Heart Attack Man Rocks The Waiting Room!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

This article is brought to you in partnership with Shadow Ridge Music Festival

Wednesday night (7.16.25) The Waiting Room was bumping with the awesome sounds of Midwest Emo and Pop-Punk!

Up and comers Heart Attack Man are out on the Joyride the Pale Horse tour and Omaha was lucky enough to get a date. I didn't know a ton about the band but through the power of social media when the show was announced I saw my buddy Craig had hit "going". Craig plays in several pop-punk bands in Omaha so I knew our tastes aligned pretty well. I started checking out Heart Attack Man and I really dug it. When their new album Joyride the Pale Horse dropped I started spinning it a lot. I could tell the band worked really hard on it and it feels like it could be a real breakout release for them. The songs are really well crafted and the storytelling is awesome. I couldn't wait to see it live.

The night started with the band Dear Seattle all the way from Australia! They had some crunchy guitars with poppy melodies. The band was stoked to be on tour in the U.S. Being the first band the room hadn't filled very much but you could tell they were just happy to be there. Give them a listen and see what you think.

Next up was the band Carpool from Rochester, NY. These guys took the energy up a notch. They had a pop-punk emo vibe, but there were flairs of classic rock thrown in there. I swear I heard a Cars riff at one point. Their style was all over the place. The lead singer was decked out in baseball gear, the guitarist had boots, a mustache and long hair, the bass player had baggy jeans and a tank top. So a lot of different things going on there. The singer kept shouting out a dive bar called Donahue's. He said it was the greatest bar experience he's ever had. The band spent a couple days in Omaha and they basically lived at Donahue's. So shout out to Donahue's I guess. Maybe they've got some good grub? Check it out and drop a comment if you like Donahue's.

After Carpool was the Dirty Nil from Canada. The crowd had filled in a bit more by now and they were chanting for the Dirty Nil. I was getting pretty hyped. I had heard the Dirty Nil was really good live. I can tell you they lived up to the hype. They had a more classic rock feel somewhere between The Hives and AC/DC. Their straight forward power pop melodies had the crowd rocking. If you get the chance you should really see these guys. They said they had played at the Reverb not too long ago so they're definitely familiar with Omaha. Keep an eye out for the Dirty Nil!

Last up was the headliners for the evening Heart Attack Man! The band played "When World's Collide" by Powerman 5000 before coming out. I forgot how much of a banger that song is. It got the juices flowing! Heart Attack man ripped into the opening track from Joyride the Pale Horse "One More Song (Imposter Syndrome)" and the crowd was super into it, shouting along with lead singer Eric Egan. There's something that feels so right about opening a set with the first track off the album the band is supporting. They kept the new album vibes going with the second track "End of the Gun". The crowd started a small circle pit and the fans up front danced with hands in the air. The pop-punk emo vibes filled the room as Heart Attack man shredded the stage. The energy was really fun as the band hit all the notes of their discography. I could definitely see Heart Attack Man blowing up soon. Make sure you check out Joyride The Pale Horse on all streaming platforms today so you can catch a ride before the bandwagon gets full!

Huge thanks to Heart Attach Man's management for photo access. Thanks so much for reading and we'll see you at the next one!