Every music festival would be better with more punk bands

It’s a beautiful sight to see – a moshpit at a music festival. Even better when it’s during an ACAB anthem called “Pigs Is Pigs.” That is the fierce energy that mannequin pussy Brought to her evening set on Kilby’s block partyheld over three days at the Utah State Fairpark in Salt Lake City, Utah, this past weekend.

The sweaty enthusiasm was noted by the band members themselves. “Festivals are a very particular kind of chaos, so I don’t think your mind really picks up on what your body is doing,” said singer Marisa “Missy” Dabice. uproxx by phone after returning to Philadelphia from mountainous SLC. “I felt moments of real euphoria to be at this incredibly curated festival and to see that people were really excited to see us.”

I am a believer that this euphoria can be felt at every music festival, if every music festival had at least one punk band on the bill. OK, maybe not ALL festivals, we don’t need another Pete Seeger incident when Turnstile takes the stage at the Newport Folk Festival, but, like 95 percent of them. He replaces the sleepy singer-songwriter playing to an exhausted, sun-kissed crowd with a band like Mannequin Pussy, and everyone’s stamina meter will replenish.

“I feel like as an artist, you have a responsibility to make them forget about the fact that they’ve already been listening to live music for 72 hours,” Dabice said. “In this case [at Kilby], there was already so much energy in the crowd that we didn’t have to get too inspired or anything.” He added: “I think punk fans definitely bring energy and catharsis to a festival where you might need to be woken up a bit for the rest of the day.”

Punk bands are a natural fit for festivals. Have you ever seen a poster for a hardcore show? It’s like a mini-Coachella every night at your nearest VFW lounge or indie venue (if you don’t have a ticket to see Drain, Drug Church, Gel, Magnitude and Restraining Order on tour this spring, it’s not too late). They’re also used to playing short, tight sets, something that Dabice, along with band members drummer Kaleen Reading, bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford, guitarist Maxine Steen, and multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Haynes, take to heart.

“The worst thing you can do at a festival is go over the allotted time,” he said. “I think that’s the number one original sin for festivals. It’s just not respecting that because it fucks up everything. It’s kind of cruel, so you have to be really aware of exactly how much time you need to be able to express what you normally would with a longer set and distill it in a shorter amount of time.”

An energetic, punk-leaning festival set is not only fun for the crowd (there were plenty of smiling faces in and around the pit during MP’s self-described “cute, very aggressive” set), but it’s also beneficial for the performers. . . When asked if there is a noticeable increase in stream views and social media followers after a festival, Dabice replied, “Yeah, I’d say almost immediately.”

It’s great that punk-focused festivals exist, but people who attend Sound and Fury and The Fest probably already know Mannequin Pussy, Joyce Manor and Scowl. It’s also important that often overlooked punk bands play to unknown audiences; it’s how to grow a fan base and culture. So if you are a booker or know a booker or know a guy who knows a girl who is a third cousin of a booker, demand they add Ansious, Soul Glo, Mindforce, Meet Me @ the Altar, Pinkshift and/or Home Is Where to your festival. Hozier will be fine playing 85 festivals instead of 84 festivals this year. However, he might wait to book Mannequin Pussy, at least until his new album comes out.

“At this point, we don’t necessarily want to play live because we’re sitting with all these new songs and a new set that we’re excited to play but can’t play yet,” Dabice said. “At the same time, we’re not turning down certain things that make sense for us to have fun with.” Next up for MP: New Jersey’s Adjacent Fest on the same day as Paramore, PUP, Jeff Rosenstock, Linda Lindas, Drug Church and Gel. Now that it’s more like him.