The third year of reunion shows from The Marvelous 3 kicked off in Nashville at the Brooklyn Bowl on Friday evening to a SOLD OUT crowd. The guys were joined by local punk rock band Winona Fighter who are fronted by multi-instrumentalist Coco Kinnon. She was joined by a touring drummer, as well as lead guitarist Dan Fuson and bassist/producer Austin Luther.
Winona Fighter made a strong impression with their 2022 debut EP, Father Figure and recently re-recorded three of its songs, ”Subaru”, “You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers,” and “Wlbrn St Tvrn” for their latest release MY APOLOGIES TO THE CHEF, the band’s first full-length album. Full of energy, rage, and lots of charisma, they truly revved up the audience before the headliners took the stage.
The energy continued when The Marvelous 3 took the stage for their first stop on a four-city tour, with stops in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York city.
(Sadly, the bonus festival show with Weezer that we had hoped to catch on October 11th in Cincinnati has since been canceled.)
Given this was the first stop, we were treated to an extended show as the band worked out the set list live. There were no video screens on stage, no crazy pyro or light show, just a band giving us all that they had to give for one night in Nashville.
Frontman Butch Walker and his bandmates Jayce Fincher (bass) and Douglas “Slug” Mitchell (drums) were once again joined by Holden Fincher on rhythm guitar and vocals (and briefly drums) for this first show on the 3rd Time’s the Charm tour.
As all good things come in three, I literally blinked in that photo pit and three songs were gone after the show kicked off hard and fast with “Little Head.” And, it was such a challenge to get good photos with the band evading the camera and all… thank you for the close-ups Mr. Walker!
There were a few surprises this year, including Holden taking the lead on “Until You See,” and a couple welcome additions from the archives, namely “#27” from Hey! Album and “Make Up” from the band’s underrated debut Math & Other Problems.
They also pulled out some fun covers like Modern English’s “I Melt with You,” which inspired the band to encourage hugs around the room, and a Medley similar to last year’s, that brought Slug out from behind the kit for a minute. But, the song everyone will be talking about will be the finale of “There’s Always Something There to Remind Me,” which brought Butch to the center of the room for some sing-a-long fun and a few laughs at the expense of the aging band and audience.
I know everyone’s first question is always “set list?” so I’ll do my best to cover the highlights, but we are talking a good twenty-five songs with the medley included! There were so many moments when the audience voices rose over the band like “Grant Park,” “You’re So Yesterday,” and “Sugar Buzz,” and of course “Freak of the Week” taking the lead, but there were also several new songs in the mix like “My Old School Metal Heart,” “Kill a Motherfucker that Breaks Your Heart,” “If We’re On Fire (Let it Burn),” and “Jackie and Tina” making the cut.
Everyone has their favorites but as a long-time fan myself, I think they had it covered with “Vampires in Love,” “Cigarette Lighter Love Song,” and “Radio Tokyo” also in the mix. Notably missing were “Beautiful” and “Let me Go,” which were true show-stoppers at the very first reunion show back in 2023.
With word that there will be no shows next year, we can’t help but wonder what’s on the horizon for The Marvelous 3. For now, I just plan to soak in the fun this week with the rest of you and am thankful that I could add another show my personal archives, because Nashville was epic!
Coverage by Editor and founder Kara Marie Uhrlen on 9/28/2025. All event photos © Kara Uhrlen and The Pure Rock Shop.
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