For at least one night, the Boston punk scene was alive and well thanks to an old friend, American Nightmare. “Welcome to our twentieth birthday,” said lead singer Wesley Eisold a few songs into the show.

The concert was the first of their twentieth anniversary tour. Although the band formed in 1998, they didn’t book their first show until 2000. That first show was booked in Portland, Maine, but American Nightmare formed in Boston, so it was only right for them to start this tour at home. The room was full of people that have been along with them for the entire ride, including the ten-year breakup that ended with a handful of performances in the early 2010s, and eventually 2018’s self-titled album American Nightmare. Much like the members of the band, a majority of the crowd was closing in on forty. I saw the oldest person I’ve ever seen crowd surfing at this show. Probably a tax attorney living in Brookline, this man showed up to an American Nightmare show in a quarter zip and khakis. I watched him pour the remnants of a Michelob Ultra on his head before having his friend, possibly an insurance broker, enter the classic “give me a boost” position. The tax attorney was flipped atop the front rows of those dressed in more classic punk regalia. It was something to behold, a moment I’ll take with me until the day I am the man in khakis and a quarter zip wanting to relive his punk glory days.

The pit was representative of the demographic in attendance. It was from another generation—much wider, much less slamming into each other, with a lot more dancing and arm swinging than I am used to. The size of this pit could also be attributed to the fact that the show was at the Royale, which is just a little too large for a nice, intimate shoving match. Old punks are hardened individuals, so within the limited amount of slamming into one another that did take place, I got my ass kicked. American Nightmare provided the audience with limited breaks. They blazed through a roughly twenty-song set and a two-song encore in less than an hour. The show ended with some of American Nightmare’s fastest and grittiest songs, such as “Gloom Forever,” (off of their self-titled album) and “Your Arsonist,” from their time as Give Up the Ghost, the name they picked up after receiving a cease and desist from another band called American Nightmare. The encore featured the live debut of the band’s cover of Archers of Loaf’s “You & Me,” as well as (fittingly) their own song “Farewell.”

Taking into consideration that time flies when you’re having fun, it felt like American Nightmare was on stage for fifteen minutes. They came out, blew everyone away, and left. I heard an audible “Is that it?” as the encore ended and the lights came on. One has to consider that most American Nightmare songs are about two and a half minutes long, so an hour is definitely enough time to bang through twenty songs. They obviously knew beforehand that they were planning on doing an encore, as they left the stage for all of one minute before coming back out. With how quick everything went by, I left nearly as impressed by their cardio as I did by their abilities as musicians.

This was an elite punk show, opener included. Ceremony set the table excellently for American Nightmare. Their music is incredibly diverse, with some straight-up hardcore punk songs, and some other very melodic, almost new wave tracks such as “Exit Fears,” which could pass as a Joy Division song. One of their guitarists switched instruments three times, beginning the night with a keytar, then a regular guitar, before ending the night with what sounded like a Rickenbacker. They were a nice tease for the true hardcore of American Nightmare, but provided enough of a different genre thanks to their more recent work having chilled out a bit. Although I get that this was an American Nightmare show in Boston, so we know who everyone bought tickets to see, it was sad how few people showed up for the entirety of Ceremony’s set, because it was excellent from start to finish.

American Nightmare will continue celebrating their twentieth birthday in March, ending their tour with a March fourteenth show in L.A. Prior to this, the band hadn’t toured since 2018, so it might be a minute before they return to a venue here at home. The one positive that could come from that? New music from American Nightmare.

Living An American Nightmare