{"id":2511662,"date":"2026-07-21T22:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2511662"},"modified":"2026-07-21T22:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:34:35","slug":"10-best-moments-at-mosswood-meltdown-from-iggy-pop-to-bikini-kill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/10-best-moments-at-mosswood-meltdown-from-iggy-pop-to-bikini-kill\/","title":{"rendered":"10 best moments at Mosswood Meltdown, from Iggy Pop to Bikini Kill"},"content":{"rendered":"

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OAKLAND\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>The 17th year of Mosswood Meltdown at Oakland\u2019s Mosswood Park brought with it a parade of free-thinking freaks on stage and in the crowd that descended on a punker\u2019s 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 \u201cpre-party\u201d that exploded with main-event energy courtesy of lo-fi indie rock heroes Pavement,<\/a> 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\u2019s fest.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The Fadeaways stand out early<\/b><\/p>\n

Performing 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. \u201cTheir intense leaps in the air remind me of a throwback ricocheting tear-gas canister landing in a crowd of ICE agents,\u201d 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 \u201cThat Girl\u201d and including a screeching cover of the Kingsmen\u2019s \u201cLouie Louie.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Snooper\" <\/picture> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Snooper <\/b>and its<\/b> puppeteers of chaos<\/b><\/p>\n

Performing 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 an early set on the Field Stage Saturday. Frontwoman Blair Tramel let the creativity of her paper-mache puppets made for the show match her highly caffeinated caterwaul on songs like \u201cOn the Line\u201d and \u201cLong Way,\u201d where blown-out guitar tones, glitchy beats and shrieking vocals took Saturday\u2019s decibel level unapologetically into the red.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The <\/picture>\n
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The Spits performing on the Amphitheater Stage at Mosswood Meltdown.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The Spits went full throttle <\/b><\/p>\n

The sunken Amphitheater stage was a tough place to see anything if you didn\u2019t show up to grab a spot at least 20 minutes early (or just climb a tree). But sweating in the sun to watch a band like the Spits, another Mosswood favorite, was worth pre-planning to get into the pit. The four-piece from Kalamazoo, Mich., hilariously clashed with the all-pink game show backdrop of the stage. Entering in sleeveless denim vests backed with a hailstorm of machine samples and maniacal Vincent Price laughter, the band clearly wasn\u2019t playing any games as the members pounced on the crowd with 26 songs performed at breakneck speed, with dirty, piston-pumping rhythms on \u201cSpit Me Out,\u201d \u201cRip Up the Streets,\u201d \u201cBring\u201d and \u201cSK8.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\"Mannequin <\/picture>\n
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Mannequin Pussy <\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Mannequin Pussy end with a loud bark<\/b><\/p>\n

Blissfully ferocious and never short on words from the stage, frontwoman Missy Dabice didn\u2019t get to say as much as she wanted to between songs due to the brevity of a festival set. But after a well-received set full of songs off 2024\u2019s \u201cI Got Heaven\u201d and 2019\u2019s \u201cPatience,\u201d Dabice still left room for some fiery parting words that embodied the tone of the weekend before wrapping things up with the band\u2019s seething battle cry \u201cLoud Bark.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t forget to celebrate the beauty of life while in every breath in turn fighting against fascism in every section of this country, good night!\u201d <\/p>\n

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\"Otoboke <\/picture>\n
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Otoboke Beaver drummer Emi \u201cLeo\u201d Morimoto.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Otoboke Beaver\u2019s fury lights a fire<\/b><\/p>\n

This quartet from Kyoto, Japan, put the Mosswood crowd in a stranglehold at the Field Stage and didn\u2019t let up once during its entire set of math-rocky, manic, candy-colored fury. Even if you had no idea of the meaning behind song titles like \u201cDon\u2019t Light My Fire\u201d or \u201cI Am Not Maternal\u201d or \u201cHey Where\u2019s the Thank You?\u201d sung mostly in Japanese, its joyous hell-raising energy left a lasting impression with the crowd. You couldn\u2019t help but smile watching the members shred as an inflatable, beaver-shaped inner tube bounced around the mosh pit while they did their best to sound like a satanic garage band.<\/p>\n

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\"Iggy <\/picture>\n
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Iggy Pop headlining Night 1 of Mosswood Meltdown.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Iggy Pop\u2019s eternal lust for life<\/b><\/p>\n

Iggy Pop\u2019s ability to stay shirtless and savage at 79 goes beyond scientific explanation. One can only assume he\u2019s made a deal with the devil that he\u2019ll never stop performing. That seemed OK with the packed crowd that watched him headline Saturday night, rolling through all the Stooges and solo classics that made him the king of the underground. He kicked off his 18-song set with \u201cT.V .Eye\u201d and continued ripping into \u201cRaw Power and \u201cI Got a Right\u201d before anyone in the crowd had a chance to catch their breath. With the Los Tropicanos backing band behind him, Iggy\u2019s energy was transferred through the players who bolstered his catalog of Detroit-bred proto punk with tight precision and the right amount of stumbling sleaziness. Though he ended the set in a cage from \u201cWild One\u201d to \u201cMass Production,\u201d it\u2019s clear that he\u2019ll never be confined and that should give us all a bit of extra hope for ourselves.<\/p>\n

Sunday<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Peaches <\/picture>\n
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Peaches Christ performing on the Field Stage at Mosswood Meltdown.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Peaches Christ sings with punk pride<\/b><\/p>\n

The fire on stage for Day 2 of the fest started early by a pack of drag queens led by Peaches Christ. She sauntered on the stage with electrified green and purple hair and Vivienne Westwood-style chic to perform a cover of the Sex Pistols\u2019 \u201cGod Save the Queen.\u201d Showing the true rainbow colors of the punk scene has always been an important aspect of Mosswood\u2019s ethos and as a staple of the fest, Christ compelled everyone in the crowd to sing loud and proud as she and her squad each took turns performing classics from the canon of mosh pit hits including \u201cNew Rose\u201d by the Damned and \u201cAdd It Up\u201d by Violent Femmes. Following her was fellow queen Kochina Rude who came out dressed as Pee-wee Herman to perform the Germs\u2019 \u201cLexicon Devil\u201d before stage-diving into the crowd. Between flamboyant showmanship and a strong commitment to the vocals on tough songs like Suicidal Tendencies\u2019 \u201cInstitutionalized\u201d (slayed by Trixie Carr) the LGBTQ community\u2019s spirit was on display throughout the set.<\/p>\n

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\"Drummer <\/picture>\n
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Drummer Nick Aguilar and bassist Nikki Piclle of Frankie and the Witchfingers.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Frankie and the Witchfingers<\/b><\/p>\n

Casting a spell on the crowd with their sharp synth-laden aggression and bouncy \u201880s dance punk rhythms, Frankie and the Witch Fingers arrived with a bang in the late afternoon sun. With a guitar hiked up to his clavicle, frontman Dylan Sizemore convulsed with energy that saw the power of every chord electrify his bones during the jam-heavy \u201cConducting Experiments\u201d while the rhythm section of drummer Nick Aguilar and the neon green-haired bassist Nikki Pickle kept the crowd bouncing and magnetized the attention of eyes all around the fest. The best crowd surfing of the day came thanks to a seasoned, white-haired fest attendee in a bike helmet who was getting tossed around like a white-water rafter. The head gear was definitely a smart idea.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Fred <\/picture>\n
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Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein of the Return of Jackie and Judy perform on the Field Stage at Mosswood Meltdown.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The Return of Jackie and Judy revive the Ramones<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to perform a set of cover songs, but it\u2019s another thing to play tunes that ensure the vibe of an entire festival is covered as well. \u201cI hope you like the Ramones \u2018cuz that\u2019s all we\u2019re playing,\u201d said Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney. Alongside SK bandmates Corin Tucker, Toko Yasuda and \u201cPortlandia\u201d co-star\/\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d comedian Fred Armisen, the quartet formed Ramones tribute the Return of Jackie and Judy. From the thunderous opening chant of \u201cBlitzkrieg Bop\u201d (\u201cHey! Ho! Let\u2019s Go!\u201d), the all-age crowd strapped in for a roller-coaster ride of leather-clad punk classics that had everyone shouting along. Brownstein did a good job of meeting the moment with both joy and reverence, at various points talking to the crowd about the enduring spirit of the songs as well as dedicating \u201cRock-n-Roll Radio\u201d to L7 bassist Jennifer Finch,<\/a> who died Saturday.<\/p>\n

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\"Kathleen <\/picture>\n
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Kathleen Hanna and Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill performing on Sunday at Mosswood Meltdown.<\/p>\n

(Dick Slaughter)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Bikini Kill pass<\/b>es<\/b> the torch<\/b><\/p>\n

The entire vibe around Sunday was fueled by female empowerment thanks to riot grrrl godmothers Bikini Kill. Throngs of young girls in Day-Glo punk garb and face paint mashed against the barricade to see the roots of revolutionary aggression come crashing through the chords of classics like \u201cCarnival,\u201d \u201cAlien She\u201d and, of course, \u201cRebel Girl.\u201d But frontwoman Kathleen Hanna was just as stoked to see them having a good time in front of her. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to open for you in 10 years,\u201d Hanna said to inspire all the girl bands yet to form in the crowd in front of her. Giving a shout-out to female-fronted young bands like Bitchfit that played one of the most impressive ground-level sets of the weekend was a warm and fuzzy torch-passing moment that summed up the reason a festival like this is still so vital to the survival of punk culture. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The 17th year of Mosswood Meltdown at Oakland\u2019s Mosswood Park brought with it a parade of free-thinking freaks on stage and in the crowd that descended on a punker\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2511663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2511662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10-best-moments-at-Mosswood-Meltdown-from-Iggy-Pop-to.com2Fcd2Fdd2F4fdbd6c14e3cbbffbfa85d7a.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2511662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2511664,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511662\/revisions\/2511664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2511663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2511662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2511662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2511662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}