Schedule
Wednesday · November 11 · 07:00PMAbout the artists
WITH CARLY COSGROVE & PUDDLE SPLASHER
Microwave:
From start to finish, Let’s Start Degeneracy marks a liberated new chapter for Microwave, one unbound by realities other than their own. Recorded between Atlanta and Nashville and later mixed by Josh Wilbur (Korn, Bad Religion) and mastered by Brad Blackwood (Maroon 5, Lamb of God), the long-awaited fourth full-length record from Microwave, is a trip. Its title, taken from a conservative politician’s take on drugs in 1970, captures the band’s newfound liberated spirit, and its tracks play by no one’s rules but their own. At various points the Atlanta trio of vocalist/guitarist Nathan Hardy, bassist Tyler Hill, and drummer Timothy “Tito” Pittard pull together a multitude of influences ranging from ambient pop and R&B to psychedelia and yes, even Sublime.
Lyrically, Let’s Start Degeneracy is loaded with revelations, some of which came to Hardy after experiences with ayahuasca in Peru with Tito. As the pandemic wound down, the two reconvened with bassist/vocalist Tyler Hill and together, found their way back to being Microwave again.
“It’s about letting go of attachments and behaviors that aren’t serving you and trying to shake off your programming and not be motivated by fear and guilt and shame,” says Hardy. “It’s about learning to be happy and take care of yourself.”
Free Throw:
Free Throw is an emo-punk outfit from Nashville with a rugged but deeply melodic sound. On albums like 2017’s Bear Your Mind and 2021’s Piecing It Together, the quintet expanded on their energetic sound while building a significant national fan base. They switched from the Triple Crown label to Wax Bodega ahead of 2023’s Lessons That We Swear to Keep and returned in early 2026 with “A Hero’s Grave,” the lead single from their sixth album.
Free Throw formed in 2012 and quickly become a fixture of Nashville’s D.I.Y. circuit of basement and house shows. Early EPs Free Throw and Lavender Town revealed a band with a strong melodic sense and a gritty catharsis that eventually earned them a spot on Count Your Lucky Stars’ label roster. The five-piece lineup of Cory Castro (vocals, guitar), Jake Hughes (guitar, vocals), Lawrence Warner (guitar), Justin Castro (bass), and Zach Hall (drums) made their label debut with These Days Are Gone, the band’s first LP. The album saw them break into the national touring scene, as they racked up shows with Sorority Noise, Tiny Moving Parts, and other like-minded bands. With Kevin Garcia replacing Hall on drums, they entered the studio with producer Brett Romnes (I Am the Avalanche, Sorority Noise) and recorded their follow-up LP.
Released in May 2017, Bear Your Mind was Free Throw’s first release for New York label Triple Crown Records. A 2018 EP, Missing Pieces, offered reworked acoustic versions of several tracks from Bear Your Mind as well as a cover of the Chance the Rapper cut “Same Drugs.” Free Throw later returned to full-electric form on 2019’s What’s Past Is Prologue, followed two years later by their fourth album Piecing It Together. The latter album saw the return of original drummer Zach Hall. The band parted ways with Triple Crown and joined the roster of Philadelphia label Wax Bodega which released 2023’s deeply personal Lessons That We Swear to Keep. Free Throw began teasing their sixth full-length withe the 2025 single “Mike Nolan’s Long Weekend” which featured Bad Luck’s Dom Fox. Another advance single, “A Hero’s Grave,” arrived in early 2026.
With support from Philadelphia DIY’s Carly Cosgrove!
LET’S ROCK THE QUEEN! 
