New Brunswick natives The Bouncing Souls returned to their home state Friday night for an incredible show at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville. The show featured the band playing their 2001 classic album How I Spent My Summer Vacation in its entirety. One of their most loved albums, it was a thrill to see it played in this way. I am actually a big fan of this current trend. These albums have such an impact on our lives and to witness a modern classic like this was a joy. The enthusiastic crowd agreed but more on that later.

Seaside Caves opened the show with their neu-wave, post punk and got a great reception from the crowd. We had just seen them night before at their self-titled EP release show at Asbury Lanes in their hometown of Asbury Park. It was pretty awesome to see them two nights in a row. The new material sounds great live and we are looking forward to more from this band. It was keyboardist Matthew Gere’s birthday and to play to such a large crowd must have been a nice present.

Fellow New Brunswick rockers Screaming Females were up next and as always they killed it. Led by guitarist/vocalist Marissa Paternoster they always leave the crowd mesmerized and impressed. I’ve seen them a bunch of times but as I mentioned to Cool Dad Music, aka Jim Appio, they are so great live I always get a feeling of anxious anticipation before they go on. They are that good.

Phoenix band Andrew Jackson Jihad really got the audience moving and we saw the first of the fans crowdsurfing their way past the barricade. We had been listening to their 2014 album Christmas Island for a while now but that did not prepare us for how much punk their was in their live set. They had a lot of fans in attendance, many who knew every lyric to every song. I would certainly catch them again the next time they visit the area.

By the time the Bouncing Souls walked on stage the audience was already at a fever pitch. It didn’t take long from the first few seconds of opener “That Song” before the craziness started. Lead singer Greg Attonito really engaged the fervent crowd even jumping down into the pit and hopping up on the barricade a few times. The band seemed to feed off the energy and were having a great time themselves. That I managed to escape the photo pit with just one kick to the shoulder is a testament to the security at Starland Ballroom.

Full pics below.

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