There are certain albums that don’t just belong to a particular era, they become time machines. For me, Rubberneck is one of them. It was the first CD I ever bought, back when a trip to the record store could feel like a life-changing financial decision. Three decades later, standing in a packed Empire Live with roughly a thousand people ranging from Gen X to Gen Z, it was strange and wonderful to realize that the record had somehow followed all of us into 2026. That was the case on August 13 when Albany was transported back to the mid-’90s for an alternative-rock double header featuring Toadies and Local H, along with Dallas upstarts Olive Vox kicking things off. It was a refreshing night of grunge and loud guitars that both paid homage to the past while offering a glimpse into the future.
Buzzworthy Texas quartet Olive Vox was up first, and lead singer Parker James commanded the room almost immediately. His vocals delivering the kind of intensity that suggested this was a band already comfortable onstage despite having plenty of road ahead of them. James was joined by his brother Caden Shea on guitar, Ben Reid on bass and Dayton Phillips on drums. The band cites Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Cage the Elephant among its influences, and those inspirations rang true throughout a roughly 30-minute set that blended alternative rock, post-punk and modern indie with plenty of youthful energy.
Tracks including “Babydoll,” “We Are Not The Same,” “14 Years” and their latest single “Hear Me Out” packed plenty of punch into a relatively short set. Olive Vox is also quickly developing a reputation for their emotionally charged songwriting and high-energy live performances, qualities that were immediately apparent at Empire Live. With its debut album Trace It Back due September 18 via Big Rock Machine, Olive Vox has the look, sound and attitude to make some serious noise. If this night was any indication, the youngest band on the bill may eventually be the one future audiences remember as the beginning of something much bigger.
After only a 15-minute break, Local H took the stage. Bands playing rooms this size can sometimes require a lengthy changeover, but Local H has one obvious advantage. They are only two guys. Ronnie DiCola, filling in for Ryan Harding, took his place behind the drums while founding member Scott Lucas handled vocals and guitar. And then the two of them proceeded to sound like approximately 17 people.
Lucas’ well-traveled Fender/Strat-style setup is outfitted with extra bass pickups (and an adorable photo of his dog), allowing him to effectively handle both instruments simultaneously. Once you get past the novelty of watching a two-piece create such an enormous racket, the next thing that hits you is just how good they are at it. From the opening one-two punch of “City of Knives” and “Freshly Fucked” to the vintage tongue-in-cheek swagger of “Eddie Vedder,” one of the highlights from the band’s 1996 breakthrough As Good As Dead, Lucas remained as autonomous and cool as ever, only now his voice seems to carry even more punch. Behind him, DiCola played the drums like they had personally offended him.
The band moved through “The Misanthrope,” “Hands on the Bible” and “John the Baptist Blues” before dropping into “Bound for the Floor,” the signature smash that somehow still sounds exactly right nearly 30 years later. The song even detoured into the Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” before snapping back into place. Then came the irresistible earworm “High-Fiving MF” and shouting along with that song almost felt like discovering the entire room had been waiting three decades for an excuse to curse out load together. Just when it seemed like the set had reached its peak, Toadies bassist Doni Blair appeared onstage for “Manifest Destiny (Parts 1 and 2).” It was a fun surprise and a fitting handoff between two bands that have spent decades proving that being underestimated can be a pretty effective career strategy.
“You’re just a walking billboard for all the latest brands
– Lyrics from “High-Fiving MF”
You’ve got no taste in music, and you really love our band
Your haircut is atrocious, it’s been the same since ’83
Your glory days are over and so’s your stonewashed jeans”
Just before 9 p.m., the Toadies took the stage. Much like a good portion of their catalog, the concert began as a slow burn. Comprised of Vaden Todd Lewis on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mark Reznicek on drums, Clark Vogeler on lead guitar and Doni Blair on bass, the band’s bread and butter has always been tense, dark songwriting paired with hard-hitting catchy riffs, and the Toadies rode that wave all night. “Ash’s Theme,” the instrumental from this year’s The Charmer, opened the set. Behind the band, a crossed-out swastika displayed across the bass amp was impossible to ignore. Viewed as a direct political statement against Nazism, fascism and white supremacy, it somehow made sense for a punk-leaning band that has never been particularly interested in playing it safe.
When Toadies launched into “I Come From the Water,” the temperature in the room immediately started to boil. Vaden Todd Lewis needed only a few words before the crowd was singing along to one of his signature hooks. “No Deliverance” came next before the band returned to Rubberneck with “Away,” a personal favorite that produced one of the night’s early high points of participation. “I Walk a Line” and the swagger-filled instrumental “ATF Theme” kept things moving before “Long Time” brought Clark Vogeler’s guitar work to the forefront. After working their way through “Song I Hate,” “Happy Face” and “Jigsaw Girl,” came the title track of the new record, The Charmer. Its crunchy riffs and catchy refrain fit comfortably alongside material written decades earlier, with the crowd pumping their fists in near-unison.
“Mexican Hairless,” the instrumental opener from Rubberneck, was next, immediately recognizable to anyone who remembers dropping that CD into a player back when CDs were still the exciting new technology. “Little Sin,” from Hell Below/Stars Above, followed before the band launched into two consecutive tracks from The Charmer, “Closer to You” and “I Call Your Name.”
Then it was time for the song everyone in the room knew by heart, “Possum Kingdom.” Nothing quite makes you feel alive like a room full of several hundred people shouting, “Do you wanna die?” Interestingly, “Possum Kingdom” arrived roughly two-thirds of the way through the performance rather than being saved for the finale. Usually, dropping your biggest song early creates an energy vacuum, but not here. Toadies still had another 30 minutes of inspired rock ’n’ roll left. “Damage” and “Normal,” both from The Charmer, followed. Taking a moment to address the crowd, Lewis spoke about the creative freedom the band enjoyed while making the new album and reflected on working with legendary producer Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), whose influence looms large over alternative rock history. Sadly, Albini passed away in 2024 from a sudden heart attack.
“Normal” offered a particularly vulnerable moment where Lewis discussed his long battle with depression and encouraged anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts to seek help. In a night otherwise dominated by distortion, volume and swagger, the sincerity of the moment stood out. Then the band then reached back to Rubberneck once again for the fan favorite “Tyler,” bringing the main set to a thunderous conclusion, with Blair anchoring the song with its unforgettable bass line as the crowd managed to generate a small mosh pit. For anyone who grew up with Rubberneck, it was the sort of ending that could have easily served as the finale. But the Toadies weren’t finished.
I just wanna play guitar
And write words to sing
And play songs for people
Songs that are fuckin’ normalI just wanna wear nice clothes
Lyrics from “Normal”
And not feel like a poser
And not feel like a failure
I just wanna be fuckin’ normal
After a brief encore break, the band returned with “Pressed Against the Sky.” Then Scott Lucas of Local H came back to the stage for a wonderfully unexpected cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” Two more songs from The Charmer, “I Wanted to Be Everywhere” and “Get Out of Your Head,” followed, keeping the new material firmly integrated into a set that could easily have leaned entirely on nostalgia. Instead, the band was making a pretty convincing argument that the new songs belong here, too. Following an emphatic version of “Backslider,” the stage filled up as members of Local H and Olive Vox joined the Toadies for “I Burn,” perhaps the song that most perfectly embodies the band’s mix of dark, brooding builds and catchy hooks. After opening the night with “Ash’s Theme,” the Toadies finished by setting the whole room ablaze.
Walking out of Empire Live, it was hard not to feel a little nostalgic. Not in the cheap, sepia-toned sense of wishing everything were still 1996. There is plenty about 1996 that can stay there. This was the realization that music you loved when you were young can grow old with you without becoming irrelevant. The new songs stood comfortably beside the classics, while the classics sounded like anything but museum pieces. Still here and still loud, there was something wonderfully reassuring about watching Toadies and Local H command a room in 2026. These were two of the most underrated rock bands of the ’90s, and neither was ever really a one-hit wonder despite the tendency of casual listeners to reduce both to a single song. “Possum Kingdom” and “Bound for the Floor” may have been the gateway drugs, but neither band’s catalog ends there. Both have survived the changing tides of alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, nu-metal, indie rock and whatever we’re calling guitar music this week. More importantly, they didn’t simply survive. They’re still making music. Standing in that room as someone whose first CD was Rubberneck, it was impossible not to feel something poetically full-circle and judging by the reaction to Olive Vox, there’s a new generation ready to carry the torch forward. On August 13 at Empire Live, the ’90s didn’t feel like history. They felt very much alive.
Toadies | August 13, 2026 | Empire Live | Albany, NY
Setlist: Ash’s Theme, I Come From the Water, No Deliverance, Away, I Walk a Line, ATF Theme, Long Time, Song I Hate, Happy Face, Jigsaw Girl, The Charmer, Mexican Hairless, Little Sin, Closer to You, I Call Your Name, Possum Kingdom, Damage, Normal, Tyler.
Encore: Pressed Against the Sky, I Put a Spell on You*, I Wanted to be Everywhere, Backslider, Get Out of Your Head, I Burn**.
*Screamin’ Jay Hawkins cover featuring Scott Lucas of Local H
** Featuring members of Local H and Olive Vox.
Local H | August 13, 2026 | Empire Live | Albany, NY
Setlist: City of Knives, Freshly Fucked, Eddie Vedder, Laminate Man, The Misanthrope, Hands on the Bible, John the Baptist Blues, Bound for the Floor > TV Eye > Bound for the Floor, High-Fiving MF, Manifest Destiny (Parts 1 and 2) *.
*Featuring Doni Blair on Bass.
Olive Vox | August 13, 2026 | Empire Live | Albany, NY
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