Acid Bath, Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, & Primitive Man Live 5/30/26
Live at Roadrunner in Boston, Massachusetts USA *May 30th 2026*
For whatever reason, I reviewed this show in the reverse order. I guess I was so excited to talk about Acid Bath that I started writing about them and just decided to leave the order as is. The show was amazing and I was so ecstatic to have finally witnessed the amazing Acid Bath live in concert. I went to the show with my friends Justin and Sam, and we met Isaac (Sam’s son) there. The Roadrunner is a decent size club and the show was packed and most luckily sold out.
ACID BATH
Acid Bath has been a favorite band of mine since first hearing 1994’s When The Kite String Pops. That album and band changed my life! I behold that album and 1996’s Pagan Terrorism Tactics as masterpieces and love them still as much today as I did in the late nineties. Acid Bath was such a huge influence on me personally, with their diverse style of music that fits in with a lot of different genres. Since they started doing these reunion tours last year, their popularity has exploded and it’s amazing how much appreciation people are giving this well deserved band. I was super happy when they announced a Boston show and I ordered my tickets right away. There was no way that I was gonna miss them!
Acid Bath are the type of band that are accessible for people into death metal, hardcore, heavy metal, hard rock, sludge, and everything else in between. Dax Riggs has one of the best voices ever in all of music today. There’s nobody like him and I must say the band sounded so stellar Saturday night. They did not disappoint at all! Being at a bigger venue, I could only get super close. I knew I didn’t want to try to make it to the front because it was a mob scene down there. The size of the mosh pits and the crowd surfing was enormous. It was quite the spectacle to watch, but I did not want to be anywhere near there. I found a nice spot on the stairwell that I could see the band decently. I decided to stay there most of the show. I must say the sound quality in that place was amazing. I could hear all the instruments nice and clear and the band performed unbelievably. I was completely blown away! They are definitely one of those bucket list bands that I needed to see and I am so glad they are back at it, at least doing these tours. Their music never really ages and sounds just as vital and powerful today as it did back in the 90s. Even though two of the original members have passed on (bassist Audie Pitre and drummer Jimmy Kyle), the remaining three have really honored the integrity of the Acid Bath sound. The touring lineup includes Dax Riggs on lead vocals, Sammy “Pierre” Duet on guitars and backing vocals, Mike Sanchez on guitars, Shane Wesley on bass, and Zack Simmons on drums.
The band opened up with “Tranquilized” from their debut album, When The Kite String Pops. It’s a fantastic hard rock song to get everyone’s attention. They proceeded to play “Bleed Me An Ocean” and “Venus Blue”, both from their sophomore, Pagan Terrorism Tactics record and it ruled! One of the highlights for me is when they brought out the acoustic guitar and played “The Bones Of Baby Dolls”. It was so surreal and Dax’s voice was amazing. I had goosebumps all over! The rocking version of “Dead Girl”, akin to the Agents Of Oblivion version was also pure delight. The rest of the set list included “The Mortician’s Flame”, “New Death Sensation”, “Graveflower”, and the awesome “Pagan Love Song”. Acid Bath closed with the epic song “The Blue” from the Kite String record and left the place leveled! No encore was given or necessary because Acid Bath destroyed and tore the roof off with their ten song performance! It was truly amazing and a memory that I will cherish forever.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1EDiTVP7pC/?mibextid=wwXIfr
NAPALM DEATH
Napalm Death is another important and longtime favorite band of mine. The grindcore legends have been at it for so long that they make it look easy when they are playing. Vocalist Barney Greenway was running and jumping around the stage the whole time and really had the energy going. Drummer Danny Herrera was simply amazing and kept everything super tight and fast as always. Missing from the lineup was bassist Shane Embury and I’m not sure who was filling in. The live guitarist was John Cooke. Despite the different lineup, Napalm Death totally destroyed! They played a mixed set of old and new songs and the energy was wild! They really got me going and I appreciate everything they have done with their style of extreme music. Napalm Death will always have a special place in my heart, and I was so happy to see them live once again. They opened with “Instinct Of Survival” from their debut Scum and it was on! Some of the highlights for me were “Suffer The Children”, “Unchallenged Hate”, “I Abstain”, “Lucid Fairytale”, and the classic Dead Kennedy‘s song “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” as their closer. It was a blistering set of pure grindcore glory!
https://napalmdeath.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/share/1B9MKrWCii/?mibextid=wwXIfr
PIG DESTROYER
Pig Destroyer sounded pretty insane! It has been a long time since I had listened to this band. I remember really being into their first two albums, 2000’s 38 Counts Of Battery and 2001’s Prowler In The Yard. I had lost touch of what they were doing but I knew they were still around. I was very curious on how they sounded nowadays. From what I remember, they only had a guitarist, a drummer, and vocalist back then. They were nasty! This current lineup includes J. R. Hayes on lead vocals, Scott Hull on guitars, Adam Jarvis on drums, Travis Stone on bass, and Alex Cha on noise, samples, and backing vocals. The band played a great mix of blast beats and breakdown rhythms and the crowd really liked it. It was a lot of fun! One of the highlights was when Alex Cho had an inflatable raft and was crowd surfing. It was a pretty wild thing and something I’ve never seen before. Overall, I really enjoyed their set and it was nice to finally get to see them play live.
https://pigdestroyer.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BHKw3PJGy/?mibextid=wwXIfr
PRIMITIVE MAN
Primitive Man was a heavy wall of devastating doom that started things off. The dense sounds that those three guys were making was enormous. The band consists of Ethan Lee McCarthy on guitars and vocals, Jonathan Campos on bass, and Joe Linden on drums. The whole floor was rumbling and finally the repetition got the better of me. The slow and dense drone type of doom is good in small doses but I needed a jolt to get me going. I totally respect a band like Primitive Man though because they were a mountain of heavy sludge and added a nice dynamic to the styles of music being played that night.
https://www.primitivemandoom.com
https://primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BbZTZkyP5/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The first band that went on was called Final Gasp. They had a cool hard rocking sound but I wasn’t paying attention enough to properly review them. Overall, it was a long night but definitely worth it. The show started early though around 6 o’clock and we were out of there before 11 PM. The worst part was trying to get out of the parking garage to go home. We were probably stuck in there for at least 45 minutes to an hour just watching people get annoyed trying to get out. I do prefer smaller venues but for the almighty Acid Bath, this show was so much worth it.
