to affect them, though frontman Greg Graffin (that's Dr. Graffin to you and me) invited all to engage as much as they wished. "Do What You Want," "No Control," and "We're Only Gonna Die" (are they covering Sublime??) brought the old school flavor, and "21st Century," "Sorrow," and "American Jesus" provided the crowd with a few singalongs, but the experienced musicianship of Bad Religion is fine-tuned and consistent in ways scores of younger bands who have been influenced by them simply can't match.

A set change that began to feel more and more like a house or beach party the longer it went and even featured The Offspring track "Intermission" among the music mix between bands, gave way to the headlining performance, and The Offspring themselves were warmly welcomed to the stage in spite of the small crowd size. Consisting now of only two original members, Noodles on guitar and Dexter Holland (that's Dr. Holland to you and me) on vocals, guitar, and a bit of piano, along with touring back-up musicians, laid the heavy sarcasm on thick and immediately. "This is the biggest, craziest crowd we've ever seen!" and "Just imagine; if they're this fired up already, think of how insane they're going to be later in the show!" like a punk rock Smothers Brothers routine. While the size and varying volume of the crowd didn't seem to affect the performance at all, they came back to similar comments and observations regularly throughout the night to the point where it eventually got somewhat painful, like when Wayne Coyne continually begs the crowd for noise and energy between nearly every song at a Flaming Lips concert.

Opening and closing with their breakthrough singles ("Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem") was a wise bookend to a set that otherwise meandered between less-successful singles and fan-favorite deep cuts during the first third before breaking into a series of jams and cover songs, primarily paying tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Ramones, which were helpful in engaging the crowd while showing respect to a few of the band's influences. Moving the focus back to The Offspring's other biggest hits during the final third of the main set was also sensible, with spotlights on "Gotta Get Away," "Pretty Fly," and "The Kids Aren't Alright" each of which had younger, 21st century fans singing along with '90s anthems released before they were born. The most notable change to the current show compared to previous legs was the inclusion of the 2021 piano-based arrangement of 1996's "Gone Away," the only truly serious performance of the night, where fans sang along with a solo Holland, playing a small, center-stage piano surrounded by billowing smoke, while remembering lost loved ones. Immediately after, Holland was rejoined by the rest of the band for an unexpected run through about the first half of The Beatles' "Hey Jude," which seemed arguably out of place until it became clear it was a segue from the piano portion of the show back into hits and fan favorites when it was followed by "Why Don't You Get a Job?" a late '90s hit that was also a thinly veiled parody of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da."

Overall, the show was similar to The Offspring's outdoor concert a few years ago in Mt. Pleasant, but the Grand Rapids show had a slightly better set list in spite of the room having less energy due to the smaller crowd size. The professional production and comfortable execution of the performances still made for a great show, but based on the constant call-backs to the small and less enthusiastic crowd, it's seemingly not a gig the band is likely to fondly remember.

The Offspring set list:
Come Out and Play
Want You Bad
Looking Out for #1
Staring at the Sun
Hammerhead
Make It All Right
Bad Habit
Electric Funeral (Black Sabbath) (tease)
Paranoid (Black Sabbath) (jam)
Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
In the Hall of the Mountain King (Edvard Grieg)
I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones)
Gotta Get Away
(Drum Solo) (jam)
Gone Away '21
Hey Jude (The Beatles)
Why Don't You Get a Job?
Pretty Fly
The Kids Aren't Alright
------------------ 
You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
Self Esteem
--------------------------

Bad Religion set list:
Recipe for Hate
Them and Us
Los Angeles Is Burning
Do What You Want
21st Century
The Streets of America
Fuck You
Come Join Us
End of History
True North
The Defense
We're Only Gonna Die
Candidate
No Control
Struck a Nerve
You
Infected
Sorrow
American Jesus
---------------------------------

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2025 to 2026...ramblings, thoughts, and reviews

There's a lot of heavy shit going down in the country and around the world. Not just now, but on and on for several years straight, and talking about albums, concerts, award shows, or other music news and gossip clearly pales in comparison to these ultra-serious things. It's been a worry, a distraction, and a major stressor for all of us in one way or another, and motivation to jump on and type a few paragraphs in praise or critique of anything from music or pop culture has not been a priority. Having said that, I'll be the first to admit that doing so can be helpful, at least for me, regardless of if or when anyone reads what I write, so in this rare moment of available time and marginal gumption, I'm going to run through some of the end-of-the-year stuff I haven't commented on and ease into some of the interesting new music and upcoming concerts that have been announced so far for 2026. Regular concert reviews will resume at some point in the near future.

To begin with, 2025 was not the strongest year for new releases that spoke to my personal taste. Sure, things have lightened up more and more for at least the past half-decade, but I don't recall a year that ended where I didn't encounter at least five strong albums by any number of artists to produce a best-of-the-year list. It seemed last year was more about new artists breaking ground and starting to get heard than established veterans running through another album cycle, which is fine and good, of course, but a blend of old and new each year is always a better situation when it happens. Deftones' Private Music was probably the most traditionally consistent release of the year, with guitarist Stephen Carpenter checking in with tasty riffs throughout, though he no longer appears live with the band. Nine Inch Nails' long-awaited return came in the form of a soundtrack album for the third Tron film, which blended a dirty, electronic score with four new vocal-based songs. The production on this collection is top-notch, and the music compliments both the film and the NIN catalog quite well, though many fans wanted a more traditional, proper rock album from Trent Reznor and company. The Mars Volta returned with Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacio, a new concept LP that segmented 50 minutes of music into 18 tracks that combine to form a connected, flowing mood from end-to-end but which alienated some fans because its style is less chaotic and psychedelic than their classic albums, and some did not find it very engaging. The debut album (and possibly only album) by AVTT/PTTN, a risky but creative collaboration between The Avette Brothers and experimental vocalist Mike Patton, is still being digested by fans of both artists and has seemingly been dismissed as "too weird" or "too straight" by both camps. Geese's fourth LP, Getting Killed, was probably the best release from an emerging artist, blending a mix of alternative and experimental rock elements into a varied and adventurous collection of songs. The latest releases from Tyler, the Creator, The Weeknd, Clipse, Pulp, Jason Isbell, Dijon, Bon Iver, Wet Leg, Elton John, Margo Price, Twenty One Pilots, JID, Big Thief, Lorde, Tame Impala, Mavis Staples, Florence+The Machine, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, and De La Soul also filled the air and the airwaves with new and interesting songs but didn't seem to make a huge impression on the general audience compared to huge albums from previous years.

So far, 2026 has already seen a fair number of engaging new releases which are sure to be in contention for the year's best albums in December, including LPs by Gorillaz, Puscifer, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, the unexpected return (and conclusion) of Gnarls Barkley, as well as the upcoming 24th album by They Might Be Giants and 12th album by a regrouped Foo Fighters. It will be exciting to see what else the rest of the year has in store for new music!

The music award shows have continued to stagnate and have become less engaging than ever, to the point where discussing them at all seems arguably unnecessary. The MTV Video Music Awards migrated to CBS for the first time in their 41-year history and are struggling to legitimize their continued existence, though a retrospective award for and performance from Busta Rhymes and a loving tribute to Ozzy Osbourne were at least nice touches amongst the modern pop blah-scape. The Grammy Awards slowly devolved into a sanitized variant of what the VMAs used to be and have gotten more and more boring with each recently passing year. This year, they featured their own Ozzy tribute and a much more elaborate and impressive one for D'Angelo and Roberta Flack, led by Ms. Lauryn Hill and featuring an army of guests. Pharrell Williams was recognized for lifetime achievement and seized the opportunity to perform with Clipse on music he recently produced for the highly respected hip hop duo. The awards themselves, in the cases of both shows, feel more arbitrary than ever and seem to have little impact on fans or on the industry. Moving ahead, most major awards shows are going to be leaving broadcast television for the internet and streaming services, which does not bode well for an improvement in their quality in the coming years.

Live music has fortunately fared better in the past year and the outlook ahead is also promising. While the biggest U.S. festivals continue to wane, and some of the smaller ones have been drastically reduced or have shut down entirely, the touring circuit is strong for newer and veteran artists alike (though the tickets are not always easy to acquire at a reasonable price or at all in some cases). The best and most ambitious tour of 2025 was Queens of the Stone Age's Catacombs show, a blend of acoustic, orchestral, and choral arrangements of deep cuts and fan favorites, primarily from the past 20 years, presented in a theatrical style quite different from their usual rock shows. Nine Inch Nails successful runs on the Peel It Back tour offered a modern take on their classic material from The Downward Spiral and select other favorites, mostly ignoring material from last year's Tron: Ares soundtrack album but presenting new arrangements of some older material with one of that album's primary collaborators, Boys Noize, who was also the opening act, providing an hour of live mixed industrial and house music each night. Notable live runs from Devo, Weird Al Yankovic, and They Might Be Giants delighted fans across the country last year and continue through the spring and summer of 2026 in some regions. Other upcoming tours and special events include shows at a selection of small venues by indie legends Failure, a theatre tour by AVTT/PTTN, a short run by a reunited Tomahawk (w/Melvins opening), and a surprise return of Eagles of Death Metal (touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second album). Psychedelic bluegrass phenom Billy Strings continues to entertain the jam band crowd and will headline a two-day hometown event, The Ionia Freak Fest in Michigan, in August. The big stadium rock show of the summer will undoubtedly be Foo Fighters with Queens of the Stone Age, treating fans to possibly five hours of music to justify the arguably high ticket prices.

All of this is assuming, of course, that something catastrophic doesn't happen in the meantime to change, delay, or derail these tours, but if they all work out, there's a ton of great live music to look forward to in the coming months.

And now, back to your doomscrolling.

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Cleveland Rocks with They Might Be Giants, Back-to-Back!

New wave/alt-rock legends They Might Be Giants recently wrapped an ambitious two-year tour that saw them performing two-to-four shows in select cities across the country, spotlighting a generous portion of a different album each night and showcasing their amazingly tight three-piece horn section. These shows were a delight to hardcore fans and newcomers alike and allowed the band more variety in song selection each night while also making travel from city to city a bit easier to tolerate. Even as this review is (finally) being written, the band is already teasing a new round of dates for 2026.

For a legacy act like TMBG, there's an abundance of material to choose from when preparing for any performance. While some may only know the band's four or five most popular songs (which they dutifully include almost every night), their dedicated followers usually celebrate any combination of material they may choose to perform, one of many elements that makes them unique among their peers and successors. Fans who have seen 50 shows may be standing next to younger fans attending for only the first or second time, yet everyone is still invited to join in on the fun and to be engaged by the clever delivery, creative wordplay, and impressive musical arrangements in their songs. The final two shows of 2025 saw the band visiting Cleveland, Ohio (a staple city from their many years on the road) with performances at two different venues on consecutive nights, just before Thanksgiving.

Friday night's show at the Agora Theatre featured songs from the 1994 album John Henry throughout the first set, and while TMBG have been rotating through spotlighting one of three particular albums over the last two years, it's notable that some of the songs that have been performed from these albums has also changed from 2024 to 2025. Where someone who saw them near the beginning of the tour might have been treated to a rendition of "A Self-Called Nowhere," seeing them later in the tour may have seen that song replaced by "Dirt Bike," for example. "No One Knows My Plan" continues to be featured without the traditional conga line intro, and "Spy" still engages with a lengthy free form section that has even more room to stretch out due to the added horns on stage. In the case of this show, a few other deep cuts and fan-favorites ("The Famous Polka," "You Probably Get That a Lot," and others) were sprinkled in throughout the first set, and nothing else from John Henry was included following the intermission.

All eight members of the touring band were in fine form all night, with Mark Pender, Dan Levine, and Stan Harrison, primarily on trumpet, trombone, and saxophone, respectively, each getting extra love from the crowd (and often hamming it up, adding even more humor to the show). Bassist Danny Weinkauf sported a T-shirt from his daughter Kai's musical project, and guitarist Dan Miller surprised a few lucky audience members who were seated in a second-level box by stepping out to rip his ending guitar solo from "Damn Good Times" right next to them thanks to modern wireless technology. Founding members and co-band leaders John Linnell and John Flansburgh peppered the night with their usual, comical observations, ranging in topic from how they've turned down invitations for induction to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame several times because The Monkees have yet to be inducted to encouragement to celebrate Black Friday at the merch table (though that consumer event was still one week away). 

The second set presented a number of fan favorites ("Can't Keep Johnny Down," "Shoehorn with Teeth" featuring drummer Marty Beller on the glockenspiel, and "Lie Still, Little Bottle," featuring "the stick") as well as highlights of newer songs like "Brontosaurus," "Moonbeam Rays," and "The Darlings of Lumberland," all of which have grown in reputation from their inclusion in recent years. After closing the first set with a showstopping, horn-heavy "Istanbul," TMBG saved their other biggest hits for the end of the show, including "Particle Man," "Birdhouse in Your Soul," and "Doctor Worm" among the final five songs of the evening. The Friday show felt more traditional because of the age and style of the venue, and fans old and new exited with buzzing energy that would find itself across town in front of a different stage about 20 hours later.

Saturday's performance was at The Globe Iron, a much newer club with a much smaller capacity that made for a very different atmosphere compared to Friday's show. Fans in line passed out TMBG stickers and made album-specific beaded bracelets for others also waiting to get inside. Venue staff seemed to range in age from teenagers still in high school to the elderly and retired, and they seemed less familiar or comfortable with the process of lining up the crowd, checking IDs, and scanning tickets once doors opened. Inside, the much-lower ceiling and deeper distance to the back of the performance area removed the component of half the audience looking down from a balcony but meant the last fans to arrive were pretty far from the stage, with early birds packing the GA floor tightly ahead of the performance. 

The second Cleveland show featured songs from TMBG's 4th album, 1992's Apollo 18, and seemed to engage the audience a bit better than the Friday show, though the band themselves seemed to have had a slightly better experience during the first show than the second. All players were sharp as usual, and aside from technical issues with monitor mixing, everything seemed to go off without a hitch. After opening with a rousing "Synopsis for Latecomers," one of only 10 songs that were performed both nights, the band ripped through a dense set of 10 songs in a row from Apollo 18, including hits like "The Statue Got Me High" and "The Guitar" along with live staples like "She's Actual Size," "I Palindrome I" and "Fingertips (pts. 1-21)" to the delight of the energetic audience. Slight changes in arrangements continued to appear in some of these songs compared to versions performed in previous years, much like some of the John Henry songs the night before, and segments that once included more jamming and interplay between instruments reverted to their original formats, all more similar to their recorded versions. These extensions once seemed to pad the runtime of the show a bit and now seem to have been removed in order to keep the show barreling forward, even if the overall length of the concert is slightly lessened.

The brilliance of "Stellub" was included both Friday and Saturday, where the band learned how to play and sing the Flood deep cut "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" backwards, which is filmed and played back to the audience in reverse, allowing them to hear the song performed as written, as a video introduction to the second set of the night. No other band would ever try such a thing, and one might argue no other band ever should! Drummer Marty Beller shined throughout renditions of older hits ("Ana Ng" and "New York City"), newer favorites ("Stuff Is Way" and "Call You Mom") and even deeper deep cuts ("Wearing a Raincoat," "Withered Hope," and "Number Three), all of which featured added accents by the horn section and had fans gleefully singing along, with the 1988 B-side "I'll Sink Manhattan" benefitting from the horns most of all.

This time around, the band closed the first set with "Doctor Worm" and shuffled "Istanbul" to the end of the show along with "Particle Man" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul," though one could argue swapping one out for the other on the consecutive nights might have allowed for another great oldie to be included at the second show. Linnell and Flansburgh were in a celebratory mood as this was the final show of the year prior to traveling back to New York for the holiday break, but with an EP of new songs coming out later this week and a new LP due in the late spring, fans are anticipating how the live show might change in 2026 following two years of The Big Tour.

They Might Be Giants (Agora Theatre, Cleveland OH, 11/21/25):
Stompy (intro tape)
--------------
Subliminal
Snail Shell
Out of Jail
Unrelated Thing
Meet James Ensor
The Famous Polka
Stuff Is Way
Synopsis for Latecomers
No One Knows My Plan
Spy
Dirt Bike
You Probably Get That a Lot
Stellub
Istanbul (The Four Lads)
------------------------- 
*(intermission)*
-------------------------
Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love ("Stellub" reversed on video)
What Nut (intro tape)
-------------
Dead
Memo to Human Fingertips (error!)
Memo to Human Resources
Can't Keep Johnny Down
Shoehorn with Teeth
Brontosaurus
Lie Still, Little Bottle
Let Me Tell You About My Operation
The Darlings of Lumberland
Where Your Eyes Don't Go
Moonbeam Rays
2082
Damn Good Times
Particle Man
Birdhouse in Your Soul
------------------------- 
Twisting
When Will You Die
--------------------------
Doctor Worm
---------------------------------

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They Might Be Giants (Globe Iron, Cleveland, OH, 11/22/25):
Stompy (intro tape)
--------------
Synopsis for Latecomers
The Statue Got Me High
Turn Around
She's Actual Size
Narrow Your Eyes
Mammal
I Palindrome I
Spider
The Guitar
Dinner Bell
Fingertips (pts. 1-21)
Stellub
Doctor Worm
-------------------------- 
(intermission)
--------------------------
Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love ("Stellub" reversed on video)
What Nut (intro tape)
--------------------
Stuff Is Way
Moonbeam Rays
Ana Ng
New York City (Cub)
Brontosaurus
I'll Sink Manhattan
Call You Mom
Withered Hope
Cloisonne
Wearing a Raincoat
Number Three
Birdhouse in Your Soul
--------------------------- 
Let Me Tell You About My Operation
Particle Man
-----------------------------
Istanbul (Four Lads)
----------------------

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The Mars Volta Challenge the Audience and Themselves in Royal Oak

On a recent, temperate autumn evening in Royal Oak, north of Detroit, The Mars Volta returned to bring their brand of progressive rock fusion to the stage to an attentive and supportive audience who most likely got a different show than most expected. Having performed at The Royal Oak Music Theatre on the first leg of their 2022 reunion tour, seeing the band on their only Michigan date this fall carried expectations or at least hopes that they would expand on their performances from the spring on a double bill tour with Deftones, and while they did extend some of the ambient bridges and jams that connected the songs on the setlist, they continued to play the exact same set in Royal Oak that they've performed at every show they've given this year, a track-by-track run through Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacio, their ninth and most recent LP, released in April.

While The Mars Volta are a blend of many styles and influences, more than anything, they are a modern progressive rock band, and this brings challenges to both the audience and the band itself to push forward rather than staying comfortably in the past or mining their greatest hits on stage. Volta's reputation grew as younger fans discovered them during their decade-long hiatus, and while many got to see the band run through some of their best-known songs during the tour for 2022's self-titled reunion album, the decision to dedicate the entire year of 2025 solely on this new set of material has been confounding to some and alienating to others. Aside from the material being unfamiliar, it also carries a tone dissimilar at times to the band's classic work, opting for an uneasy atmosphere over psychedelia and for calm vibes and intense focus over free form improvisation. In many ways, the latest album is the most challenging music they have yet released, building on the 33-minute "Cassandara Gemini," which closes 2005's Frances the Mute and expanding the idea to occupy the entirety of the 49-minute album, which is mixed to flow together as one big piece made up of several movements. Fans who saw them with Deftones last spring were introduced to the material as it was arranged on the record but prior to the album's release, leading to even more frustration for some. On their headlining tour, the band extended some sections (adding about 20 minutes to the set) to allow for a bit more of the vibe for which they are known without changing the running order of the songs or feeling an obligation to perform additional songs along the way or afterward.

The Mars Volta took the stage after short opening sets from Feliz y Dada and Kiana Medina, emerging artists that, like Volta, reflect musical and cultural elements from the Latin American members of each group. That they have always maintained musical connections to Mexico, Cuba, and Puetro Rico, it's notable that The Mars Volta's fanbase includes a greater Latino presence than their contemporaries.

To isolate any one track over another would be defeating the point of the performance, as it is all meant to connect, with almost no pauses between any two sections, somewhat comparable to live performances of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, where those in the audience who know where the individual segments end and begin applauded briefly as the next movement started. Co-band leaders Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals) and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (guitar) performed in a focused and understated way that carried more control and demanded greater attention to the music than their overly animated and often chaotic performances from the '00s. Famous for rotating various musicians among the supporting roles within the touring band, the current line-up includes returning members such as Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (keyboards), Leo Genovese (keyboards, saxophone), and founding bassist Eva Gardner along with newcomers Linda-Philomene Tsoungui (drums) and Teri Gender Bender (co-lead vocals), who was the opening act on the band's previous tour. An unstated theme of the current era of the band seems to highlight androgyny as men in the group hide behind long hair while jamming with women who have buzz-cuts or sport false moustaches. The current line-up of four men and three women is the band's most diverse ever; however, it makes no difference to the music or the performance one way or the other.

Some elements of the performance recalled memorable moments from Maynard Keenan's shows over the past few decades. Rodriguez-Lopez spent most of the concert near the back of the stage, similar to Keenan's 21st century concerts with Tool, intentionally avoiding spotlights and stage lighting, and he was often the least-noticeable musician among the seven. Bixler-Zavala, having never been able to quite replicate his multi-tracked and multi-octave vocals from studio recordings live on stage, has added Teri Gender Bender as a co-lead vocalist, handling both the higher harmonies and accenting key notes with additional power and emphasis. Their voices blended well together throughout the show, but it was impossible to not compare their approach to the successful collaboration between Keenan and the great Carina Round in Puscifer. 

The majority of the time, The Mars Volta stayed focused on delivering each segment with comfortable precision and only deviated into noisy jamming a few different times throughout (though doing so made those moments the most sonically engaging of the night compared to the well-rehearsed delivery of the songs themselves). As the album cycle came to a close, it was clear the concert itself would as well, in spite of the band having been on stage for only 75 minutes. The audience responded with enthusiastic appreciation, and the members of the band seemed to reflect genuine thanks, but there was no encore,  and no material from any other Volta release was performed. Following a band like this one requires a fair amount of patience and a willingness to experience new and different things along the way. That part of their punk influence comes through as they do what they want when they want regardless of the crowd or the critics. The more open minded and adventurous among those who attended the Royal Oak show no doubt left satisfied and looking forward to The Mars Volta's next musical adventures and experiments where the less initiated or hit-focused members of the crowd may have felt overcharged or unfulfilled. 

The Mars Volta (Royal Oak, MI - 11/13/25) set list:
Fin
Reina tormenta
Enlazan las tinieblas
Mictlan
The Iron Rose
Cue the Sun
Alba del orate
Voice in My Knives
Poseedora de mi sombra
Celaje
Vocitero
Mito de los trece cielos
Un disparo al vacio
Detras de la puetra dorada
Mullidos

Morgana
Cue the Sun (reprise)
Lucro sucio
---------------------------- 

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Queens of the Stone Age Bring the Catacombs to Detroit

Queens of the Stone Age, the most successful band in the desert rock/stoner metal genre, brought a very unique show to Detroit's Fox Theatre earlier this month, much to the delight of their dedicated fans. Known more for grungy riffs, up-tempo rockers, and lightning-fast guitar and drum work, QOTSA are currently on a short tour to promote their acoustic EP, Alive in the Catacombs, recorded among the bones and skulls underground in Paris, France last summer. Not simply featuring acoustic guitars and lighter arrangements of some of their hits, the band seized the extremely rare opportunity and access to record and film in the catacombs to present a theatrical run through a set of deep cuts, primarily from the second half of their catalog, in spite of a serious health issue frontman Josh Homme was experiencing at the time, which limited the project to only five songs though more were reportedly planned. While it would have been engaging and entertaining enough to perform an extended set of songs with similar arrangements, leaning heavily on a guest string quartet and featuring almost no percussion at all, Queens wisely seized the opportunity to take the idea into much broader and even more unexpected directions.

Advertising the tour as taking place in classier theaters in which the band would not normally perform their standard rock shows, and that the audience should dress up for the occasions accordingly, the atmosphere of the night was vastly different from a standard QOTSA concert. Fans who arrived in dresses and suits, shirts and ties, sexy gothic ensembles, and even Halloween costumes filled the seats, and those who made it in early enough were treated to a 40-minute opening set by Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael, who performed original material solo with only an acoustic guitar (and coincidentally was named after the home of the catacombs themselves). If that wasn't unique enough, the main performance began with a theatrical tone that lasted throughout and which was divided into three "acts," not unlike many plays, musicals, or operas. The first act wisely featured the entire five-track Catacombs EP, in sequence, performed essentially as it was in Paris and as it appears on the official release, with "Kalopsia" from ...Like Clockwork standing out as the best. Featuring that material right away led to even greater anticipation because fans assumed they'd heard those songs no matter what, but that left the rest of the show open to surprises, one after another.

Act two began when the musicians from the first act stepped off to the side of the stage and the curtain in front of which they'd been performing was raised to reveal a full drum kit with additional percussion and space for a small horn section and additional vocalists to join the string quartet who had already been part of act one. While some of the guest musicians came and went from the stage depending on the song being performed, in addition to the five primary members of the band, there were at times as many as 20 people on stage singing and/or playing in unison. While this certainly created a full and lush sound during each song, it also added to the theatrical tone and vibe of the concert itself. It felt almost like watching a filmed performance or a musical number that was part of a movie than any sort of standard or traditional concert. That the band were able to maintain this throughout the entire show is impressive in itself, but the song selection made the event even more of a fan's dream.

Building on the portmanteau-ed blend of the B-side "Running Joke" with "Paper Machete" from In Times New Roman..., which opens the acoustic EP, additional combinations of two or three different songs being mixed together were featured during the show's second act. Starting with "Someone's in the Wolf," which segued into a bit of "A Song for the Dead" and a few bars from "Straight Jacket Fitting" before returning to "Wolf" to conclude the piece, it was clear this show would be even more elaborate and intricately planned than was seen in the first act, especially with the expanded lineup of musicians. Areas of songs that would normally be full of guitars, keyboards, and drums were replaced with bombastic and even cacophonous bursts of horns, strings, and percussion, retaining the dynamic that exists in their original forms but presenting it in a new and different way. "Mosquito Song," an obvious choice for this type of show, however, was performed almost exactly the way it was written and recorded in 2002. More surprising were songs like the usually guitar-heavy "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," with key parts replaced by strings and horns, and even more so, the inclusion of "Spinning in the Daffodils," a song from Homme's side project Them Crooked Vultures, which QOTSA had never previously performed (in this case, mixed with a bit of "The Blood Is Love" from 2005's Lullabies to Paralyze). That particular piece may have been the peak of the show, but in the moment, it was only the conclusion of the second act.

Long-time Queens members including Troy Van Leeuwen, Mikey Shuman, and Detroit's own Dean Fertita (specially recognized at his hometown show) each adjusted perfectly to the alternate arrangements of the songs and in some cases added new elements to them since the parts they normally play on guitar, bass, or keyboard may have been taken by one of the horns or violins. For a show like this one that could have easily seen the band members playing what they would normally play anyway and simply doubling or tripling one part or another on top of the horns and strings, it's notable the band members would utilize the opportunity to add new elements to the songs instead, something that would certainly take more time and concentration to do, much less to do well. Drummer, Jon Theodore, still the "new guy" in the band after 12 years of service, particularly benefitted from such opportunities, as he was barely featured on the Catacombs EP, and since the alternate arrangements of these songs often left little room for the showy hard rock drumming he normally provides. It was clear he was excited to add to the movement of the songs in different ways throughout acts two and three.

The third and final act of the show continued to deliver a blend of material, but there were no more pieces with multiple songs blending together, and most of the tracks were deep cuts from the band's fourth, sixth, and seventh albums, such as "Fortress" and "Hideaway" from Villains and the title track from Like Clockwork..., already a piano ballad appropriate for a quieter concert. The rarely performed "You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..." was a highlight because of its scarcity, but two big surprises from this portion of the show included a brand new song, "Easy Street," which had only debuted the previous night in Chicago, and a very unexpected take on "Autopilot" from the band's second LP, a track written and originally sung by former bassist Nick Oliveri and the late Mark Lanegan. In this case, current bassist Mikey Shuman sang Oliveri's lead part and changed to Lanegan's backing vocal part during the final few measures of the song. This is essentially unheard of in QOTSA history where none of Oliveri's original material had been performed by the band since his departure in 2004. It was an absolute delight to hear them playing it again, even without him.

In spite of the excellent song selections, it was somewhat surprising a few key tracks that would easily have fit the tone of this concert were left out. Most notably, "Lightning Song," "Burn the Witch," and "This Lullaby" all would have worked well in this setting, but perhaps the band felt they were a bit too obvious to include and opted for others.

After a brief encore break, feeling almost like an after-thought, Homme and Shuman came back to the stage alone to perform a shortened version of "Long Slow Goodbye," accompanied only by Homme's sleighbell percussion. While a few fans attempted to clap along to the beat, the majority of the audience did not join in during the Detroit show, where video from other stops on the tour featured more rhythmic participation from the crowd. This fan-favorite deep cut was an appropriate, if not perfect, ending to a unique and very special performance that could really only come from QOTSA, though others may come up with interesting variations if they chose to attempt it with their own material. Fans old and new were overwhelmed with the creativity and talent that was constant through such a multifaceted show, and the band certainly must have felt a sense of freedom doing something so different from what they would normally. 

Queens of the Stone Age (Detroit, MI 10/3/25) set list:
Crickets Intro (intro tape)
------------------- 
Running Joke/Paper Machete
Kalopsia
Villains of Circumstance
Suture Up Your Future
I Never Came
------------------- 
Someone's in the Wolf/A Song for the Dead/Straight Jacket Fitting
Mosquito Song
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Spinning in the Daffodils (Them Crooked Vultures)/The Blood Is Love (tease)
------------------- 
"You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..."
Hideaway
The Vampyre of Time and Memory
Autopilot
Easy Street
Fortress
...Like Clockwork
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Long Slow Goodbye

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Tedeschi, Trucks, and Haynes Carry the Legacy of the Allman Bros. at Pine Knob

On an incredible late-summer night in Clarkston, north of Detroit, the spirit of the legendary Allman Brothers Band lived on through the music of two of its key former members, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks. Touring together for the first time as co-headliners with their ace solo projects, The Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov't Mule treated the jam-loving crowd to a night of hits, fan favorites, deep cuts, collaborations, and notable covers. Beginning with a short opening set from newcomer Nolan Taylor, the evening was elevated right away with Gov't Mule's opening number at just ten minutes after 7pm, an a cappella rendition of Son House's "Grinning in Your Face," a favorite of Haynes and local legend Jack White alike, followed by an extended run through their signature original, "Mule." After a few more signature originals, Mule began weaving in cover songs and quotes from tracks by other artists, including bits of The Allman Brothers Band's "Mountain Jam" and a bit of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" at the end of "Game Face" and a rousing take on Al Green's "I'm a Ram." Currently featuring only one founding member, bandleader Warren Haynes led this version of Mule through excellent performances of fan favorites like "Banks of the Deep End," "Sco-Mule," and "Rocking Horse" and jammed with members of The Tedeschi Trucks Band on "Dreaming Out Loud." 

With the tour itself clearly an excuse for collaboration throughout the night, it was no surprise that Derek Trucks joined the band for a soulful run through The Allman Bros.' classic "Desdemona" or that Susan Tedeschi would grace the audience with a beautiful take on the lead vocals for Mule's closing number, "Soulshine," another Allman Bros. staple. As three Allman songs had already appeared prior to the headliner even taking the stage, it was clear both bands continue to revere and celebrate the musical and historical significance of the rock and roll hall of famers that helped these players get their start and a foothold in the industry. 

Just after sunset, Tedeschi Trucks Band took the stage to enthusiastic applause from their many faithful fans and followers and to many who were seeing the band for the first time. Groups with this level of talent that also work outside the mainstream of rock music are probably always performing to people who have seen them 100 times and people seeing them for the first time every time they play. TTB's 12 members occupy every square foot of the stage, many alternating between multiple instruments during or between each song, and their professional delivery and road-tested groove was a perfect fit at Pine Knob. Drawing on tracks mostly from the middle of their catalog, TTB blended swampy southern rock with classic soul and plenty of psychedelic spice as they jammed on "Anyhow," "Soul Sweet Song," "Midnight in Harlem," and the rocking "Made Up Mind," their best-received original song of the night. Running strong for over 20 years now, the co-band leader spouses (Tedeschi and Trucks) made the vibe almost familial among the many Mule and Allman fans in the crowd. Like any great jam band, plenty of choice cover songs were also featured, including the Sleepy Jon Estes classic "Leaving Trunk" and a bit of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter's "Sugaree" as part of their own "Angel from Montgomery."

Without leaving the stage for an encore break, TTB put the exclamation point on the evening by inviting Warren Haynes back to the stage for an amazing performance of the Allman Brothers staple "Whipping Post," and then additional members of Gov't Mule joined in for the last song of the night, a loud and spirited take on Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's arrangement of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends," made famous at Woodstock and in the opening and closing credits of The Wonder Years. These final songs together were played for over 20 minutes and were the most engaging songs of the entire night with everyone on stage and in the audience singing along. While this particular show was the last of the bands' shared summer tour, there's a delightful comfort in knowing they would pack up and move on to the next city to do it all again a day or two later and that there's a good chance they'll both be back to continue to spread the gospel of rock and to carry on the legacy of The Allman Brothers again very soon.

Tedeschi Trucks Band (Clarkston, MI 9/10/25) set list:
Anyhow
Devil Be Gone
Who Am I
Soul Sweet Song
Leaving Trunk (Sleepy John Estes)
Volunteered Slavery (Rahsann Roland Kirk)
Future Soul
Angel from Montgomery/Sugaree (Jerry Garcia)
Do I Look Worried?
Midnight in Harlem
Made Up Mind
Whipping Post (Allman Bros. Band) (w/Warren Haynes)
With a Little Help from My Friends (The Beatles) (w/Gov't Mule)
----------------------------------------------------- 

Gov't Mule (Clarkston, MI 9/10/25) set list:
Grinning in Your Face (Son House)
Mule
Same As It Ever Was
Banks of the Deep End
Game Face/Mountain Jam (Allman Bros. Band)/Norwegian Wood (Beatles)
Sco-Mule
Dreaming Out Loud (w/members of TTB)
I'm a Ram (Al Green)
Desdemona (Allman Bros. Band) (w/Derek Trucks)
Rocking Horse

Soulshine (Allman Bros. Band) (w/Susan Tedeschi)
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Nine Inch Nails Peel It Back in Detroit!

After seven years away, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Trent Reznor and the legendary Nine Inch Nails returned to Michigan to perform in Detroit's Little Caesars Arena last Friday night. Their signature blend of dark, moody music and atmosphere accompanied a well-rehearsed set of hits, deep cuts, and fan favorites which left the adoring audience well satisfied but always ready for more. The members of Reznor's famously rotating backing band were all NIN veterans, including keyboardist Atticus Ross (a full-time member of the project since 2016), guitarist Robin Finck, multi-instrumentalist Alessandro Cortini, and recently returned drummer extraordinaire, Josh Freese, rejoining the group for the first time since 2008.

The production of the show itself is second to none with carefully designed lighting, projections, and other effects perfectly synchronized with specific moments in each song, sometimes recalling some of the band's earlier productions, such as the Self Destruct tour in 1994 and Fragility in 2000. Unique to the Peel It Back tour, however, was the placement of three separate stages in a column from the top to the bottom of the floor of the venue, which not only allowed for even more elaborate lighting changes but brought the performers to different positions within the venue throughout the show, somewhat recalling The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon tour with a B-stage in the rear of the floor which the band walked to and from during the concert.

Beginning with an hour of live mixed music by DJ Boys Noize on his own rear stage, the scheduling of the show allowed for continuous music for nearly three hours as no time was needed to allow for a set change prior to Reznor and company taking the stage. Beginning with quieter, piano-based renditions of "Right Where It Belongs" and "Ruiner" before segueing into the usual blend of loud guitar and electronics, once Nine Inch Nails got up and running, the intensity and the tempo alike remained constant throughout. With almost no between-song banter, some transitions between songs were so brief the next song almost began on the previous song's next beat. It wasn't quite making a dance party out of these intricately written and performed tracks, but it was about as close as you could get without that result being the intention. It made for an engaging and unique experience compared to any other average rock show where a player may need to tune and instrument, or the singer decides to tell a story about where they had lunch that day. 

Full throttled renditions of "Wish" and "March of the Pigs" established the tone for the rest of the night, and while the set leaned heavily on the band's masterpiece, 1994's The Downward Spiral, with about half of that album being performed, they balanced those songs out with 21st century material like "The Lovers" and "Less Than" from the Add Violence EP,  A cool new remix of "Vessel" from Year Zero, and both "Copy of A" and a new remix of "Came Back Haunted" from Hesitation Marks. NIN have also produced a new soundtrack album for the third installment in the Tron film franchise, and they included the lead single from that record but played no other new material in Detroit. Transitioning between stages throughout the show, the third portion, performed on the B-stage, included collaboration with Boys Noize who provided additional live remixing to four of the night's particularly electronic songs, including the legendary "Closer," appearing in a new mix without the quote from "The Only Time" that has been omnipresent for over 25 years.

The fourth and final segment of the show, performed on the main stage, contained some of the most personal and most impressive moments. After a blistering "Mr. Self Destruct," now played in a lower key, the crowd was gifted a performance of the previously rarely featured hit "The Perfect Drug," which stood out even more with Freese dominating the song's complex drum solo, getting some of the loudest crowd response of the night. After that, Reznor introduced the Freese and the rest of the band and gave respect to David Lynch, the late writer/director with whom Reznor collaborated on Lost Highway, Twin Peaks, and other projects. He then mentioned how great it was to work with another David and launched into David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans," a track Reznor famously remixed for its original single release, complete with Bowie's sampled voice coming from the keyboard as in his recording. Such a timeless song always feels relevant, and the audience and musicians collectively bonded over love for Bowie near the end of the concert.

Concluding with experienced precision, "The Hand That Feeds" led to "Head Like a Hole," the only track included from the band's debut LP, and finally the emotional ballad, "Hurt," a standard closer since its first release 31 years ago. With a project like Nine Inch Nails, it's hard to be disappointed with any combination of songs they may choose to perform. It's more about how there are so many excellent tracks to choose from, it's impossible to include them all. Reznor has famously turned Nine Inch Nails on and off as a project like the power button on a synthesizer, so there's no way of knowing whether or not this is a one-off tour or the launch of a new productive era outside his award-winning scoring work with Ross. In any case, catching this particular show, if you can, would be a wise idea.

Nine Inch Nails (Detroit, 8/22/25) set list:
Right Where It Belongs/Somewhat Damaged
Ruiner
Piggy (nothing can stop me now mix)
--------- 
Wish
March of the Pigs/All the Pigs, All Line Up (tag)
Reptile
The Lovers
Copy of A
Gave Up
-----------
Vessel (w/Boys Noize)
Closer (w/Boys Noize)
As Alive As You Need Me to Be (w/Boys Noize)
Came Back Haunted (w/Boys Noize)
------------ 
Mr. Self Destruct
Less Than
The Perfect Drug
I'm Afraid of Americans (David Bowie)
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt
---------------------------


*(watch bootleg video of the full show here!)*

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