The Audio Perv

If you’ve ever attended a full show at School of Rock, you know that you’re walking into a suana. Making your way through a bunch of kids that aren’t old enough to drive yet, you also become somewhat resentful of the venue’s lack of a bar. Regardless, October 24th would be a momentous occasion as it marked Cartel‘s return to the School of Rock in South Hackensack, NJ where the band had last played four years earlier when the venue opened. Currently promoting their new album Cycles, Cartel would play to a nearly sold out crowd mixed with teens, their moms, a few industry execs and this reviewer. Opening with “Let’s Go”, the first single off of Cycles, Cartel were ferocious and energetic despite frontman Will Pugh seemingly slightly ill. The band seemed to be completely rejuvenated and recovered from the under-appreciated self-titled album they recorded in the MTV/Dr Pepper bubble-dome in 2007. In fact, nearly all of Cartel‘s setlist (see below) was comprised of songs off of the new album as well as the band’s debut, Chroma. The audience seemed most accepting of the opening song, “Faster Ride” and “27 Steps” from Cycles which easily could’ve been songs leftover from the Chroma sessions. Despite the return to its traditional sound on those songs, the rest of Cartel‘s new material seemed to fall flat on the audience. Even the supercharged rollercoaster “Deep South” didn’t seem to move the young crowd despite it being the song the band rocked out the hardest to. Maybe the audience was anxious that the band might not play their biggest hit to date, “Honestly.” Luckily for them, Cartel saved it for the encore.

Setlist (incomplete)
Let’s Go
Faster Ride
Typical
Settle Down
Runaway
27 Steps
Matter Of Time
It Still Remains
Say Anything (Else)
Deep South
Only You
The Minstrel’s Prayer
Q

Encore
The Perfect Mistake
Honestly

Thanks to Nicole Laudati for the first five photos and to Krista Calogero for the additional photos (Click to enlarge).