Butcher Babies at Bourbon Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on September 2, 2026.
Photos and Review by The Pit Magazine Contributor, Bob DeHart Photography
The Butcher Babies took the Bourbon Theatre stage by storm as the opening act for metal legend Chad Gray. How would one describe a Butcher Babies show…pure energy and adrenaline would be a great place to start. Lead vocalist Heidi Shepard is non-stop movement… Jumping, running, kicking, and screaming. She’s a blur, literally. She is worth the price of admission alone, giving all-out effort every song. And the band, they are pretty amazing too. A complete package of mayhem. And the crowd at the Bourbon Theater would have it no other way.
They have a new album coming out very soon, and this tour is to kick off its release. The album is titled NIGHTBLOOM and will be released on October 1st. They also released an EP this past month titled Leaving California. The Butcher Babies are made of the before mentioned Heidi Shepard on lead vocals, Henry Flury /guitar, Dave Nickles/drums, and Sean Violet/bass.
It was a great setlist mixed with old and new. My favorites for the night were Monsters Ball, which really got the crowd involved and moving, and It’s Killing Time, Baby!. At one point Heidi even jumped into the crowd to get the mosh pit going. Gutsy move, but true dedication to the heavy metal crusaders keeping the circle going. They are not completely the same band they were when I first covered them a few years ago. They are one female lead vocalist down (Carla Harvey). But truth be told, I think they are great the way they are right now. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s a tough transition for a band to go through a situation like that. But I can honestly say that they came out alright through the process.
If you can you should catch this tour. Devil’s Cut a new band out of Kentucky opens the show. And they are a pleasant surprise, you should definitely give them a listen. Followed by the Butcher Babies and then of course Mr. Chad Gray himself. A slice of Metal Heaven for sure.
Photos by The Pit Magazine photographer, Bob DeHart Photography in York, Nebraska. ©2026.
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