Another look at the Reverend Horton Heat / Black Joe Lewis / Pinata Protest show held at Empire Live Tuesday night, this time through the lens of our photographer Timothy Reidy.
Photography by Timothy Reidy.
More coverage of the show here …
Advertiser Ambush: Bear & Bird
Sara B. of (RadioRadioX/Xperience) drops by Bear & Bird 160 Jay Street M, Schenectady, NY,
Caity Gallagher @ Lost & Found, 4/13/2026
Caity Gallagher continued her residency at Lost & Found, this time outside.
Photography by Timothy Reidy.
Upstate Unplugged: Jocelyn & Chris at White Lake Studios April 30th
Interview: Jocelyn & Chris (Arndt)
By: Rob Smittix
Photo By: Tina Pelech
RRX: First of all, thank you for doing this today. RadioRadioX and Xperience are certainly big fans of Jocelyn and Chris. We play your music often and you’ve been very kind to us over the years, so we appreciate that.
JA: Oh, that’s awesome. We love you guys. It’s amazing what you guys do for the music community, so we’re really happy to do this.
RRX: Oh, I appreciate that we’re trying, you know? So, we’ve got the Upstate Unplugged show Thursday, April 30th at White Lake Studios, very excited about that… very intimate setting there. I’ve only been to one event so far but I plan on going to every other one for the foreseeable future. I bet you’re excited for this as well?
CA: Definitely, yeah and I’m with you on going to every one I can. The setting is so cool. It’s such a tiny room and it sounds absolutely amazing. We’re gonna do something kind of cool, we’ve been doing this thing at our recent shows where we take some of the set and we do it full band and then other parts of the set we do it semi-acoustic. Just to make it as intricate of an experience as we can and this time we’re gonna switch up the order and start with the semi-acoustic stuff and then get into the full band. It should be really fun.
JA: It’s gonna be cool, we have a cool set list planned. I’m excited for it to unfold.
RRX: Absolutely. Anyone that hasn’t been to one of these, I’ve been trying to push it out… there’s very limited seating, so you better get your ticket now while they last.
CA: Oh, yeah!
JA: It’s cozy, totally for sure!
RRX: It’s cozy, but I mean… this is a recording studio setting. I’ve been to a number of recording studios in my day and White Lake kind of takes the cake, they really got the nice setup over there.
JA: Oh yeah, you’re right on. I mean… we might be a little biased because all of our albums we have recorded in this studio, it’s actually where we are right now! I feel very at home in this studio, I love it here. But I mean, there’s no reason not to love it here. It’s amazing like Chris said it sounds amazing. This whole series is very much like a listening room experience, it’s super intimate. Like you said, it’s cozy. Get right up in your face and vice versa, which I love as a performer to be able to connect and talk with the audience. You get a little rapport going. There’s a back and forth. It’s really special, honestly, so I’m excited.
RRX: I’m in a band with my brother, he’s the drummer, so we’ve got a lot of other elements and space between us. With you two being up front has there ever been any sibling rivalry over the years? How does that work?
CA: There have been sibling rivalries but not really related to music. They’re usually like… Jocelyn, why haven’t you taken out the trash? Chris, why haven’t you done the dishes? That kind of thing.
JA: Normal stuff, nothing too crazy.
CA: No, with the music stuff… I guess we are both in the front of the stage but we also both have pretty clearly defined roles. Namely, I am not a vocalist. I sing some background stuff and I enjoy that but being the front-man of the band is very much Jocelyn’s territory and her gift. I’m just happy to be there playing some lead guitar sometimes.
JA: I mean, honestly, I think we balance each other out. That’s true for the performing. It’s also true for the songwriting. It’s always been like that. We’ve always written together since we were kids and I think we balance each other out in that way. I will say, we’ve only ever performed with each other.
RRX: Wow.
JA: So it’s like we have an unspoken language. One thing that comes to mind though, I forget when this happened… Chris, maybe you remember? When we had to switch sides of the stage?
CA: Oh, that is bizarre.
JA: I tend to flail around a lot and I kept hitting Chris’s back. We did have to switch back at one point so that I wouldn’t keep clocking him but… No other sibling stuff really except for the occasional me whacking him by accident.
RRX: That’s funny. Chris, you mentioned that you’re not a vocalist and you recognize Jocelyn as the front person of the band but oh my God… who would ever want to sing next to Jocelyn? Because Jocelyn’s gonna blow everybody away! You’ve got those chops.
CA: (Laughs) It’s an intimidating person to share a stage with for sure.
JA: This guy can sing too. Especially the more recent stuff, he’s on all the background vocals, so he’s in the mix.
RRX: Nice. Now, I did hear that you both got scholarships to Harvard and I was just kind of sidebar wondering, what’s it like to be smart? Because I went to Albany High, it’s kind of the same thing.
(Both Laugh)
JA: Oh man, I will tell you that we’re huge nerds and you probably have more real world experience.
CA: We were in a band, I don’t know… I never felt like I was the smartest person in the room there, in high school or anywhere else.
JA: We did some recordings, our original music…
CA: We did, yeah.
JA: …with our college app, so that had to count for something.
RRX: It sure does. No, that’s pretty cool. I always tried to be smart. So what do you guys have up and coming? Anything that you’re working on?
CA: Yeah, well… we got the show which we’re really excited about. And like Jocelyn said, we’re putting together a set that is unlike anything we’ve really ever done. Some really new stuff, some really old stuff, some stuff that we haven’t played since before COVID.
JA: But in Spanish.
CA: Yeah, Spanish, some multilingual stuff. But other than that we’ve been doing a lot of songwriting with some of the other artists on the label. There’s this artist Margo Macero, who if you’re in the Capital Region and you don’t know about Margo, you definitely should. She is so talented and awesome.
RRX: I love Margo, she is awesome.
JA: She’s so killer. She’s the real deal. She’s amazing.
CA: Earlier you cracked that joke about sharing a stage with Jocelyn and I feel like she’s one of the few people who I’ve seen go up and sing with Jocelyn and pull it off. It’s really cool to see you guys sing together.
JA: We had the privilege of working with her to write the music for her debut record. Which I think is in the recording process now. I’m excited to see where those songs go. But yes, we’ve got that… I mentioned Spanish. We are in the process of doing something cool, which is we’re reworking some of our selected tracks, some of our favorite songs into Spanish. And recording Spanish versions of them, which has been really fun. We have recorded one and we’re working on another, so we’re gonna try to break that out live at the show on April 30th. It’s gonna be fun.
RRX: That will be interesting to see. David (Bourgeois) told me a little bit about these Spanish tracks. There’s a lot that really goes into that.
JA: Oh my gosh, yeah, it is more intensive than I imagined. You know, it’s funny… I feel like the best way to approach it is like a puzzle, you know? Because we’ve created these songs in English, in our own world, right? I’ve always been like the words person, so working with the translator to translate songs in Spanish so that they still have the same feel and still have the same themes, and they’re still relatable in that way… but then there’s also the performance aspect. It’s been a very challenging puzzle.
CA: Jocelyn’s lyrics use a lot of idioms and wordplay too and to translate that…
JA: It’s a lot of me asking, how would you say this in Spanish? And they’re like… you would not say that. So we had to bridge that gap. It’s been fun.
RRX: The only thing I remember in Spanish is dos cerveza por favor, because you always gotta order two at once. Well, excellent. Anything you’d like to add?
JA: We’re Jocelyn and Chris, if you don’t know us, if you’re out there listening, now you do. Welcome to the family! We’ll see you on April 30th at White Lake. It’s gonna be a really, really special night.
For Tickets to Upstate Unplugged Thursday April 30th 7pm for Jocelyn & Chris CLICK HERE!
Preview: This Ain’t a Safe Night at the Theater: Albany Civic Theater’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch Is Not to Be Missed
This ain’t a safe night at the theater. It’s what you love about a great live concert—just in a community theater setting. There are shows you go to for a pleasant night out. And then there are shows that get under your skin a little—shows that don’t just entertain, but unsettle, provoke, and linger. Hedwig and the Angry Inch has always lived in that second category.
This May, Albany Civic Theater is building a version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch that doesn’t quite fit the usual mold—and that’s exactly why it may resonate, even with audiences who don’t typically seek out musicals.
At its core, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the story of Hedwig (formerly Hansel) Schmidt—a Queer rock singer telling their life story through a blistering, funny, heartbreaking concert. It’s about identity, love, betrayal, survival, and the lifelong search to feel whole.
At Albany Civic Theater, this won’t be a revival piece. It’s shaping up to be a reinvention. Director Nate Beynon approached the material by deliberately rejecting imitation:
“I was stumped… about what to do that wasn’t a faded mimeograph of better productions. Finding why I loved this text—and this music—helped a bunch.”
What he’s building feels more like excavation—an attempt to dig into the raw nerve of the piece and see what still pulses. At the center is Leo Grinberg, taking on one of the most demanding roles in contemporary musical theater, as Hedwig. Hedwig isn’t just a character—they’re the engine: rock frontperson, unreliable narrator, comic, confessor.
Grinberg describes Hedwig’s search as one for balance:
“A harmony within himself and with the outside world… maybe realizing that he is enough already as is.”
But that journey isn’t designed to be clean. Hedwig manipulates. Seduces. Wounds. Rewrites their own story in real time. And yet, as Beynon puts it:
“Hedwig acts horribly—but they’re the hero.”
That contradiction is what this production seems most interested in leaning into.
Opposite Hedwig is Yitzhak—Hedwig’s partner, backup singer, and shadow self. Someone pulled in by love and promise, now orbiting a story that may not be entirely true. Amanda Dorman plays Yitzhak, bringing that tension into sharp focus:
“If you are not paying attention, you will also be sucked in by Hedwig’s story. The music is pretty rockin’ and her story is so tragic.”
That tension—between seduction and awareness—may be where audiences find themselves. The show doesn’t just tell a story. It invites you into it—and then asks what you’re willing to believe.
Backed by a live band, this production is leaning fully into its concert roots. As bassist Scott Winn explains:
“Every audience gives you different energy… it’s a high-energy, high-stakes communion with the crowd.”
That means no two performances are likely to feel exactly the same. Some nights may lean louder, looser, more electric. Other nights may feel more introspective. The structure is there—but the experience is meant to be unique.
If your instinct on a Friday or Saturday night is to find a band, grab a drink, and stand a little too close to the stage, this might be the rare night to change plans. Not because this replaces a concert—but because it taps into something similar, and then pushes it further.
There’s a band.
There’s a frontperson working the room.
There’s that unpredictable exchange of energy that only happens live. But here, the music isn’t just atmosphere—it carries the story. Every song lands with intention. Every moment builds on the one before it. For people who love live music, this isn’t stepping away from it. It’s what you love about a great live concert—just in a community theater setting. For people who hate musicals – Hedwig and the Angry Inch is different. Instead of scenes with set changes and dialogue breaks, Hedwig unfolds as a live gig. Instead of being invisible, the audience is part of the room.
The score—by Stephen Trask—doesn’t sit in one lane. It pulls from a lineage that feels equal parts downtown grit and glam spectacle—echoes of David Bowie, the swagger of New York Dolls, and that tension between theatricality and danger that lives somewhere in between.
This isn’t polished musical theater. It’s rock music that happens to tell a story. This show is a glam rock spectacle.
The song “Tear Me Down” doesn’t open the show so much as detonate it—loud, confrontational, impossible to ignore.
“The Origin of Love” shifts into something more mythic and vulnerable, reframing Hedwig’s search as something ancient and aching.
And “Midnight Radio” points toward release—acceptance, maybe even something like grace.
The music doesn’t just support the story. It is the story. And played with a live band, you don’t feel like watching a musical. You feel like you are being pulled into someone’s story while the band is playing.
As David Bowie once said, “Glam really did plant seeds for a new identity. I think a lot of kids needed that—that sense of reinvention. Kids learned that however crazy you may think it is, there is a place for what you want to do and who you want to be.”
Hedwig begins as Hansel, growing up in East Berlin – isolated, constrained and “the other”. The audience travels with Hedwig on their journey where their identify is shaped by circumstance and not solely autonomy. And then ultimately to a place of reclamation. This production isn’t trying to resolve identity into something simple. It’s allowing it to remain complicated.
Grinberg’s approach to Hedwig centers on something direct:
“Their identity is their own journey… when you don’t question who they are—you make a positive impact.”
Beynon describes Hedwig as “a Queer only child with a dress-up box… with an infinite capacity for creation.” That idea—creation in spite of everything—seems to sit at the heart of this production. Not perfection. Not easy redemption. But the possibility that something new can still be made— even from what’s broken.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch embodies this lyric from the song Gimme Luv & Turn on the Light” by the New York Dolls:
“This is infinity / This is eternity / This is my destiny”
Why You Should Go
This may not be a comfortable night at the theater. It’s aiming to be loud and perhaps a little dangerous. For people who love live music, this isn’t stepping away from it.
It’s what you love about a great live concert—just in a community theater setting. It might feel less like a night at the theater—and more like a show that lingers with you on the way home.
For those of you that love traditional musical theater – you won’t be fooled. Director Nate Beynon is quick to point that that you’ll see that Hedwig does contain the “DNA of many more traditional musicals.”
What makes this show unique is the presence of humor. Hedwig’s humor isn’t just style—it’s survival.
“I’m laughing because I’ll cry if I don’t.”
The sharp humor and strong satire aren’t there to soften the story. They’re there to make it bearable. And Hedwig has a ton of jokes. The way the script is written, the audience actually finds themselves laughing throughout the evening – despite some real intense exploration of the human condition. If you are looking to explore some deep themes and yet have an enjoyable and fun night at the theater – Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the perfect choice for a night out.
Performance Information
Albany Civic Theater
235 Second Ave, Albany, NY
Pay-What-You-Will Preview:
Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Performance Dates:
May 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31
Showtimes:
Friday & Saturday at 7:30 PM
Sunday at 3:00 PM
For more information and for tickets: https://www.albanycivictheater.org/
Jukebox – Music News Cuts – 4/17
Jukebox.
Madonna
Madonna has created a sequel to 2995’s Confessions of a Dancefloor, called Confessions II.
“People think that dance music is superficial, but they’ve got it all wrong,” Madonna saide. “The dance floor is not just a place, it’s a threshold: A ritualistic space where movement replaces language.
Madonna added, “When Stuart Price and I first started working on this record, this was our manifesto”:
We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies. These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect
— with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people.
Sound, light, and vibration
Reshape our perceptions
Pulling us into a trance-like state.
The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it.
Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.
The record will be out July 10th.
The Strokes
The Strokes will be going on a headlining tour this this summer and fall. They will be accompanied by Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, and Hamilton Leithauser on select dates.
Tour stops will be in the cities of Chicago, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Vancouver, and Seattle. They’ll also play Red Rocks Morrison, CO. Festivals include Shaky Knees in Atlanta and Just Like Heaven in Pasadena.
Olivia Rodrigo
Olivia Rodrigo begins her next era with a new single from her album “Drop Dead.” It is the first single in her upcoming third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So In Love.
The video was filmed in The Palace of Versailles. Rodrigo will likely play the song on Saturday Night Live on May 2nd, when Rodrigo will act as host and musical guest.
Lex Hoffa – Thanks for Asking!
Lex Hoffa – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny…
RRX: Growing up in a melting pot of sound and culture, how do you decide whether to come out with a blended style or pick one sound in your world and blow that up?
Lex Hoffa: Thats a great question. I had the luck of growing up in dual environments. On one side of the coin were Spanish Harlem influences, and on the other side were my Adirondack/ Capital Region influences. With such a stark contrast, my ears and tastes kind of fused and I became this “punk rock hip hopper” as one of my cheer mates described me when she met me in HS. (Shout outs to Melanie and NDBG…Go Knights …she was my ace on the cheerleading squad and put me onto bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
RRX: Music is empowerment. But it’s ironic that listeners may feel empowered, but the musician has the industry sometimes acting against empowerment. How do women get empowerment in a system that doesn’t want anybody empowered?
LH: I think women get empowerment by not asking for it. As women, we aren’t a monolith but any time I had a proverbial foot on my neck I pulled a Kung Fu move and flipped them on their head. I think those looking for it, learn on the journey accidentally. You don’t ask for empowerment, you take it.
RRX: What’s on your plate these days? Any songs or EPs out? Any shows ahead?
LH: Thank you for asking! I am currently working on my next project…shes still a work in progress and untitled. We’ve already released two singles that I’m so excited about (Alexita and Whoo Hah the Rebirth available on all streaming platforms) and I’m so excited to finish this project and showcase my art. This journey has been a lifetime in the making. I’m honored to live it now. As far as shows, we have a huge one coming up. My husband, Wiz Hoffa, will be celebrating his 50th birthday on May 23rd at Empire Underground. We will definitely be having a good time not only celebrating my husband but partying with a mix of the whos who in the hip hop music scene but not just exclusive to the 518. My husband’s impact on the mixtape game exceeded the bounds of the Capital Region with Noize Mob, a very successful coalition of mixtape DJs that spanned from local to international so we’ll have people coming from all over to celebrate him. People would be surprised how many influence makers come from or have major ties to our little 518. A time will be had!
RRX: When you come up with lyrics, how do you prepare? Is there a zone, or is it just instinct?
LH: When I come up with lyrics, it’s almost like I hear them, so I guess instinct. I hear the lyrics before I even put pen to paper and that’s usually my starting point. A good beat and some fire vibes always gets the environment comfortable for me to create.
RRX: You’re working with Wiz Hoffa and the Hoffa team. And Wiz is an iconic figure in the scene, what are you looking to bring out musically?
LH: Wiz has been a staple in the 518 hip hop scene since his presence in the inception. I’m honored to work with him. But even prouder to share is last name personally and professionally. I wasn’t with him shooting in the gym, but I lace up his sneaks and pass him the rock now and that’s the important part.
I’m looking to bring a fresh new cultural perspective into the mix. I’m a Black American/Afro Latina of Honduran decent and I’m bringing my personality, energy, culture and my perspective to this thing we all love so much called hip hop. My perspective of the world is what’s missing and needed today. Time will tell.
RRX: Everybody has a favorite part of the music they play, and sometimes it’s something small, a certain pop of your voice, or something like that, maybe. What’s your favorite part?
LH: My favorite part of my music is what I say in the beginning of every track “Ayo Scotty, beam us up pops”. My father introduced me to hip hop very early on and is the reason I’m such a huge fan. He was one of my biggest musical resources. Because of my father, I was listening to Dmx, Prodigy and Pete Rock when the girls my age were solely listening to the Spice Girls, Brandy and Backstreet Boys at the time. He passed away a few years ago so that’s how I honor him and help keep his memory alive. The crowd can help me at every show by saying it with me.
Lex
Killing Connor – Thanks for Asking!
Killing Connor – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.
RRX: Tell me about your most recent song, album, or video. Tell me a story about what went into making it. Not a process, but a cool story that took place within the process.
When I first pitched starting a metalcore band to my friend Connor, we were coming out of the wreckage of another project that fell apart over logistics. It felt like our last real shot at making something like this work, so I knew the pitch had to be strong.
I went home and wrote an entire album in three weeks.
I called it How It Could Be — a reflection of what we were chasing at the time: a life on stage, doing this for real. Although the album is no longer being released as How It Could Be, six of those twelve songs became our first live set! Three are already out, and the other three are coming very soon.
Matt Rosenthal (guitarist)
RRX:What can you say about your influences, and what you feel you’ve done with their influence as a musician or band? Have you extended their work?
Our main influences are August Burns Red, Bleed From Within, and Killswitch Engage. We try to preserve the core of what makes those bands hit — drop C and drop B tunings, fast-paced riffs, and those groovy, head-nodding sections — but still make it our own.
We’re not trying to reinvent metalcore — we’re trying to carry that sound forward and put our own stamp on it.
Matt Rosenthal (guitarist)
RRX:What do you think is the mostly poorly understood thing about music, or the music you play?
I think metalcore gets a bad rep because it lives in this weird middle ground. It’s not quite “hard enough” for the hardcore crowd, and not quite “intimidating enough” for the metal purists. Because of that, it gets written off from both sides like it doesn’t fully belong anywhere.
But that’s kind of the point.
Metalcore has always been about contrast. It’s aggressive, but it’s also melodic. It can be technical and tight one second, then open up into something atmospheric or emotional the next. That push and pull is what makes it interesting — but it’s also what makes people misunderstand it.
A lot of people hear the surface-level stuff — breakdowns, screaming, big choruses—and assume that’s all it is. But what actually makes it work is the balance. The tension between chaos and control, heaviness and melody, precision and emotion.
For us, that’s where the identity of the genre really lives. It’s not trying to out-heavy everything else or out-technical everyone else. It’s about making something that feels intense, even when it pulls back. Something that sticks with you, not just something that hits you.
So yeah, people either find it nostalgic or they don’t get it at all — but the ones who get it, really get it.
Matt Rosenthal (guitarist)
RRX: Part of learning to be a musician is to fall in love with a song, an album, and hammer away at your instrument until you can play the whole thing. What was that song for you? Was there a hardest part?
Tool’s Lateralus is the first album I remember learning from start to finish. At some point in middle school I discovered Tool, and within the first two years of high school I had memorized Lateralus. The hardest, but also most exciting, part of learning an album like this is fully internalizing the odd time signature grooves. Not only do Tool write riffs plainly in odd time, but occasionally they take it a step further with cross-rhythms using the odd time signatures (see “Schism” from 3:12-3:28 where the guitar plays a shorter 7/8 riff and the bass and drums play a longer idea in 14/8) or by fully playing in two different time signatures (see “Lateralus” 4:47-6:20 where the bass and guitar play in 6/8 and the drums begin in 5/8 before playing both the 5 and 6 simultaneously), which is referred to as “polymeter.” Tool are masters of letting different time signatures breathe in their own unique ways. While at first it required some boring analysis and strict practice counting the patterns, the work was well worth it to be able to forget all of the logical stuff and just feel the rhythms!
Connor Shann (Bassist/Victim)
RRX- stereotypes are a bitch. I mean……
From the outside looking in all the different forms of metal gets a bad rap. I often tell people in my circle who don’t know it’s not what it seems. I have played all different types off music and in all different types of bands and I will tell you that Metal music as a whole has the most humble, kind, loyal and supportive people you will ever meet! You don’t find this in other music genres. At any metal show you will find that it’s actually a massive support group. It’s filled with heavily passioned people who have extreme willpower. Many metal listeners generally have had hardships and they have prevailed over then through their perseverance. This music grabs our souls and empowers us to release all the harmful energy that we accumulate due to these hardships. It’s really quite beautiful thing!
-Dan Schleicher(Drummer)
RRX- would you rather have one song blow up or…….
That’s a really good question. To be honest, I would love for our band to notarized for some memorable songs. Having people singing our lyrics back to us. That’s the main goal. However if I had to choose I would have to pick a one hit wonder. As a musician, i’m a fan first. I just can’t limit myself to just one genre. Having that one song will get your foot in the door as far as opportunities is concern. You will be recognized by other peers that are also in the business that can maybe help in other ways behind the scenes. There’s more than one way to make it in the music business than just being a front man. The possibilities are endless.
Brian Thompson-(singer)
More from Liam Sweeny.
RECAP: Reverend Horton Heat @ Empire Live, 4/14/2026
By “Chad from Albany” Koenig.
A hodgepodge of Texas sounds came funneling through Empire Live on Tuesday Night (April 14, 2026), when Psychobilly legends Reverend Horton Heat returned to the Capital Region with a blistering set to the rockabilly, country, and punk fans that ventured out on the first humid night of the year.
Dallas’ own Reverend Horton Heat, which features the legendary Jim Heath on his big orange Gretsch, fronting the trio alongside longtime upright bassist and best friend Jimbo Wallace. Drummer Jonathan Jeter has been behind the kit since 2020.
The band started their show with the instrumental “Bullet” before raising the energy into the Psychobilly classic “Baddest of the Bad,” from 1994’s “Liquor in the Front” and into the raucous “Rock and Roll is Now,” from the 2026 album of the same name.
Following that was the uproarious sing-along break-up ballad “Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?” and staples “Galaxy 500” and “Big Red Rocket of Love.”
Much adoration was given to the beloved Jimbo, who, throughout the night, shared humorous banter with Heath, including stopping the aforementioned “Galaxy 500,” and blaming Jimbo for the cease on him being tired. Jimbo was getting irritated and denied Heath’s claim (in kayfabe) and “walked off” the stage later in the night mid-song, bringing an “Odd Couple”-esque sense of humor to their decades-long partnership, and laughs and cheers to those in attendance.
Also in the set was a pair of songs from the previous release, 2023’s “Roots of the Rev,” an atypical covers album in which they recorded songs by artists who inspired them, but that they also had the honor to work with throughout their career. First was Johnny Carroll’s 1957 “Crazy, Crazy Loving,” and later performed 1958’s “Lights Out” by the late Jerry Byrne.
Closing out the set were Heat classics “Psychobilly Freakout” and “The Devil’s Chasing Me,” before returning to the stage for the COVID-era “Gravel Farmer,” in which Heath and Jeter switched on-stage roles. The night ended with the signature “Bales of Cocaine” and a cover of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades,” concluding a night of high-end punk-laced rock & roll.
San Antonio brought us the first band of the night- Tex-Mex/punk band Pinata Protest. Led by accordionist, trumpeter, and singer/songwriter Alvaro Del Norte. This high-energy 4-piece band brought 40 minutes of Latin flair, swaying in between Spanish and English lyrics, tremendous stage presence, and an obvious sense of humor. When Del Norte started mentioning how divided we were as a country, I was concerned that we may have gone down an unnecessary political route, but he brought smiles to everyone when he was referring to those who prefer green salsa or red salsa, and separated us in the crowd by our choice. To my surprise, the green salsa side was larger.
After their electric performance, the Texas roadmap brought us to the city of Austin, where their native son Black Joe Lewis tore through a blistering 40 minute set of Texas blues, along with his crack band, blending a mix of Stevie Ray Vaughan meets Gary Clark Jr. His unique pickless strumming yielded a sound unto himself that turned the steamy Empire Live into a makeshift smoke-filled jazz and blues club.
Tonight’s triple bill was a diverse mix of sounds of the Lone Star State that gave us incredible energy and musicianship. If you missed it, no fear. You will have a chance to see them until their tour ends on May 2nd, with upcoming shows in Worcester, MA, Hampton, NH, South Burlington, VT, and Hartford, CT.
I created the Reverend Horton Heat Setlist that can be found here:
https://www.setlist.fm/
Reverend Horton Heat
Black Joe Lewis
Pinata Protest
Ominous Seapods / Neve Molea @ Lark Hall, 4/11/2026
Ominous Seapods held court at Lark Hall on Saturday, ably supported Neve Molea.
Photography by Timothy Reidy.
