Two months after the release of their newest album Joyride The Pale Horse, Cleveland-based pop-punk group Heart Attack Man hit the road for their extensive “Joyride The US and Toronto and Also Vancouver” tour, a two month-long tour visiting cities across the US, and of course, Toronto and Vancouver. Their earliest stops of the tour included major cities of the east coast; on June 14, they returned to Philadelphia’s intimate venue The Foundry. Their first Philadelphia headline show in two years, local Heart Attack Man superfans gladly welcomed the band’s return with explosive energy throughout the night. With an impressive 17-song setlist, the band brought the lively chaos that is a staple of every Heart Attack Man show.
At 7pm, the first opener took the stage, Dear Seattle. An indie rock band from Australia (they did, in fact, joke about the irony of their band name), they mentioned that it was their first-ever US tour. They also released their most recent album, TOY, in January. With catchy riffs and upbeat melodies combined with melancholy lyrics, the band delivered their unique take on alternative rock which quickly warmed up the crowd for the night. Only a few songs into the set, a mosh pit had already formed, and the band even mentioned that Philly’s crowd was already better than New York’s. Towards the end of their set, before they played their track “Counting Hours”, vocalist Brae Fisher asked if anyone knew the song, and one person cheered, to which he joked about having at least one fan in the audience. Needless to say, after Dear Seattle’s performance, many more fans were created in the crowd that night.
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The second opener to perform was Carpool, an alternative rock band from Rochester, NY. With their captivating brand of emo rock, the crowd was immediately invigorated, with moshing starting immediately and the first crowdsurfer of the night coming through by the third song. The band was also highly interactive with the crowd, with vocalist Stoph Colasanto introducing the song “Quitting” by telling the audience, “Cheer if you hate your jobs!”; the room was flooded with cheers at that point. Throughout the set, Philly brought their energy to its fullest, to which New York-native Stoph responded that the Philly show was the best so far and “Honestly, go Birds”. Carpool’s set ended with such an intense circle pit that someone lost a shoe, a fitting conclusion to an exciting set.
The final opener to take the stage was Canadian rock band The Dirty Nil. With energetic, punk-inspired riffs and dynamic vocals from frontman Luke Bentham, it did not take long for Philly’s intensity to return. The band opened with “Gallop of the Hounds”, which is the first track from their upcoming album, The Lash, set to release on July 25. They also performed the fierce “Rock N’ Roll Band” from the new album, a scathing critique on the music industry. Throughout their 12-song setlist, the energy in the room never wavered for a second, with moshing and crowdsurfing constantly occurring. The band also exhibited great stage presence, with each member performing each note with ferocity. Luke thanked Philly for being a great crowd and showed appreciation for the city, saying that it was one of the first cities to welcome The Dirty Nil early in their career.
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At around 9:30pm, the lights began to dim and the Elton John song “Philadelphia Freedom” started playing over the speakers as roaring cheers filled the room. Heart Attack Man walked onto the stage, opening with “One More Song (Imposter Syndrome)”, the first track of their new album Joyride The Pale Horse, which then transitioned into “End of the Gun”. With the fans bursting with excitement, it did not take long for crowdsurfers to start soaring through the audience. Versatile vocals from Eric Egan, catchy riffs from guitarist Ty Sickels, and thunderous rhythms from drummer Adam Paduch easily escalated Philly’s intensity to its peak. After playing those initial songs from the new album, the band performed a few tracks from their past albums, such as “Clown School” from their 2023 album Freak of Nature, which Eric dedicated to “all the clowns” in the audience.
The band continued playing some older tracks, such as their 2021 single “Old Enough 2 Die” and “Out for Blood” from their 2019 album Fake Blood, invigorating any longtime Heart Attack Man fans in the crowd. Eric told the crowd that “Old Enough 2 Die” was a “dance song”, and the audience did not disappoint. Eric even pointed out Philly’s energy and mentioned they were “way better than Brooklyn”. He even denounced his home team, the Cleveland Browns, and said “go Birds”. Of course, the crowd started an Eagles chant, to which Eric joked, “Are you spelling something? Because I can't read”. They then played one of the first singles from Joyride The Pale Horse, “Spit”, a lyrically and sonically intense track criticizing generative AI, which inspired continuous moshing and crowdsurfing. Shortly after, Eric asked the crowd “Who’s feeling freaky tonight? I hope you are or else this song won’t make sense”; this, of course, was the prelude to the title track “Freak of Nature”, one of the biggest hits from their 2023 album. This song inspired some of the most crowdsurfers of the night, and then was followed by a circle pit during “Lay Down and Die”.
Before the final few songs of the set, Eric thanked Philly again for being a great audience. He also mentioned that during the early days of Heart Attack Man, people thought the band were Philly natives; and with how much they love Philly, he said they might as well be. He also gave a shout out to security for keeping the crowdsurfers safe all night, and added “Philly is the one place where security will be cool”. Going off of that, Eric told the crowd to give it all they got for the final song, and they listened; during the concluding song “Laughing Without Smiling”, crowdsurfers were constantly being carried through the venue around a massive mosh pit. After the song ended and the venue lights came back on, DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” started playing over the speakers as Eric waved his arms along with the singing crowd. With unrelenting punk energy and a great sense of humor, Heart Attack Man delivered an unforgettable show in Philadelphia that night, and the consistent energy of the fans made it a night to remember for the band as well.
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