New Years Day Delivers an Intimate Performance in Pensacola

New Years Day brought their powerhouse rock show to The Handlebar in Pensacola, FL on October 18th. The iconic local venue closed four years ago but was recently reopened after renovations. During its history, it has hosted bands including Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles), New Found Glory, Ice Nine Kills, Underoath, Hawthorne Heights and Run DMC.

This was New Years Day’s first visit to the Pensacola since 2019. Their last show was at the Vinyl Music Hall which had a barrier separating fans from the stage. The Handlebar being a much smaller venue has no room for a barrier, which created a more intimate environment for the band to perform. Vocalist Ash Costello took advantage of this on several occasions. During “Kill or Be Killed” she left the stage and strolled around holding her mic to fans so they could sing along. Later in the night she went out and danced with fans.

The ambience was dark and hazy with red back lighting accentuating Costello’s signature split black and red hair as she swayed it from side to side while singing. This fit the goth feel of the night with most everyone dressed in black clothes. Costello puts on a very interactive performance constantly engaging the crowd. She held a scream contest between the women and men before dedicating “Shutup” to all her girls in the crowd. During “Fucking Hostile” she told everyone to get their horns up in the air.

The band played a 10-song set which included their latest release “Hurts Like Hell”, as well as songs like “Skeletons”, “I Survived”, and “Scream”. New Years Day has had several lineup changes over the years since its formation in 2005 with Costello being the only remaining member. However, even though members change frequently, Costello always singles out the new ones giving them the spotlight. This was the case when rhythm guitarist Jeremy Valentyne soloed on “Fucking Hostile” while drummer Tommy Rockoff contributed an extended drum solo before “Malevolence”.

New Years Day concluded the night with “Defame Me”. The tour is now over but you can keep up to date with the band at their sites below.

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Setlist