Truckfighters & Restless Spirit Live 8/20/25

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 23, 2025 · Updated August 23, 2025

Live at Sonia’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA *August 20th 2025*

I was ecstatic when I heard that the Truckfighters were returning to the United States. The Swedish fuzz rockers are one of the most dynamic and energetic live bands in existence today. I have seen the band play live, I believe four times already, and they always deliver an amazing performance. My wife and I were very excited that the band was returning to the Boston area. It had been almost 5 years since we had seen them last, just before the pandemic broke out.

Supporting the band on this tour is Restless Spirit, from New York. I only heard Restless Spirit for the first time this past April 18th 2025, when they played with Earthlore, Bone Church, and Howling Giant, as part of the Hopsmokerfest, in Braintree, Massachusetts (review here). I was really impressed with their sound and was excited to see them again. Earthlore, with whom I have seen a couple of times fairly recently, was the opening band of the night. Unfortunately, we showed up late and missed their whole set. In fact, we arrived in the middle of Restless Spirit’s set and missed a good chunk of their performance too. However, what I did witness, was excellent! The club was filled up when we got there and the band sounded great. I wish I was more familiar with their music, because they put on a great show. Their releases includes: 2015’s Tardus Mortem, 2016’s Harvest EP, 2017’s 1922 EP, 2019’s Lord of the New Depression, 2020’s Clarity EP, 2021’s Blood of the Old Gods, 2023’s Afterimage, and 2024’s The Doomed And The Dead… Live. This is definitely a band that I need to do a deep dive into their music catalog.

TRUCKFIGHTERS

We bought our Truckfighters t-shirts right before the band started setting up on the stage. We proceeded to find a nice spot in front on the right hand side. When the music to the song “Altered State”, the mellow closer from their classic debut album Gravity X started playing, I was getting goosebumps. The eight plus minute song was a great intro and precursor to the anticipation for the Truckfighters to take the stage. As the song was playing on, the band finally appeared, met with cheers from the eager audience. They opened their set with “ Mind Control” from their fourth album, 2014’s Universe. It was amazing! The energy in that club erupted instantly. Everyone was bouncing around and having a great time! Founding band members, bassist and vocalist Oskar “Ozo” Cedermalm and guitarist Niklas “Dango” Källgren were joined by Joel “Jolo” Alex on the drums. They sounded excellent right from the start! The second track they played was “Atomic” from 2007’s Phi. It was truly amazing! We were positioned in front of guitarist Dango, and he was going “ape shit” the whole time. Jumping around the stage and doing crazy front kicks and other acrobatic-like movements. The band is so entertaining and engaging to watch live. Ozo and Alex were also very active in their respective roles but Dango was insane! He would also play his guitar behind his head a few times, while playing guitar leads. The best part of the high energy performance is that the band were still very tight in their execution. They didn’t miss a beat or hardly a note, during their high octane and hard rocking performance. It was quite a spectacle to witness and be a part of.

The opening track to 2009’s Mania album called “Last Curfew” was next. It was quite the dynamic shift because the song starts off slow and builds up into a heavy riff rocking delight. I was very happy that they played this one because I did not expect it at all, and it’s a great song. They went right into the second track from Mania entitled “Monte Gargano”. That song ignited the exuberance back into full force. “Manhattan Project” from 2005’s Gravity X was another great song that they played. However, the biggest surprise that the trio dropped on us, was playing “Gain Speed” with Dango handling the lead vocals. That song is from the original 2001 Desert Cruiser EP and later featured on 2011’s Hidden Treasure Of Fuzz. It’s a more straightforward song that I was never expecting on hearing live. “Helium 28” is another older song that they played next, to my delight, from 2003’s Fuzzsplit Of The Century (with Firestone).

The band shifted back to the Universe record and played an extended and jamming version of “The Chairman”. It was surreal and very electrifying! After a short break and encore cheers from the crowd, they returned with “The 1” from 2016’s V album. Being the last full length release in nearly a decade, it was nice to hear a track from their fifth record. The band did a great job mixing up the songs and playing tracks from all of their albums. The final song was “ Desert Cruiser” from their debut, and the ultimate closing song. It was mayhem! The crowd was responsive with moshing and crowd surfing, for this one, and pretty much, throughout their set. The vibe at the show was excellent! Everyone was having a blast and really getting into the undeniable Truckfighters sound. There was no drama of fights or arguments at all, the whole night! I love when shows are like that and everybody is having fun. It really makes for a pleasant evening and a nice atmosphere to be a part of.

The Truckfighters are one of the best live bands today. Every single time that I go to their shows, I leave feeling high and buzzed for days later. The vitality that I gain from their live music is hard to describe. The band has been one of my favorites since discovering them back in 2005, when Gravity X came out. I have enjoyed all of their albums and even did a Top 5 On Friday post, ranking them, which is very difficult to do. You can check it out here. In closing, the Truckfighters are definitely a band that I will always make an effort to go see. The music has moved me for two decades now and I am so grateful that they came back to the United States. Nobody really knows when the band will return, and because of the exorbitant costs of visas these days, let’s hope they do.