Photos + Review | The Distillers + Starcrawler @ Royale

The Distillers tore down The Royale on a rainy Tuesday night in Boston on May 29th. Starcrawler opened the show with an undeniably explosive energy. Lead singer Arrow de Wilde tears herself apart on stage, quite literally tearing her outfit off, which appears to be covered in blood, to match her face, also streaked with blood. She spends about half the set throwing herself on the ground, openly weeping into the microphone. The performance included swinging instruments, crowdsurfing, and even sending a guitar into the audience for dozens to grab and claw at. Starcrawler made sure to play their cover of The Ramones’ Pet Sematary which is featured on the soundtrack of the 2019 movie Pet Sematary. The band was nothing short of powerful and blunt. “You know your feet aren’t glued to the fucking ground, you can move around a little” — and so the mosh pit ensues. 

After releasing their first new single in about fifteen years last September, iconic punk band, The Distillers, set up a slew of tour dates, Boston included. They had an almost calm command of the audience for the whole night, plowing through ripper after ripper, the crowd chanting along to every last song. The band sounded incredible, just as great, perhaps even better than their studio recording. Brody’s unique and enthralling voice remains just as powerful and raw as it has always been. They delivered an impassioned, no nonsense, cutthroat punk show. Unlike most shows you’ll attend today, the crowd felt so present and so grateful for this night with one of the best punk bands in the world.Brody and company closed out the night with their rager of a song The Young Crazed Peeling with the entire venue crying the chorus “It hit me, I got everything I need.”