Olivia Jean’s opening set was crazy hot

The Ritz in Raleigh was ground zero on August 26, 2024, for a sonic upheaval that could have only been orchestrated by the cosmic hands of fate itself. The night began with the raw, untamed energy of Olivia Jean, hailing from Nashville, TN, and wielding her garage rock prowess like a jagged blade. Backed by her bandmates—Margo Price on bass, Jeremy Ivey on drums, and Jack Lawrence on guitar—Jean blasted the crowd with a set that felt like a head-on collision between ‘60s surf rock and punk. Her latest album, Raving Ghost, is a scorcher, available at oliviajeanmusic.com, and it served as a siren’s call to anyone with a pulse and a penchant for the primal.

Then, like a sonic buzzsaw slicing through the smoke-filled air, Teen Mortgage took the stage, dragging their gritty D.C. origins into the forefront of the night. This garage-punk duo, consisting of Ed Barakauskas on drums and Ray Mikula on guitar and vocals, proved that a two-piece band could unleash a sound as massive as a freight train barreling through your brain. Their latest EP, Life/Death, and their online haunt at teenmortgage.com, are evidence of their dedication to pure, unfiltered noise that feels like it was ripped from the bowels of a city fed up with its own bullshit. The Ritz was baptized in feedback and fury, and the crowd could only scream for more.

By the time Coheed & Cambria—those prog-rock maestros from Nyack, NY—claimed the stage, the room was electric. Claudio Sanchez’s towering voice and tangled mane were front and center, accompanied by the thunderous presence of Travis Stever on guitar, Josh Eppard on drums, and Zach Cooper on bass. With a discography as dense as a dystopian novel, they rolled through a setlist featuring tracks from their latest release, Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind. Every note, every riff felt like it was scripted by the universe itself to guide the willing into another realm. Their online dominion, coheedandcambria.com, is where you can dive into their expansive world, but no digital experience can rival the raw power that shook Raleigh to its core that night.

Olivia Jean

Teen Mortgage

Coheed & Cambria