Friday’s alright for a lot of things – fighting, dancing, being in love – and now I can add seeing one heck of a punk rock band from Montreal, Quebec.
NOBRO is currently on tour supporting co-headlining punk legends Descendents and folk-punk icon Frank Turner. The quintet, though, put on the type of show that I see from main acts, and they left the crowd awestruck.
Taking the stage to a completely packed club, the band – Kathryn McCaughey (vocals, bass); Karolane Carbonneau (guitar, vocals); Liane Caccal (drums); Josée Caron (guitar); and Tara Cohen (keyboard, percussion) – kicked things off with their signature opener “Where My Girls At” with the intro “Let’s go NOBRO!” An incredibly energetic start to the evening, but, as I was soon to discover, that was comparatively calm compared to what came next.
NOBRO meshes high-octane energy with catchy, well-honed songs that make it hard to not be drawn into the moment. Songs like “A.I. Sexbots” with that disco rhythm between Cohen and Caccal sets up a heavy rocker that could be blanketing the airwaves. In fact, most of the songs in their relatively short opening set Friday night felt poised to be on regular rotation any moment.
I know I’ve said this before, either in writing or talking to friends, but there are some bands who are great on record; some who are great live; and then there are those rare groups who are just great and what you see is just as brilliant as what you hear on wax. NOBRO is firmly in that latter camp. Their most recent LP, Set Your Pussy Free, is full of earworms that are just fun to listen to. And that fun translated perfectly to the stage as guitarists Caron and Carbonneau traded licks while singer Kathryn McCaughey thrashed about before later passing the bass off to Cohen as she took to the mic.
As things got into gear, McCaughey, announcing that the temperature definitely was turned up in this capacity club, shed her shirt before figuratively launching into “Don’t Die” and literally doing so later as she not only jumped from the bass drum but later made her way across the barricade and into the crowd.
Speaking of the legendary Descendents, soon to be making it to the stage, McCaughey said, “Maybe we’ll be legends some day.” Seeing the reaction from the crowd, I wouldn’t doubt it for a minute.
Listen to the new single, “DOOMTOWN” by NOBRO:
This was my first time seeing NOBRO and it certainly won’t be the last. They opened the evening like they were there to have fun and they brought that joy to a crowd that was primed for it.
The setlist included:
Where My Girls At
A.I. Sexbots
Marianna
Let’s Do Drugs
Set That Pussy Free
Til I Get It All
Don’t Die
Eat Slay Chardonnay
Delete Delete Delete
Better Each Day
Bye Bye Baby
LALA
Check out more photos of NOBRO bringing down the house at Nevermore Hall on February 20, 2026. All photos copyright David LaMason
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Nice work. Stage lighting is difficult to deal with and these are really nice and sharp.