Bad Nerves Inject The Regent Theatre With a Dose of Punk Spirit

May 21st, 2025 – Los Angeles, CA

While promoting their 2024 album Still Nervous live across the USA, UK-based Bad Nerves found themselves in Southern California for the second time on this spring tour run as they started to close out its final dates. Despite being a Wednesday night, the Regent was packed with a black-clad crowd all the way up the stairs, and the atmosphere was electric – the hours of back-to-back sets, which included support from local punks SPIDER as well as Spiritual Cramp, were filled with shouting, distortion, swinging microphones and overall, an infectious sense of freneticism.

Photography by Carissa Leong (@carissalphoto.cr2)

I first came across Bad Nerves in January 2024 during my semester abroad in London, as if I’d been trying to fill my ears with what I figured to be noise that frequented the iconic, grungy basement venue of the Underworld in Camden Town, and something about them was immediately appealing. As the self-proclaimed brainchild of the Ramones and The Strokes, Bad Nerves put a softer, yet still punchy spin on punk music, while continuing to aesthetically and spiritually embody it within the modern day. It seemed like a lot of people agreed with my sentiment, as the band went on to play a much larger venue than a bar and a basement in Camden Town, and the Regent was a suitable space for the band within LA since it retained the intimacy of a smaller show while accommodating their growing audience.

Bathed in dark light, SPIDER started the night with a roar, kicking right off with abundant headbanging and mic-swinging to a frantic, old-school punk sound, of the same sonic DNA as bands of the 70s and 80s like Black Flag. During the brief breaks between songs, vocalist Hector Martinez thanked those who showed up early enough to attend their one-off set, and he encouraged the crowd to move around a bit more than what they had already been doing, with the rhythmic head-bobs and a singular dancing mosher, who darted across the floor in a patched black jacket.

Photography by Carissa Leong (@carissalphoto.cr2)

Backed by graffitied-over televisions which showed static, San Francisco-based Spiritual Cramp brought another take on an intense performance, one riddled with high jumps and an equally spirited performance of unconventional instruments within the genre, like the keyboard and tambourine by member José Luna. In true punk fashion, Spiritual Cramp brought a lens of honesty to life, the world and its anxieties through tracks performed such as “Addict” off of their 2023 self-titled album, as well as the impassioned words shared during breaks in the set. Though a circle pit burst into existence, I was a bit apprehensive as to how animated the attendees would become as the night went on, given their relative lackluster energy for a punk-adjacent show, which wasn’t the fault of any of the performers.

Photography by Carissa Leong (@carissalphoto.cr2)

Accompanied by their genre-spin on punk music, Bad Nerves also brought a level of polish, theatricality and crowd interactivity that contrasted against the raw nature of their two opening acts. Launching immediately into classics within their discography like “Baby Drummer” from their explosive 2020 self-titled debut album, the band had a presence that rioted against the constraints of the Regent – there was the sense that they were already gearing up to dominate larger stages, like at festivals BottleRock Napa and Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, both of which they had lined up during the next four days alongside their friends in Spiritual Cramp.

It was only with the dedication of “USA” off of Still Nervous halfway through the set, by frontman Bobby Nerves to their American audience, that truly broke the crowd out of their slumber. The track itself was short, lyrically simple and refreshingly direct, which reinforced the mainstay of rock and roll’s outspoken and rebellious nature amidst America’s political climate. The circle pit that erupted across the floor, with a sea of moshers crashing against each other, was the largest it had been all night, and crowd-surfers and stage-divers finally launched themselves in euphoric waves across the venue.

The lighting within the Regent was crisp, bright and excellent to work with, especially as a photographer for their headlining set. It was more than enough to capture the smiles that Nerves would shoot audience members as he interacted with them – inciting them to call back lyrics or pitting the crowd against one another for whichever side had the most people sitting on each other’s shoulders. As they played those catchy, melodic power-pop hooks, guitarists Will Phillipson and George Berry were highlighted in non-stop motion, of constant jumps and contortions, which kept the energy in the room brimming high throughout.

Photography by Carissa Leong (@carissalphoto.cr2)

Toward the end of their set, Bad Nerves’ encore was extremely anticipated and also notably drawn out – standing still, separated and silhouetted, the members let the audience chant out the band name and call for more music, for nearly a minute or longer. Then, to raucous applause, they launched into their final three tracks. “We’re going to be playing this song for the rest of our lives,” Nerves said before performing “Can’t Be Mine,” the opening track off of their self-titled debut and currently the most popular song of their career.

From my previous experience of sitting down and listening through Bad Nerves’ studio albums, I could barely restrain the instinctive head-banging and toe-tapping along to the rhythm when it was just me and my headphones – so undoubtedly, their music is completely enhanced within a live setting, out loud and alongside a community that ends up actively reciprocating the energy that they give off. With their unashamed punk attitude and authenticity, Bad Nerves are simultaneously a nostalgic yet fresh act within the modern day – increasingly worth keeping an eye on as they transition into the 2025 summer festival season and beyond.