Each month, musician and Pulse Music Editor Alex Kantarelis will share his thoughts on/experiences with different aspects of the music industry. It won’t always be pretty, but it will always be his honest opinion ~ good or bad ~ on all things music, A-Z. This month’s column is a review of a recent Give Up the Ghost one-time (or is it more than that???) reunion show.

Give Up The Ghost, the band formerly known as American Nightmare, took the stage at Wonderland Ballroom in Revere on Dec. 29 for one of the most memorable reunion shows the hardcore scene has ever experienced. The band formed in 1998, toured relentlessly from the day they started ‘til their early break-up in 2004. After releasing several iconic records, they had cemented themselves as one of the greatest hardcore bands of all time. In 2003, they were forced to change their name after being sued by a rock band in Philadelphia who had already claimed the name American Nightmare, but their fans still call them by their original name. The band came back to Boston to play for the first time since their break-up, and it was one of those moments that those fans will never forget.

American Nightmare was the most important hardcore band in the world once again as they took they took the stage. Over a thousand people had piled into the Wonderland Ballroom and when AN’s set finally started, it was as if 7 years of anticipation had been bottled into this one moment. While guitarist Tim Cossar quietly strummed the acoustic intro, the crowd, freaking out with anticipation, could barely contain themselves. As vocalist Wes Eisold counted in the first song, “Love American,” the place went into a frenzy. The band hit that first song with so much intensity that it was as if they had never missed a beat in their 7 year break. They tore from “Love American” into “(We Are)” into “Protest Song,” with a mob of people fighting to get to the front of the stage so they could scream along.

The adrenaline was flowing as the band relentlessly played song after song with no pause. The kids in the crowd were completely losing their minds and stage diving with no regard for themselves. I saw American Nightmare many times during their early existence, and the reunion show was just as good ~ if not better than ~ the shows in the early 2000s. With a mix of songs from every album, it really was the ultimate American Nightmare set. They finished off with an encore of “Your Arsonist,” then “Farewell;” it was a perfect ending.

There aren’t really a lot of bands who can make the kind of impact AN did in their short existence. Seeing American Nightmare in the first few years of the decade was truly a spectacle. Kids would just lose their minds because they were so into the music. Ten years later, and I have never seen people react the same way to a band, until now. There was no official word if this was just a reunion or the official return of American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost, but I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of them.

Photo by Todd Pollock