Around every 4th of July for the past 10 years, Oakland declares its own independence from the average, oversized, overpriced music festivals that have become the norm. Brought to us by Total Trash Productions and hosted (in a not-so-Uncle Sam fashion) by John Waters (but don’t fret, we can still yank his doodle dandy), Mosswood Meltdown gives us the modern-day version of the music festival our favorite aunty used to tell us about from back in the ‘hippy’ days…
…that utopian vibe our teenage selves thought we’d experience after spending our entire summer’s earnings on admission to one of those “other” festivals, only to have our hearts broken in more pieces than the piggy bank we busted open to buy our tickets with; after experiencing a 12-hour day of hot cement, sub-standard sound and seemingly endless high fructose-trans-fat-filled goods, sigh.
Well, John Waters and crew came to town like Dr. Frankenstein to sew back our broken hearts and fill them with enough volts and kilowatts to bring them back to life and keep them charged to the fullest. While having past headliners like Bikini Kill, Iggy Pop, Amyl & The Sniffers and The Buzzcocks (to name a few), this year’s headliners had the B-52s and the Mummies!
Supporting acts included Hunx and His Punx, electro-rap pioneer Egyptian Lover, the legendary Pure Hell, newcomers-with-a-bullet Die Spitz, and Gibby Haynes performing the classics by the Butthole Surfers with a group of high school kids as his backup band. Plus, the eight pre- and after-parties at Elbo Room, Eli’s Mile High Club and Thee Stork Club, including an Alternative Tentacles Afterparty hosted by Jello Biafra. Group therapy sessions commenced every hour with John Waters, as he presented each band with their own custom intro.
Mosswood Meltdown offered a very safe, clean, cool, shady, comfortable environment with a nice-sized attendance, cozy and not overly crowded. For a festival based on metaphorical “trash and filthiness,” it somehow manages to have the most polite and well-behaved attendees you’ll likely ever find at a music festival [Ed. note: agreed!]—but who can still get down and dirty if need be (they’re just polite about it). I don’t believe there was a single scuffle the whole weekend.
While Mosswood’s lineup speaks for itself, no music festival is complete without the schwag and food trucks. With bands in full swing on their own merch booths, Mosswood had plenty more goods on offer, including three record store tents to keep turntables in action (Driptone Records, Amoeba and Alternative Tentacles), clothing and curios shops. Folks could even get a free bang trim at the Pony Salon tent—not to mention an array of refreshments including Home Slice Pizza with its skull-shaped wood-burning oven and a black lemonade that was downright magic.
The festival started with a bang at 11:30am with Hot Laundry, followed by the infamous Trap Girl, then sets by Wifey and Go Sailor leading up to the barrier-breaking Pansy Division. A drag competition was hosted by Peaches Christ and judged by John Waters who presented the winner with a ginormous $500 check.
As Day One rolled along, Hunx and His Punx sashayed to the stage in all their greased-out glory with giant beach balls dressed in granny panties to add some crowd participation to the mix. As the sun started to beat a bit less heavily, Redd Kross performed a pleasingly mellow show, consistently smooth and cool as always, keeping the audience in tune for the night’s finale: The B-52s.
Doing what you love and staying happy will keep you young at heart, as was apparent in Cindy, Fred and Kate’s performance, which was nothing short of heavenly. Kate came out looking like a Scarlet Witch (everything Glenda wished she could be and then some); bringing beauty and casting an oh-so-welcoming spell on the audience, Cindy had a smile and voice you could probably see and hear from the moon; right in the middle was Fred, with a warm intensity we all loved.
Fortunately, Day Two started a bit later and was slightly cooler. With a calm and easy opening set from The Space Lady (who some may remember from the 1980s and 90s performing on Haight Street or Telegraph Ave in Berkeley), the early afternoon picked up the pace and volume with Gumby’s Junk. Any hangovers were officially over when Die Spitz from Austin plugged in and played one of the most talked-about slots of the whole weekend.
Then a who’s who of various members from your favorite bands joined forces to make up the Bush Tetras, with another surprise highlight that came from Egyptian Lover whose set had the whole crowd engaged in some serious booming “808.” Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes attracted fans and curiosity seekers alike—how was this going to work? Gibby singing songs of the Butthole Surfers with a backup band of Wayward Youth and a conductor? Hmm…
With his sound box and a bullhorn in tow, Gibby Haynes & The Paul Green Rock Academy more than just “pulled it off” with rotating players doing a tight set of “The Best of Butthole Surfers.” Big Freedia must have bribed TSA agents at the airport because their manicure was as dangerous and deadly looking as their chock-full o’ bass performance was—booties were shaking manically on stage and in the crowd. Anticipation overflowed for Pure Hell, who came through hard and heavy; and how can you go wrong with the Mummies closing out the festival? Well, you can’t. Members rolled on stage in a three-wheeled Hot Rod motorcycle, spared us any audience chitchat and went right into playing an excellent set before returning to the tomb.
Those who were still hungry for more made it back to Thee Stork Club for a second helping of Die Spitz; no one would know by the amount of energy and how good they sounded that they had just come from Texas and were on their second set of the day (and likely third wind)—the joint was packed! Closing out the night were the Diesel Dudes and an all-girl Beastie Boys tribute band, the Sheastie Boys.
By 2am Sunday it’s safe to say the crowd was satisfied with the week’s events and gearing up in anticipation for Mosswood Meltdown 2025, just 12 short months away—and yes, early bird tix are already on sale. Same bat time, same bat location next year!
BONUS:
In a recent In Defense of Ska podcast, Weeklys editor Aaron Carnes advocated for Mosswood Meltdown to start booking ska bands… Listen here!
