Wrecking Ball builds new hardcore fest

Punk gathering honors Masquerade’s 25th anniversary

Until recently, the only way for Atlantans to partake in the music festival experience was to travel to other states, even to other countries, for massive multi-stage music fests. Following Music Midtown’s 2011 return, however, Atlanta’s festival scene has exploded to include gatherings such as TomorrowWorld, Shaky Knees, Shaky Boots, Afropunk, One Musicfest, A3C, and others catering to a spread of genres covering rock, EDM, country, hip-hop, and various other strains of urban music. Despite this newfound assortment of massive musical gatherings, there are still a few genres kicking and screaming to have their own place to kick and scream alongside diehard fans.

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The inaugural Wrecking Ball brings together an unprecedented assortment of punk, hardcore, post-hardcore, and emo bands for two days of angst-ridden anarchy. From pioneering acts such as the Descendents, Failure, and Glassjaw to fresher blood such as Chumped, Mutoid Man, and Atlanta’s own Coathangers, the Masquerade Music Park and all three of the venue’s indoor stages (Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory) host nearly 60 bands that aren’t likely to appear at any other area festival.

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It was a desire to build an event catering to some of their favorite genres that motivated Wrecking Ball organizers and Masquerade talent buyers Greg Green and Elena de Soto to put the pieces together eight months ago. “We were sitting together back in the fall, shortly after Elena started working with us, and just put our heads together and said, ‘Let’s put together a music festival,’” Green says. “‘Can we do it?’”

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Noticing a void in the festival scene when it comes to the more aggressive underground genres that have thrived at the Masquerade over the course of its history, Green, de Soto, and co-organizer Brian McNamara compiled a list of more than 100 bands for possible inclusion in what would become the Wrecking Ball. Focusing on bands that either hadn’t played together in many years, or hadn’t performed in Atlanta in a while, or younger acts that have yet to make it here, the Wrecking Ball began to swing.

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As a result, the lineup boasts the first Atlanta performance in almost two decades by West Coast punk legends the Descendents, Thrice’s first Atlanta performance since the post-hardcore band went on hiatus in 2012, a rare appearance from Conor Oberst’s Desaparecidos, and the Atlanta debut of new Los Angeles punk duo Girlpool.

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“Samiam hasn’t been here in 12 years,” de Soto says. “There’s an American Nightmare reunion, the Lawrence Arms doesn’t come here, there’s a Get Up Kids reunion, and Failure hasn’t put out a record in nearly 20 years prior to June’s The Heart is a Monster. This is music that I listen to on a daily basis and am thoroughly involved with.”

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Green goes on to add: “Lots of these bands have been bands as long as we’ve been a venue, or close to it. Sometimes even I forget how long bands like the Get Up Kids have been around. A lot of them have albums that are coming up on 15th and 20th anniversaries. Many of them reunited just for this event.”

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In addition to the performances taking place at the festival, the Masquerade hosts a pre-party on Aug. 7 with Punk Rock Karaoke, allowing audience members to sing their favorite punk songs backed by members of Bad Religion, Social Distortion, NOFX, and the Dickies. There will also be various official after parties including a show headlined by reunited ’90s alternative rock favorite Hum (who have since scheduled a tour with Failure) on Masquerade’s Heaven stage on Aug. 8. The same night, Superheaven and Sorority Noise are performing Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins covers, respectively, at nearby Aisle 5.

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Despite the event’s name and imagery, as well as ongoing rumors of the Masquerade’s potential closure as the surrounding neighborhood remains in the grips of redevelopment, the Wrecking Ball serves as the Masquerade’s 25th anniversary celebration, not a going away party.

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“Those rumors have persisted over time, especially as the neighborhood has changed,” Green says. “We’re here and already have shows booked through the beginning of next year. The imagery associated with the festival is coincidental. One thing we didn’t want to do was let it be the ‘Something Festival.’ We looked for other names that implied a celebration or event and came up with ball. I don’t recall exactly who said it or if the music was playing, but the phrase Wrecking Ball came out in relation to Miley Cyrus and we said, ‘That’s it!’ We’ve played off that with the artwork and have even done mock-ups with Milo Aukerman from the Descendents riding the ball and different things like that.”

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Much like the inaugural Warped Tour, which began as a punk-heavy fest held at the Masquerade in 1995, and the Riot Fests held in Denver, Chicago, and Toronto, Green and de Soto plan on swinging the Wrecking Ball on an annual basis, possibly even expanding to other cities. For now, they’ve laid the foundation for their own hardcore festival following while adding another brick to Atlanta’s expanding music festival scene.