ATTILA / BUTCHER BABIES / DED / DEALER / NATHAN JAMES

2025-04-01

ATTILA / BUTCHER BABIES / DED / DEALER / NATHAN JAMES – LIVE

By Joe Perusse

Attila America’s Rejects Tour with Butcher Babies, DED, Dealer and Nathan James Toad’s Place New Haven CT 3/25/25

Tuesday at Toad’s Place was a rare occasion as five bands were on the bill and I had never seen any of them live before. It was a decent yet mighty crowd as what was lacked in depth was made up for in energy.

Attila was the headliner and the crowd packed in tight to the stage as their set roared off with “Perdition” and “Handshakes With Snakes”. Lead singer Chris Fronzak then introduced the band’s new song “American Rejects” and requested an all female mosh pit. The ladies happily obliged as many were mixing it up with the guys all night long already. Fronzak remarked the girls may go harder than the guys in Connecticut. One thing about the smaller crowd was that the floor was open for larger circle pits to actively flow.

Photos Holly Roy Photography

“Bite Your Tongue” was next and then after being told you know what to do when this shit drops, everyone had the bird in the air for “Middle Fingers Up”. “Payback” and “Shot for the Boys” preceded the biggest circle pit of the night during “Moshpit”. “Party With the Devil” led into “Three 6” which had everyone chanting 666 along with the band. After Fronzak gave a shout out to Sally’s Pizza, stating they have played around the world and it is the best they’ve tasted. He was also pleased that everyone was partying hard on a Tuesday.

“Cancelled” was next and then saying the band was going to skip the foreplay of walking away only to return for a song, Fronzak requested the big boys get in the pit for the heaviest song of the night, ”About That Life”. Keeping the crowd stoked the whole set was Chris Linck (Lead Guitar), Kalan Blehm (Bass) and Tyler Kruckmeyer (Drums).

Butcher Babies was a solid lead in to Attila as vocalist Heidi Shepherd roared through the set, greatly up to the task of being the sole singer as co-founding vocalist Carla Harvey left the group in 2024. Letting the crowd know Butcher Babies was here to fuck shit up, they kept their word. During “Monster’s Ball” half the crowd threw up the horns and the other half the middle finger as a battle of rock salutes.

Photos Holly Roy Photography

Shepherd got down into the crowd for “Spittin’ Teeth” and sang from inside the circle pit. She then told a personal story before “Last December” about how she was seriously considering suicide but thought how these kinds of interactions with the fans saved her life. Joining Shepherd on stage was Henry Flury (Guitar), Matti Hoffman (Guitar) and Blake Bailey (Drums).

DED from Phoenix played a super 7 song set showcasing Joe Cotela’s strong vocals along with support from Matt Reinhard (Drums), Kyle Koelsch (Bass) and Alex Adamcik (Guitar).

Photos Holly Roy Photography

Dealer hailing from Australia exhibited that incredible Australian energy as vocalist Aidan Ellaz Holmes was swearing at the crowd from the minute he walked on stage. The first circle pit of the night broke out during their set and less than a minute in we saw the first casualty as a guy was getting a ride to the hospital for a broken arm. Jack Leggett (Guitar), Matthew Brida (Bass), Brad Lipsett (Drums) and touring guitarist Chad Chen filled out tonight’s lineup.

Photos Holly Roy Photography

Nathan James from Los Angeles led off the evening at 6. Playing early and at the time to maybe 50 people, he got the crowd engaged waving hands and even singing along to “Secrets Of The
Shadows”.