Inside Lip Critic’s Theft Saga boxing ring show

The energy around Lip Critic’s Theft World era has been electric, to say the least. Staying on theme of an album inspired by a fan lifting vocalist Bret Kaser’s identity, the band announced their Theft Saga early on — a trio of shows spread across NYC, where fans crammed into intimate, highly unusual spaces to watch their brash blend of punk transcendence. That included a laundromat, a basement bar, and a boxing ring, ahead of a traditional tour schedule.

Alongside openers MX LONELY — who unleashed their own captivating album a few months back — Lip Critic played 148 Frost St. in Williamsburg last month, capping off their residency. MX LONELY set the tone, whose performances fall somewhere between “a drag show and a mosh pit.” Donning dramatic red eye shadow, vocalist Rae Haas screamed, writhed, and tipped backward, enveloped by their bandmates’ towering fuzz. Later, Haas could be spotted crowd-surfing to Lip Critic’s jerky chaos.

Read more: Behind the scenes of Lip Critic’s “Legs In A Snare” video

By the time Lip Critic entered the ring, the crowd was buzzing and packed to the walls, dripping sweat. The set was nothing but huge energy, including “Sermon” and “(In the Wawa) Convinced I Am God” from 2024’s Hex Dealer and singles off Theft World, out today via Partisan. The band — vocals, two drummers, two samplers, no guitars — were jammed inside the ring, but they weren’t restrained by its perimeter, climbing the ropes, getting into the crowd, and commanding the masses with blazing authority. “Split the room up,” Kaser urged during the middle of “Milky Max.” “Right down the middle. Wider, wider. I want this side hugging this side and this side hugging this side.” The crowd obeyed, thrashing around gleefully upon his signal.

Photographer Mitchell Wojcik and videographer Omar Zapata were on site, capturing the band in all of their mayhem.