Kind & Duel Live 8/28/25

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 30, 2025 · Updated September 18, 2025

Live at The Widowmaker Brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts USA *August 28th 2025*

It’s quite rare for me to go to a heavy rock show two weeks in a row but that’s how things recently played out. Last week, I witnessed one of Sweden’s finest, Truckfighters play in Cambridge, Massachusetts (review here). This past Thursday night, I got to see the excellent Duel from Austin, Texas, play a rare show in the north east. I was very excited to see them live! I really love their whole catalog of releases, especially last year’s Breakfast With Death (review here). The band added a few shows to coincide with their appearance at this year’s RPM Festival in Montague, Massachusetts. Once the show was announced at the Widowmaker, supporting Boston’s own heavy rockers Kind, I was sold! I saw Kind live for the first time this past December (review here) opening for Howling Giant at the Middle East, in Cambridge. Both bands are favorites of mine so I knew that it was going to be an amazing night. The Widowmaker is probably my favorite venue to experience live bands currently. Last year, Dozer toured the United States and played at the club (review here). I returned to the brewery this past April for Friday’s addition of the Hopsmokerfest (review here).

After, a long work day, that started at 3 am, I was ready to see an awesome heavy rock extravaganza. I picked up my friend Justin and we arrived at the Widowmaker as the opening band, Birnam Wood was playing. We saw the guys from Duel in the parking lot and introduced ourselves and hung out with them for a bit. They were super cool and friendly and appreciative that we were there for the show. By the time we made it inside, Birnam Wood had only two more songs left to play. They sounded really good and heavy and I made a mental note to check them out later. I saw Daryl (guitarist of Kind) and we conversed for a bit as Birnam Wood was wrapping up their set. When they finished, Justin and I positioned ourselves in front of the stage as Duel was loading in their gear.

DUEL

Duel are a four-piece band consisting of Tom Frank on guitars and lead vocals, Jeff Henson on guitars and backing vocals, Patrick “Scooch” Pascucci on drums, and Drew Potter on bass and backing vocals. They played a blistering set, mixing in a good variety of songs from their repertoire. Opening up with “Wave Of Your Hand” from 2021’s In Carne Persona record, the band was focused and tight. The next song called “Devil” is the first track on the band’s second album, 2017’s Witchbanger. Duel sounded amazing throughout their nine song set. The lead off track from In Carne Persona called “Children Of The Fire” was next and it was great! The band incorporates twin guitar harmonies and backing vocals from both guitarist Jeff and bassist Drew. Tom”s vocals are great and fits every style of music that the band plays. The next three tracks were all from their latest, Breakfast With Death album. The old school metal thrashing triad of “Chaos Reigns”, “Tigers Of Destruction”, and the hardcore/ punk rocking “Pyro”, were all amazing! The energy really increased with those three tracks and never let up for the rest of their performance. The head banging continued when “Fallacy” dropped. Duel are very talented musicians and each of their records explore different styles and sounds. The last song they played was the title track from their 2016 debut, called “Fears Of The Dead”. It was killer! I was pretty blown away with how awesome they sounded and the song choices were fantastic too. They combine a good variance of proto-metal, hardcore, traditional heavy metal, hard rock, and punk. Duel did not disappoint and hammered out a devastating set of hard and aggressive rock music that hit me just right. It was a beautiful and amazing experience!

https://duel3.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/share/14LUiG6qYrJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

KIND

I was a little surprised that Kind were the headliners, but given that they are from the Boston area, it did make sense. I was curious on how they would pull it off, and to my delight, they absolutely destroyed! The band features Matt Couto on drums, Darryl Shepard on guitars, Tom Corino on bass, and Craig Riggs on vocals. I was very excited to see them play again. I am a huge fan of their music and was curious on how this performance would compare to the last time I saw them. Well, I wasn’t expecting it to completely annihilate me! Kind blew me away! They opened up with their rendition of the Creedance Clearwater Revival version of “Heard It Through The Grapevine “. It was an absolute crusher! The sludgy doom version of this classic song was incredible! I had goosebumps from the first few chords and it lasted the whole duration. It was truly amazing and it was the very first time that they had ever played the song live. What struck me the most about the band, was with how heavy and devastating they sounded. They played “German For Lucy” from their debut, 2015’s Rocket Science and it completely destroyed! “What It Is To Be Free” from their latest, 2023’s Close Encounters album (review here) really amped up the riff rock and rage. It continued on with the title track from their second album, “Mental Nudge”. They proceeded to play “Faster Number Two”, also from 2020’s Mental Nudge. The band gifted us with a new track, tentatively called “Lean”, I believe. It was a head ripping song that they just recorded a week prior to this show. Kind has been on a roll lately, from writing and recording a couple of new tracks, to gearing up for RippleFest Texas in September. They will also be playing with Norway’s Kal-El in October, which I am very excited about. The last song they played was “Hordeolum” from Rocket Science. It’s an excellent closer with a very cool bass and drum break towards the end of the song. The sound quality of both Kind and Duel was fantastic. The sound guy definitely knows what he is doing and dials in the levels perfectly. I wasn’t prepared for the sonic beating that Kind dished out. I didn’t realize or expect them to sound that brutal and heavy. My jaw was on the floor by the time they finished and my whole body was flooded with energy. The band delivered such a crushing live performance and completely owned it! The high from this show will last me several days, no doubt.

When the show finished, I bought a bunch of merchandise from both bands and thanked them all for playing. We hung out with the fine gents from Duel again and then proceeded to drive back home. The vitality I gain from going to live shows is something quite magical. The vibe at Widowmaker Brewery is always friendly and comforting. I am really grateful to be a part of and involved in the heavy underground music scene. I love the bands and music so much that it really makes my life better all around.