Burger Boogaloo didn’t feel like Coachella for a second, and it sure as hell didn’t try to be.
However, the eighth annual punk festival in Oakland’s Mosswood Park did attract the biggest headliners in the festival’s young history. Iggy Pop‘s star-studded nighttime performance accentuated the weekend’s lineup of local and imported punk treasures. Japan’s archetypical rock n’ roll band Guitar Wolf played their hour-long set on Saturday while influentials Buzzcocks and X headlined in Day 2. Uber locals Nobunny (who finished their set covering a Hunx and His Punx classic) and Shannon & The Clams represented a talented younger generation of homegrown garage rock. Crowd surfers set sail over moshers that would stop and help you find your glasses if they fell onto the grass.
The festival, which has no corporate sponsorship, boasted fresh eats from around the Bay. “Trash cans” of PBR were sold next to draft Ballast Point IPA in the well-stocked drinking areas, and festival goers spread out camp on the grass lawns surrounding “The Shrimp Stage” and “The Butt Stage.” Cinematographer John Waters introduced each band with jokes and raunchy witticisms, and you got the impression that the bands were sharing drinks in the VIP tent after their sets. All things considered, the laid-back festival kept things pleasantly DIY for yet another satisfying year.
Photos by Imani Wilson & John Lawson
Written by John Lawson