20 Years of ‘The Mechanical Hand’ Tour — Horse The Band — San Francisco, CA — 4.27.25

Making their long-awaited return to bless the ears of longtime fans, Horse the Band descended upon San Francisco’s August Hall with a chaotic and cathartic force. Known for pioneering the genre of Nintendo-core, their sound remains unapologetically unique and aggressive, and the crowd was here for every second of it.

From the jump, the band came out swinging. With walls of distortion, synths that sounded like Game Boys melting in hell, and guttural screams that rattled the rafters, Horse The Band delivered the sonic equivalent of a boss battle. One of the standout moments came from Ed Edge, who turned the humble triangle into an instrument of anarchy, slamming it with such passion that it felt like the most metal thing in the room as he jumped into the crowd to join in on the chaos.

Looking around the venue, you couldn’t find a face that wasn’t either grinning ear to ear or screaming along to every word. It was a night soaked in nostalgia for longtime fans, it was alive, raw, and feral.

From fan favorites like “Birdo” and “Cutsman” to deep cuts only the diehards would recognize, Horse The Band played banger after banger with relentless energy. Every breakdown, every synth riff, every moment was delivered with the same absurd and beautiful intensity that made them cult legends in the first place.

By the end of the night, it didn’t feel like anyone had just watched a show. It felt like we had survived something wild and wonderful. Horse the Band didn’t just return to San Francisco. They conquered it.

Check out the gallery below from Luis Rosales as he was there to capture every moment of this show. 

Horse The Band