The Belasco was packed on a Friday night in L.A. I got to the venue a bit later than I had hoped so I missed Scowl and only caught the end of Drug Church‘s set.
There were quite a few people excited to see The Chats and if you’re a fan of OG punk rock – they do not disappoint. I managed to catch the majority of their high-energy set. There was a pretty intense pit through most of it.
The Chats put on a great set and once they were finished the crowd was primed and ready for the main event. I have been a long time fan of The Bronx and their hardcore punk tendencies but this was going to be my first time seeing them perform live.
The band entered the stage to the song “Friday” by Rebecca Black. (Here’s a refresher in case you don’t know) After a bit of tinkering with one of their guitar amps they proceeded to explode into the song “White Shadow” and we were off to the races.
After the intro, they plowed through a few of their more well-known tunes. Lead vocalist Matt Caughthran spent most of his time in the pit screaming directly at fans and mixing it up with them. From my spot on the balcony, I saw him get pulled into quite a few crazy mix-ups. Tons of respect to the guy for being a true man of the people.
By the time they got to fan favorite “Youth Wasted” most of the audience was already chanting the lyrics along with Matt. This song made everyone sing along even louder.
The energy in the building eventually crescendoed to a level that was through the roof. Matt was busy moshing and yelling at the crowd for probably about 80% of the show which helped to achieve this. In this clip of the song “Knifeman” it shows him basically on the floor through most of the song. At one point he gets pulled into a mosh pit and later on you can see him rallying the crowd in the center of the venue.
Song after song the band reminded me how deep their catalog is and how many fantastic tracks they have released over the years. The Bronx just recently released their 6th full length LP “The Bronx VI” back on August 27th of 2021, so despite having a lot of classics to pull from they also have a lot of fantastic new material as well.
Their set culminated with the performance of one of my all time favorite songs “History’s Stranglers.” The band played the song about 5 times faster than it is on tape because the energy levels in the building were so high.
Like a true punk rock set, it seemed to fly by so quickly… but the band wasn’t done yet. After ending with a big bang, they left the stage briefly and the light’s dimmed. When they returned Matt announced that they were going to do something they rarely do – a cover song.
What band and song are worthy of a cover by The Bronx? I was surprised when he announced they would cover “Over the Top” by Motorhead!!
“You gotta go the fuck off when anyone plays a Motorhead song” Matt announced. “Because Lemmy’s watching… so don’t let him down Los Angeles!”
If you love high-energy punk and metal do not miss this tour. You can still catch them out on the road for the remainder of October 2022.
- October 10 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
- October 11 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
- October 13 Salt Lake City, UT The Complex
- October 14 Denver, CO Summit
- October 15 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theater
- October 16 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
- October 18 Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
- October 19 Detroit, MI El Club
- October 20 Toronto, ON The Phoenix
- October 21 Montreal, QC Corona Theater
- October 22 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
- October 23 Boston, MA Big Night Live
