With Taste of Chaos happening tomorrow (10/3) and It's Not Dead Fest going on next Saturday (10/10), you may be wondering whether or not it's worth it to drive all the way to San Bernardino for two straight Saturdays in a row.
Since it's a little late to convince you to go to Taste of Chaos (you can't change your nonexistent plans on 24 hours notice), here are five reasons you should at least go to It's Not Dead Fest (INDF).
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5. It might be the biggest punk festival of the year.
Seriously, look at that lineup. Descendents, NOFX, Bouncing Souls, Bad Religion, Strung Out, Anti-Flag, Pennywise, and way more will all be there (and that's just the main stage). It doesn't matter what era/subgenre of punk you're into, it'll be there. Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas is probably the closest thing to compare in America, but even that was spread out over a few days and didn't have the same number of big-name punk acts.
4. Double Steve Soto.
If you call yourself a punk and live in OC, you better have seen Steve Soto (the legendary punk rocker, not the tattooer) perform at least once. In case you haven't (or if you just want to see him again, because why wouldn't you), both the Adolescents and Manic Hispanic are on the Old Skool Stage at INDF. Oh, and there's also bands like Agent Orange, Riverboat Gamblers, and the Dickies on that stage too.
3. You know you want to show off how punk you are.
There's nothing punks love more than being punker than other punks. Whether it's a 30-year-old Adolescents shirt or a Social Distortion tattoo done in your friend's garage in 1995, every old (and young) punk has some keepsake that shows they're the punkest of all the punks. Even if you're super pissed off at Kevin Lyman for not including your favorite old school crust punk band, you can still go to INDF to show all those hipster poseurs that you're really punk as fuck.
2. SoCal punk new and old will be there.
While it's tempting to say something like “virtually every old school OC punk band that matters (other than Social D) will be there” just to hear the punker than thou folks bitch about which other bands are missing, let's just say there'll be a lot of SoCal punk history in San Bernardino next weekend. Agent Orange and both aforementioned Steve Soto projects will repping OC, while bands like Bad Religion and the Interrupters will show LA punk new and old. Of course, there'll be plenty of bands from the rest of the country too.
1. Punk's not dead, it's just older.
Punk rock as much of the world thinks of punk rock is starting to get gray around the temples, there's no doubt about that. There are new punk bands forming in garages every day, but many of them (particularly the successful ones) have other influences than solely the Ramones and Black Flag. If you're into old school punk, then you pretty much have to go to INDF to see your favorite (living) bands. If you're cool with the new stuff, there'll be plenty of that there too. And no matter how die-hard vintage punk you are, you'll have to admit that some of these younger bands (see: the Interrupters) do a damn good job carrying the torch of rebellion.
See also
10 Punk Albums to Listen to Before You Die
10 Goriest Album Covers
10 Most Satanic Metal Bands
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Josh Chesler used to play baseball for some pretty cool teams, but now he just writes about awesome stuff like tattoos, music, MMA and sneakers. He enjoys injuring himself by skateboarding, training for fights, and playing musical instruments in his off time.