(Hed) P.E.

From Huntington Beach to G‑punk

(Hed) P.E. began in Huntington Beach, California, in 1994, when vocalist Jared “M.C.U.D.” Gomes and guitarist Wes Geer set about stitching together punk, rap and hard rock. The band’s self‑definition — G‑punk — still does a tidy job of describing their blend of bass‑heavy swing, streetwise rhymes and pit‑ready choruses. They signed to Jive and released their self‑titled debut on 12 August 1997, establishing motifs that have stayed with them on stage ever since: the late‑night paranoia of Jesus (of Nazareth), the nihilism of Waiting to Die and the percussive snap of I Got You. The label’s own capsule history on Apple Music still frames the group in those terms and pegs the origin point to Orange County’s punk tradition colliding with G‑funk.

The records that made the name

Broke arrived on 22 August 2000 and became the set they still lean on. Its singles Bartender and Killing Time remain the most reliable accelerants at shows, while Feel Good drafted in Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Morgan Lander (Kittie) for a funk‑to‑fury swing that underlined the album’s reach. A third Jive LP, Blackout, followed in 2003, after which the band left the major‑label lane. Only in Amerika (released 19 October 2004 on Koch) reset the dial with new personnel and a more confrontational streak; by 2006 they’d linked with Suburban Noize for Back 2 Base X and a prolific independent run that carried through the 2010s.

The more recent studio marker is Detox, released on 15 December 2023 through Suburban Noize/Regime. It tightened the circle back to groove‑led rap‑metal and reggae turns, and its rollout — videos for Waiting and other tracks — put the focus on new material before the anniversary cycle took over. In between, they’ve also played with the catalogue. New And Improved (30 May 2025, Cleopatra) is a set of ’80s covers and “reloaded” versions of their own songs, including new takes on Raise Hell and Bartender, while Best of Unauthorized (28 February 2025) gathered re‑recordings of the Jive‑era high points.

A year built around ‘Broke’ — and a live document to prove it

The pivot to celebrating Broke crystallised in early 2026. On 7 February in Brisbane, an Australian date with Nonpoint, a local reviewer clocked a full‑album performance: Jesus (of Nazareth) as a slow‑burn opener, the crowd surge on Killing Time and Waiting to Die, the reggae shuffle of Swan Dive, through to a melodica‑teased The Meadow and a closing Bartender, with Renegade used as a victory‑lap jam. The same run is captured on a live release, Live In Brisbane (Celebrating 25 Years of “Still Broke”), which landed on 7 February 2026; Apple’s listings show it as the band’s most recent longform release and include live cuts of I Got You and Bartender.

The anniversary framing has travelled. US spring and summer routing threaded through the Nu Metal Sucks Tour — co‑billed with Spineshank and Primer 55 on dates advertised from late April into June — and into Nonpoint’s Even More… Outta Control dates, where (Hed) P.E. played the opener in many cities but kept Broke at the heart of the set.

2025–26: re‑recordings, a new single and a new imprint

As the Broke shows rolled on, the group issued a flurry of catalogue‑minded releases in 2025 (Best of Unauthorized in February; New And Improved on 30 May) before flipping the emphasis back to the future in mid‑2026. On 7 August 2026 they released a new single, Violent Girl, with an Alex Zarek‑directed video, and unveiled Creator One Records, their own imprint pitched on a DIY, artist‑controlled model. Multiple outlets reported that the single trails a new studio album titled Relapse, with pre‑orders launched and an expected October 2026 release window; an interview with Australian outlet Amnplify as far back as 17 November 2025 had Gomes telling fans the next record would be called Relapse and “coming out in the summer of 2026”.

Line‑up stability has helped make the shows feel sharper in 2026. Coverage of the Blue Note Harrison, Ohio date on 9 August 2026 lists the working quartet as Gomes on vocals with Kurt “Kid Bass” Blankenship (bass), Nathan Javier (guitar) and Stephen Arango (drums); Arango’s drumming was also singled out in an Adelaide review on 11 February 2026.

Where they’re standing right now

As of 6 September 2026, the band’s ticketing footprint splits in two. In the US, late‑August club shows popped up on listings and in setlist logs — El Corazón (Seattle, 22 August), Goldfield Trading Post (Roseville, 25 August; a posted 7.30pm–8.05pm set time underscored their role on a multi‑band bill), 24 Oxford (Las Vegas, 29 August) — with tight, Broke‑heavy runs of six to eight songs: Jesus (of Nazareth), Killing Time, Waiting to Die, Feel Good, I Got You and Bartender are the spine of most recent documented sets.

From late September into October 2026 they pivot to the UK and Ireland on a co‑bill with Cold — Southampton 1865 on 22 September, Bristol Fleece on 23 September, Exeter Phoenix on 25 September, Liverpool Arts Club on 26 September, Manchester Rebellion on 27 September, Dublin’s Opium (29 September) and Belfast’s Limelight 2 (30 September), before Glasgow (2 October), Newcastle’s Anarchy Brew Co (3 October) and a Wolverhampton date at KK’s Steel Mill on 4 October billed explicitly as a “Broke 25 yr anniversary” show. A Prague date with Spineshank sits just beyond, on 17 October. Across these, local ticketing sites flag the events as joint headline or “HED PE / COLD” pairings, suggesting longer sets than the August support slots.

On stage in 2026

What (Hed) P.E. deliver this year depends on the slot. In support roles on touring bills, they’re playing 30–40 minutes and keeping the pacing brisk — the Goldfield Trading Post listing on 25 August 2026 had them down for a 35‑minute show, and the setlists from Roseville, Las Vegas and Seattle across that week show the same six‑song core with Bartender as the closer. In headlining and co‑headline frames, Broke is the brief, sometimes front‑to‑back (as in Brisbane on 7 February 2026), and they’ll stretch out with call‑and‑response, melodica interludes and jam‑coded codas.

Production remains club‑scale, but the anniversary hook has filled rooms with people who know the cues; reviews talk about crowd‑led choruses on Swan Dive and The Meadow, and a rugged spring to the rhythm section. Support casts have been throwbacks and peers: Spineshank and Primer 55 on the Nu Metal Sucks Tour in May and June 2026; Nonpoint (often headlining) through August; and the UK run with Cold from 22 September.

Fan response is unsurprisingly split between nostalgia and scrutiny. Ticketmaster’s aggregated reviews across recent years skew warm, with a 4.8/5 rating from dozens of notices praising the energy; social posts this summer range from simple “stole the show” plaudits to grumbles about wear on Gomes’s voice and the revolving‑door nature of the line‑up. What’s not in dispute is the material’s live usefulness: a six‑song punch built around Broke still moves a room, and the Brisbane recording fixes that in the catalogue.