10 moments from Mosswood Meltdown's wild punk picnic with Iggy Pop and Bikini Kill
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Set us as preferred OAKLAND — The 17th year of Mosswood Meltdown at Oakland’s Mosswood Park brought with it a parade of free-thinking freaks on stage and in the crowd that descended on a punker’s picnic paradise for its annual outing of 20 bands over three days last weekend.Hosted by the pencil mustachioed art film icon John Waters, it began with a “pre-party” that exploded with main-event energy courtesy of lo-fi indie rock heroes Pavement, along with Wednesday and Vivian Girls on Friday night.
The main fest lineup, topped by underground legends Iggy Pop and Bikini Kill, brought wild music with a message of unity among generations of punks to the tree-lined stages surrounded by a city that knows how to throw a good-time rager while staying deathly serious about its musical taste.Here are 10 moments that stood out at this year’s fest.The Fadeaways stand out earlyPerforming Saturday in Mosswood Park was a homecoming for Japanese revival rockers the Fadeaways.
It was barely a year ago that they played a guerilla-style set by the festival entrance for a crowd of unsuspecting new fans.Going from ground level to being introduced on the main stage by Waters was a bucket-list achievement.
“Their intense leaps in the air remind me of a throwback ricocheting tear-gas canister landing in a crowd of ICE agents,” the fabulously filthy host told the crowd before bringing them up.When they took the stage, the band wasted no time exploding into a searing 10-song set led by “That Girl” and including a screeching cover of the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie.”Snooper and its puppeteers of chaosPerforming its third set at the festival since 2022, this Nashville four-piece band has quickly become a staple of this fest thanks to a larger-than-life-size puppet show and an electro-shock energy that helped it rumble through a...