Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Support: Mien
The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
Saturday, September 20th, 2025
Review/Pics: Manuel Gay
BRMC Launch Howl 20th Anniversary Tour in Santa Ana
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club made a triumphant return to the stage on September 20, 2025, kicking off their highly anticipated Howl 20th Anniversary Tour with a powerful live performance at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California. After a few low-key appearances in recent years — including festival sets in 2023 and a short run opening for The Cult — fans had been eagerly awaiting a major comeback from the San Francisco rock trio. With the iconic Howl album turning twenty, BRMC delivered an unforgettable night filled with fan favorites, deep cuts, and timeless energy, proving why they remain one of the most beloved acts in modern rock. I was lucky enough to be in the crowd to witness this incredible show, and it was everything longtime fans could have hoped for — and more.
Mien Set the Tone with a Psychedelic Opening Performance
First band to step on the stage was Mien that I had been wanting to catch for some time. Formed by Alex Maas (of The Black Angels), Rishi Dhir (of Elephant Stone), John-Mark Lapham (of The Earlies) and Golden Dawn Arkestra’s Robb Kidd, the supergroup has released their second album MIIEN earlier this year.
The set started with dark blue lights submerging the venue as the band launched into “Other”, a three minute gloomy instrumental song that could perfectly fit into an apocalyptic movie soundtrack. Right after that the mood took a lighter turn with “Counterbalance”. Although I am a long-time Black Angels fan, I wasn’t familiar with the other members of the band so I gave them a quick listen out of curiosity and Mien sounds like the perfect blend of all four bands.
The stage remained dark most of the stage which didn’t make for great pictures, but it took any visual distraction off the table and you just had to let the trippy sound take you on a psychedelic journey. I particularly enjoyed “Empty Sun” and “Evil People”, both from their new record. The audience seemed pretty enthusiastic by the end of the set. Alex Maas and his gang definitely gained a few fans and followers that evening.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Return to Their Roots with “Howl” Live
Finally the time that we had long waited for was upon us. Peter Hayes’ silhouette made its way to the front of the stage with his acoustic guitar and started playing “Devil’s Waitin’”. Progressively, as the song went on a faint ray of light came through the back of the stage. Eventually Robert Levon Been appeared from the darkness, delivering the backing vocals that turn this country ballad into a gospel ballad. Leah Shapiro finally showed up behind the drum kit to complete the trio as “Shuffle Your Feet” got the crowd cheering and clapping.
Although Howl marked a departure from the earlier fuzzy garage rock sound and an exploration into a stripped acoustic territory, it still contains a few upbeat hits. One of them being “Ain’t No Easy Way” which united the audience into a sea of concert-goers moving in waves in front of the stage. The Bob Dylan-infused “Complicated Situation” mellowed thing down again. Moments later, time felt suspended when “Fault Line” and “Restless Sinner” were played back to back, creating such an intimate moment in the almost-sold-out Observatory. Another favorite of mine from that record “The Line” was amazing live.
HOWL, Fan Favorites and Deep Cuts Fill the Setlist
Essentially the whole album was played in full and mostly in order while the hits were saved for dessert – cherries on top of a wonderful evening. The first cherry being “Red Eyes And Tears” from their self-titled debut album. Peter messed up on the intro chord which threw Robert into a burst of laughter. He had to address the situation at the end of the song, questioning his friend about how in the world he could have messed this one up, considering that it’s been on every single setlist of every show they’ve ever played, even before their first album had been released.
From that point-on the energy on stage got cranked up 100%. The hypnotic bass lines and electrifying guitar stabs filled the air, while Leah provided thunder with powerful drum fills. Without a surprise “Whatever Happened To My Rock’N”Roll (Punk Song)” was the song that got all fans bouncing off the walls. Peter announced they were going play two more songs and that was going to be it, as they were, if I recall correctly “too old to do that bullshit encore thing”. As if we needed another reason to love BRMC. They closed the set with “Shadow’s Keeper” and finished like they started, without a drummer, performing the last song on Howl “Open Invitation”.
A Triumphant Return and a Must-See Tour for 2025
It felt great to see the band reconnect with their audience after quite some time. For me it had been twelve years since the last time I had seen them, at the Paris Rock En Seine festival. There are 25 dates on this tour including another one in LA later in October at The Wiltern where I already know I’ll be. This Howl anniversary show is simply one you cannot miss.
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