The organizers behind beloved Oakland punk rock festival Mosswood Meltdown announced their first 2025 lineup on Thursday, confirming return performances from Devo, Osees and The Exploding Hearts.
The initial lineup also includes the first Oakland performance from renowned local rapper Kreayshawn (“Gucci Gucci,” “Go Hard,” “Bumpin Bumpin”) in a decade and celebrated Belgian punk band The Kids. The festival from Bay Area garage rock promoters Total Trash Productions features two full days of unhinged punk mayhem in Mosswood Park and is once again hosted by iconic film director John Waters. Early bird tickets for the festival went on sale before the announcement, but the festival website is offering special, limited holiday pricing for passes starting at $119, while supplies last.
Influential and subversive punk/new wave pioneers Devo previously headlined the festival in 2018, while psych/punk favorites Osees have performed numerous times. In addition, the festival will be moved to a later date. Although it was often held in early July and it had previously been announced that next year’s event would take place on July 12 and 13, the line-up announcement stated that the festival would now take place the following weekend of July 19 and 20. The initiators also released the following statement about the festival:
“Oakland California, November 2024. A city without a mayor, district attorney or a major sports team. Our city has lost so much, but we have not lost the soul of its people. Here at the Mosswood Meltdown Music Fest in Oakland CA, we celebrate our own heroes. We choose John Waters, the Prince of Puke, to lead our festivities.
In real time we have witnessed de-evolution on a world stage, so this year we will host the pioneers of de-evolutionary theory, legendary Akron Ohio art punk band DEVO, as well as San Francisco legends, Osees. , The Queen of Oakland, Kreayshawn, Portland’s only Rock n Roll band, The Exploding Hearts and the bloody Belgian The Kids!
When faced with disasters, Oakland CA is resilient. Thank you for helping support independent music and art in our community.”