Boss Hog – Wonder Bar – Asbury Park, NJ – September 9, 2017 (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)

Updated: Jun 27, 2022

Boss Hog – Wonder Bar – Asbury Park, NJ – September 9, 2017

On a brisk Saturday night in September, the punk-blues hybrid Boss Hog held court in Asbury Park at Wonder Bar. A small crowd were put under the spell of lead singer Cristina Martinez and lead guitarist Jon Spencer for a set of genre-bending tunes.

In the shadows of the blues and purples of that lit the stage, Martinez twisted her vocals upside down and sideways through the stops and starts of the rest of Boss Hog. A sight unlike any other, with Martinez willing to get up in the audience’s face or sing up close with Spencer (her husband). It was as entertaining to watch as it was enthralling to listen to.

Playing behind their first album since 2000, the aptly titled Brood X (after a periodical cicada that spends 17 years underground), Boss Hog took the crowd on a journey from unknown sounds to a darkness of the unknown at the end of the night.

Jersey City rockers Sunshine & the Rain began the night with a furious set of one poppy song after the other. The husband and wife duo showed a lot of potential with their guitar hooks and speedy delivery.

Philadelphia-based Taiwan Housing Project were the second opener. With explosive punk sensibilities, the four-piece led by the vocal and guitar wizardry of Kilynn Lunsford were phenomenal. Playing behind their debut album Veblen Death Mask, they are a band that needs to be experienced live.

Chris Sikich