The Atomic Bitchwax live 7/17/24

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 18, 2024 · Updated August 28, 2024

Live at the Jewel Music Venue in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA *July 17th 2024*

On a Wednesday night, July 17th, I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands play live. The Atomic Bitchwax was playing a show at the Jewel Music Venue in Manchester, New Hampshire. The club was only thirty minutes away from where I live! I was super stoked to hear about this show because it wasn’t even announced on their tour schedule. This was the fifth time seeing The Atomic Bitchwax and the first time for my wife. She knows how much I love this band through the years of constantly playing their music in our vehicles. She thought they were good but I assured her that when you see them live, it’s on a whole new level. In fact, the last time I saw them live was over two years ago in Pennsylvania, after driving over six hours, to bring my then fourteen year old son, to his first rock concert.

Anyways, we arrived at the club just as the band before them were finishing up. I went right to the merch booth and bought a T-shirt and their Live At Freak Valley Fest CD, which came out last year. I shook bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik’s hand after I purchased the goods and we proceeded to make our way to the very front of the stage. I love being right up front for live shows. The experience is much different than being in the back and I knew that the energy of the band would be incredible from there. I have been witnessing most of my favorite bands, playing in small clubs, from the front, for several years now. It can feel like an out of body experience at times.

The Atomic Bitchwax were setting up their equipment and doing their sound check when I could feel the bass drum through my chest. I knew this was gonna be super loud and unforgiving! Once Chris started sound checking his bass, I could feel the low end rumbling through my whole body. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring earplugs but on some level, I didn’t really care. I was going to witness the shear ferocity of The Atomic Bitchwax at full volume!

The band played a crushing set! They opened with the Edgar Winter Band’s classic “Frankenstein” rendition and went right into the classic “Hope You Die.” The sound was completely devastating throughout and the energy of the music was incredible. The set list was very similar to the Live At Freak Valley Fest CD but the order was a little different. Essentially, they played all the same songs on the live record with the addition of “Force Field” from their third record. The band played a super tight set. Drummer Bob Pantella was flawless in his execution while the band was playing in break neck speeds and tempo changes. Garrett Sweeny (the newest Bitchwax member, and third guitarist since their formation, joined them in 2018) shredded on the guitar! He also sings back up vocals to Kosnik and sounds great. Sweeny and Pantella are also both in legendary rockers, Monster Magnet. Kosnik, being the only original in the band, surly knows how to recruit band members. His stellar bass playing is remarkable! The trio play together with such confidence and conviction that you would believe that they have all been jamming together for over thirty years, the lifespan of The Bitchwax thus far. The band played a lot of great songs like “Forty-five” from their second record, “So Come On” from the Boxriff EP, the instrumental “Giant” from 4 and the uber classic “Birth To The Earth” from the Self Titled. The band joked around a lot between the songs and they looked like they were really enjoying themselves throughout their set. The interaction with the crowd was really cool. They mixed things up nicely playing five instrumentals total (not counting the “Frankenstein”intro and outro) and songs varying from most of their records. This was the first time seeing them as the headliner, which was great. They played for over an hour which was a treat in itself. They blasted through a cluster of songs with no breaks. The instrumental “Ninja” from 2020’s Scorpio, right into “Coming In Hot” from 2015’s Gravitron and the last song from 2017’s Force Field record, “Liv A Little.” I first heard of The Atomic Bitchwax back in 2005, just before 3 came out and “Force Field” was the spastic instrumental on that record and second to last song of the night. It was great hearing that one live again. The last song “Shit Kicker” from their debut, finished off the evening in perfect harmony. I believe they closed every show that I witnessed them, with this track. For good reason, it freaking rules! At the very conclusion of the song they broke into the “Frankenstein”riff for a brief measure, to officially end their set. I can’t say enough great things about The Atomic Bitchwax! Every single time I see them live, they always deliver!