Review by Ruby Labrie and photos by Genevieve Achee
Mosswood Meltdown, the ever-exciting and never-boring Oakland music festival at Mosswood Park where punks of all creeds and ages come to celebrate one thing: good music. The weekend of July 17th to July 19th had the promise of numerous exceptional bands like Pavement, Iggy Pop, Bikini Kill, Wednesday, and more melding the now three day event into one bacchanal of pure fun and loud, raging, rock ‘n’ roll.
The first day started with the Mosswood Pre-Party, an additional day added onto the festival’s traditionally two day enterprise. With Christina’s Trip, Memo PST, and Vivian Girls starting off the day, the stage was perfectly set up for North Carolina’s budding indie rock band, Wednesday. Wednesday’s lead singer and guitarist Karly Hartzman took to the stage in a neon green shirt, jet black lipstick, and a pair of spectacles, with rhythm guitarist Jake “Spyder” Pugh sporting an equally bright shirt of the formerly Oakland A’s. Although not typical attire for an exciting rock group comprised of twenty-something-year-olds, they surely proved that you shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover or rather a rock band by their clothes. Wednesday brought the house, or the park in this case, down playing hits off of their newest album Bleeds (“Townies”, “Phish Pepsi”, “Candy Breath”).
After the crowd was properly warmed up, Pavement hit the stage. The band, now in their third decade, sounded and almost looked like a band you may see playing at a college frat party with sparse attendance with the difference being a literal hoard of thousands having made their way to the stage to hear them. The set included Pavement classics like “Cut Your Hair”, “Range Life”, “Harness Your Hopes”, among others and even included a “Stairway to Heaven” cover. Songs dedicated to their late original drummer Gary Young who passed away in 2023 and even “the housewives of Alameda.” The band delivered a stellar performance, while maybe a bit messy in its own right, that provided a great time for the whole audience and a teaser of what else was to come that weekend.
The second day of the festival had a slew of new bands ready to get on stage for a crowd of music thirsty punks. The first to take the main stage was egg-punk band Snõõper, whose lead singer Blair Tramel ran onto the stage the way a child may run to a playground, jumping and gleefully singing out lyrics like they were the words to “Ring Around the Rosie.” To accompany the band later in the set giant puppets of pineapple men and aliens came out into the crowd to add to the pure absurdity of the performance. Up next was Philadelphia’s indie-punk band, Mannequin Pussy, and lead singer Marisa “Missy” Dabice came on like a hurricane. She was ready to destroy the entirety of Mosswood Park and everyone in it, screaming out the words to hit “I Got Heaven”, jumping with her warface on. The entire field was jam packed with expectant listeners, and no one left unsatisfied. Everyone in attendance was dancing and singing, only adding to Dabice’s energy filled performance.
Next was Kyoto’s all-girl punk rock group Otoboke Beaver. With every member dressed in mod 1960s fashion, the women entered the stage completely uninhibited, kicking and screaming. Lead singer Accorinrin came off extremely cool and powerful even while screaming the words “Destroy!” from their song “YAKITORI”. All while climbing on the barricade with guitarist Yoyoyoshie greeting the crowd with an unmistakable raspy voice before beginning to jump and shake to the music. After the pure musical chaos of Otoboke Beaver, Iggy Pop, the night’s headliner, took the stage. Now almost eighty years old, you wouldn’t know it based on the way he performs. Jumping and dancing around with his signature limp, Iggy Pop made a friend out of every member in the audience yelling and talking out to the whole crowd. Playing solo songs like “The Passenger” and “Lust for Life”, the set was peppered with many Stooges hits including “Gimme Danger” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog” among others to which the whole audience enjoyed extremely, I should know, I was practically manhandled and trampled on multiple times by audience members dying to get closer to this living, breathing rock legend. In true Iggy Pop fashion, the set ended with the man of rock ‘n’ roll myth singing the last two songs, “Cock in My Pocket” and “Mass Production” from a giant circular cage before he was wheeled off stage.
On the third day of Mosswood Meltdown, The Dead Milkmen piled into position behind their instruments into an insanely crowded amphitheater stage. It was almost hard to believe that so many people could squeeze into one tiny space, but nevertheless listeners old and young alike stood up against each-other excited for the show. Lead vocalist Rodney Anonymous jumped right into action, blasting through the lyrics in his signature Beetlejuice-like voice while the crowd went crazy. I swear you could almost see the entire amphitheater jump taking the stage and the band with it.
Later I had the privilege to interview The Return of Jackie and Judy’s Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein before they hit the stage as half of the Ramone’s cover act. In the form of Sleater-Kinney they will be touring this Fall with Liz Phair including at stop at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre. When asked about their feelings about co-headlining with the alt-rock legend they had nothing but high praise. They mentioned how long they had admired Phair in their own early days as a band and it is such a great opportunity to be able to join musical forces with this total tour de force. On hitting the stage at Mosswood they mentioned their excitement to see old and young concert goers in the crowd. When it was showtime the band arrived on stage in outfits inspired by punk band The Ramones, with drummer Fred Armisen even sporting a Marky Ramone-like wig. The set carried on in true Ramones fashion, jumping, chanting, and yelling, with Brownstein stepping on top of her equipment at times to get the crowd moving. Everyone in the audience was jumping and chanting along with the band. You would have almost thought they were The Ramones themselves.
The last band of the night and festival was Bikini Kill. After headlining the festival back in 2022 the band is well acquainted with Mosswood Meltdown, but by no means does that dim down the excitement that front woman Kathleen Hanna brings to the stage. Hanna came out exuberant as ever in a hot pink tutu and a sparkly blue top ready to end the festival with a bang. The songs of Bikini Kill may have come out over thirty years ago but the band ripped them out like they were written yesterday as Hanna jumped up and down while running across the stage. The whole field was electric and audience members drew from Bikini Kill’s energy completely rocking the festival grounds. When the show eventually ended everyone was sad to go, but I think it’s safe to say that this year’s Mosswood Meltdown will be one for the books.
