The B-52s, Redd Kross and the Mummies top the bill at Oakland's Mosswood Meltdown
One of the most entertaining two-day celebrations of punk in the Bay Area returns to Oakland this weekend when the Mosswood Meltdown gathers an array of local and national punk acts including new wave greats the B-52s, local legends the Mummies, LA pop-punk heroes Redd Kross and much more.
Back in February, the festival confirmed the initial bands for the 2024 edition with Saturday headliners the B-52's and an appearance by reunited queercore act Hunx and his Punx in addition to highlights like New Orleans bounce icon Big Freedia -- who has been a popular attraction at other local festivals like Outside Lands and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco -- experimental-punk icon Gibby Haynes playing with graduates from the Paul Green Rock Academy, pioneering Philadelphia-based Black punk band Pure Hell and much more.
The garage-punk festival former known as the Burger Boogaloo has gone through some major changes since its 10th anniversary edition was held in Oakland's Mosswood Park six years ago. Festival organizers split with the fest's namesake Burger Records after a sexual misconduct scandal broke surrounding the imprint and many bands associated last year (the SoCal label had had little to do with the festival's planning for ages, according to Bay Area promoters Total Trash Productions). To their credit, Total Trash and the Mosswood Meltdown have taken clear steps to distance themselves from the scandal and to firmly establish the festival as a showcase for a diverse line-up of women, POC and queer artists as well a safe space where no harassment of any kind will be tolerated.
Spearheaded by main organizer and Total Trash honcho Marc Ribak, the Meltdown continues the Boogaloo's reputation as one of the premiere underground rock festivals in the country on par with Goner Records' yearly Gonerfest and the Punk Rock Bowling Festival in Las Vegas. The event will once again feature vendors selling records, clothes and guitar gear in addition to an array of food options as well as a number of noted DJs -- DJ Baby Donut (songwriter and Bratmobile member Allison Wolfe), DJ Gidget Goes to Hell (aka Gina Marie, Near Dark promoter and member of Sympathy Flowers) along with local favorites DJ Omar Perez (Popscene, Leisure) and DJ Big Nate -- playing music between bands.
The Mosswood Meltdown once again brings back pencil-mustached director and revered trash-culture expert Waters as MC. Expelled from NYU where he was studying film in the 1960s, Waters rose to notoriety thanks to his string of '70s campy midnight movies including Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living. Making up what the director termed his "Trash Trilogy," the films shredded the boundaries of conventional propriety and movie censorship with outrageous dialog and action as well as establishing drag queen Divine (Waters' friend from his Baltimore, Maryland childhood and muse, Harris Glenn Milstead) as an actor and cult figure.
Waters would eventually go on to more mainstream success with his later films like Hairspray (which inspired the Broadway musical and movie adaptation), the Johnny Depp film Cry-Baby and the scathing satire Serial Mom, but he has remained an icon of trash culture between his b-movie appearances, books and This Filthy World is a one-man stage show exploring his artistic origins. More recently, Waters has explored visual arts with mixed media and manipulated photo exhibits that by his own admission aim to inspire disgust with the viewer. Waters never fails to deliver off-color commentary during hilarious band introductions from the stage. His return as host should be no less entertaining.
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The festival will also be holding a number of club shows at the Meltdown's semi-official headquarters Thee Stork Club as well as Eli's Mile High Club and the Elbo Room. Following pre-parties on Wednesday (at the Stork with Puerto Rican garage punks Davila 666 and locals Circulators and Garras Suicas) and Friday night (at Eli's with pioneering SF femme punk band Frightwig as Thee Stork hosts a Near Dark goth/new wave dance party), there will be multiple shows after the fun at Mosswood Park ends each night.
Highlights of the night shows include the Alternative Tentacles Takeover Saturday at Eli's with action-adventure rock heroes Arnocorps and Victims Family guitarist Ralph Spight's band the Freak Accident playing songs from their latest album Outer Space Is Boring, Oakland post-punk band Baus headlining Thee Stork with Memphis/Oakland punks Useless Eaters and violin-powered experimental-punks Everyone Is Dirty, an eclectic Elbo Room show with SF dub/reggae purveyors Extra Classic and Sunday's closing party at Thee Stork with spectacular all-girl Beastie Boys tribute the Sheastie Boys, Oakland electro-punks Diesel Dudes and ferocious Texas punk band Die Spitz.
For Saturday's line-up, the Mosswood Meltdown bill gets topped by groundbreaking Athens, Georgia-based new wave band the B-52s. The band was founded in 1976 when vocalists Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, her guitar-playing older brother Ricky, vocalist/percussionist Fred Schneider and multi-instrumentalist Keith Strickland jammed after sharing a large communal "flaming volcano" cocktail at a Chinese restaurant. Drawing influence from retro '50s and '60s sounds (including surf, space-age pop and garage rock), party atmosphere and what critics described as "thrift shop chic," the group's nervy new wave songs quickly found an audience with the global hit "Rock Lobster."
The tune powered the sales of the outfit's self-titled debut when it was released in 1979, but the entire album was filled with such dance classics as "Planet Claire" and "52 Girls," earning its status as a classic of the era. Their follow-up Wild Planet featured more synthesized sounds that nodded to their new-wave contemporaries Devo, but the B-52s forged their own uniquely tuneful, hook-laden style of modern dance music.
The group continued to have commercial success through their next few recordings, but suffered a major blow when Ricky Wilson died from complications related to AIDS in 1985 at the age of 32. Shaken by the loss, the B-52's went on hiatus for two years, but had a triumphant return in 1989 with the release of their biggest commercial hit yet, Cosmic Thing. Powered by the MTV hits "Love Shack" and "Roam," the effort brought the band's joyful sound to a mainstream audience. While the group went on what they called their farewell tour last year, the band has continued performing live, playing dates for a Las Vegas residency. This appearance at the Mosswood Meltdown could be the B-52s' last Bay Area performance ever.
The balance of the Saturday schedule will be filled out by returning LA favorites Redd Kross, who recently put out their first double album of the band's 45 year career to widespread acclaim, and sets by a pair of local queer punk bands -- Hunx and his Punx and Pansy Division -- who will have a drag show hosted by SF legend Peaches Christ appropriately sandwiched between them. Reunited twee Berkeley indie-pop band Go Sailor, Wifey -- the new project of transgender singer Cher Strauberry whose band Twompsax played their final gig at a Meltdown after party last year -- rising LA hardcore band Trap Girl and Bay Area garage-soul favorites Hot Laundry round out the day's entertainment.
On Sunday, the Meltdown welcomes back one of the most beloved and unhinged local bands to influence the modern generation of trash disciples since the '90s. The Mummies first came together in San Mateo in 1988 and -- along with fellow Bay Area band the Phantom Surfers -- set a standard for snotty, Sonics-informed '60s style rock snarl. Led by singer/organ player Trent Ruane, whose snarky stage banter and manhandling of his Farfisa became a trademark of the band's entertaining shows, the Mummies also featured prolific drummer Russell Quan, bassist Maz Kattuah and guitarist Larry Winther. With their tattered mummy wraps and self-proclaimed "budget rock" attitude, the band's shambling, chaotic stage performances and lo-fi recordings stayed true to a DIY aesthetic until their dissolution in the early '90s.
The split wouldn't last, with the group reuniting to tour Europe with friends Supercharger in 1993 and traveling through the U.S. the following year in addition to putting out the live album Party at Steve's House. Still, the Mummies were prone to extended periods of inactivity, even as members of the band played in numerous other bands. Several members would perform with the Phantom Surfers, while SF garage-rock figurehead Quan has had a hand in the Count Backwurds, the Dukes of Hamburg, the Bobbyteens and many others.
The Mummies reunited again 2003 when they issued their first CD Death by Unga Bunga. The band has been a regular festival attraction for the better part of the past two decades, appearing at multiple editions of the Meltdown in addition to destroying local clubs with their packed and raucous shows. More recently, the band has been the focus of documentary filmmaker Jim Granato's lens for an upcoming comedy/garage-sploitation feature with the working title "Budget Rock Confidential."
Also appearing on Sunday will be unsung Black punk rock originators Pure Hell, a double-dose of booty-shaking acts with New Orleans bounce artist Big Freedia and Los Angeles electro-funk pioneer Egyptian Lover, Texas acid-punk icon Gibby Haynes -- who plays classic songs by his influential band the Butthole Surfers backed by teen graduates from the Paul Green Rock Academy -- no wave NYC punk-funk band Bush Tetras, aforementioned Austin, TX-based quartet Die Spitz, onetime Berkeley street musician and electronic experimentalist Space Lady, and opening Oakland punk weirdos Gumby's Junk. Those who can't make the festival can always watch livestreamed coverage on Twitch provided by The Complex SF and hosted once again this year by former Bay Area resident and comedy/punk/funk bassist Chaki the Funk Wizard. Additional information on how to get tickets is available on the the Mosswood Meltdown's official website.
Mosswood Meltdown
Saturday and Sunday, July 6-7, 12 p.m. $99-$399
Mosswood Park