One of the south’s most notable live music destinations, The Masquerade, opened in Atlanta in the late 80s and has remained a staple in the Atlanta punk/hardcore scene for the last 25 years. To celebrate their 25th anniversary of delivering ATL’s best live punk music, the venue is holding the first-ever Wrecking Ball Fest, hosting a slew of the most recognized names in post-hardcore/punk.
Music will be played on all three levels in the venue (Heaven, Hell, Purgatory respectively) as well as the The Masquerade Music Park, located directly behind the venue. The festival will take place the weekend of August 7-9, with festivities kicking off on the 7th with a crazy Punk Rock Karaoke Pre-Party featuring an unbelievable lineup of genre-pioneering musicians including Greg Hetson (Bad Religion), Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion and The Adolescents), and I’m preparing myself for the trek from Orlando with my friend Nathan, who will be taking photos.
Making appearances will be Coheed and Cambria, Title Fight, Mutoid Man, Glassjaw, Thrice, You Blew It!, DESCENDENTS, Superheaven, Basement, Braid, TWIABPAIANLATD, The Get Up Kids, Their/They’re/There, and more. This is an emo/punk lovers dream that’s almost too good to be true (many thought the announcement was an evil April Fool’s joke). This is truly one of the best festival lineups you will see this year!
I don’t even know where to begin with this lineup. Many of the bands playing I have only been able to admire from afar, as I was pretty much a toddler when the bands were in their prime. I’m pretty sure I was listening to Sunday School tunes when Glassjaw broke up, and DESCENDENTS had come and gone multiple times before I was even thought of them. The festival is also coming around right on the tail end of some of my favorite releases of 2015 so far (Superheaven, Title Fight, Mutoid Man). Will the excitement cause my head to explode? Time will tell.
The Wrecking Ball ATL Links:
Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The Wrecking Ball ATL Spotify Playlist