“Everybody spin kick!” was the order given in the first 4 bars of the first breakdown by Mindforce frontman Jay Petagine,Saturday headliners at the Cream Stage at Sound and Fury 2025.
featured image- Basement: Joe Calixto
It was the first time I was IN the pit at Sound and Fury 2025 on Saturday at Exposition Park and not backstage or out on the periphery- the difference between a nice view of the ocean or swimming in it. I use boxing’s “crab defense” during these explosions. I recommend it highly. It’s allowed me to play defense and even though the best defense is a good offense, I don’t like physically hurting people as much as I used to. It made me think of the meme about hardcore dudes in the pit past 40 and the tendency toward excessive violence toward children… and this feels like the perfect platform to explain this cultural phenomenon…
related: Relive Every Sound and Fury for the Last 10 Years
The first time I got hit in the head with an errant fist for fun and not fighting was in my late 30’s- not old for the world but certainly old in a music scene. Old enough to have taken some time off from dancing at shows and having missed the evolution of some of the dance moves- i.e. spin kicks and spinning back fists at the edges of the pit. Feined errant violence that takes no shape, circle or otherwise. Like a particle collider creating the most violent collisions ever harnessed by humanity. In the scene’s predecessors, if someone threw a haymaker that landed, it meant it was time to fight.
So when I saw the kid measuring my corner of the pit to land his Mortal Kombat fatality on my chin and I didn’t go down, I did what I was raised to do. Strike back. I didn’t sign this unspoken contract and didn’t even understand this generation’s philosophy on dancing at shows. It made my boy Josh so enraged, he still talks about it to this day. I did take note that I didn’t see that kid again after that exchange and that was the opening band. It dawned on me that in no way did he ever expect to get hit back even though he unleashed all his rage on our corner of the pit. After that, I watched this scene dance for a year or so before I really understood the protocol and the politics. And that’s when I chose the crab defense. Come to think of it- that was at my first sound and fury side show at 5 Star Bar in 2019.
And that brings me to Sound and Fury 2025-
With it’s 3rd year at Exposition Park in 2025, Sound and Fury has managed to avoid the curse that established festival brands experience with longevity and success- alienating it’s core audience to attract new attendees. Luckily, the hardcore kids of today do not feel threatened by crossing genres like my generation did. So when a synth pop act like Nuovo Testamento this year and noise rockers Model/Actriz last year successfully convert new fans, Sound and Fury Festival organizers must’ve gotten equal helpings of satisfaction and excitement for the future.
This was my first complete year both going to all the side shows and every day of the festival. There’s something about the simplicity of the layout of the festival grounds that removes MOST of the issues large scale, two day festivals face. Two stages in close proximity with ZERO overlap of the set times. An early start and an early finish. It saves all your energy for dancing and certainly allowed me to pace myself after a long week of shows.
I was determined to get to the venue for Big Ass Truck– a band everyone was buzzing about since they first hit the scene hard not too long ago. But alas, I didn’t make it. Here’s a break down of our favorite sets from some of our contributors.
Danny Ryan on Sound and Fury 2025-
Trash Talk was my most anticipated set of the weekend, as it had been almost a full decade since I had last seen them and they will always hold a special place in my heart for being the band to host my first stage-dive when I was 16. It’s impossible to put into words how much the scene has changed since then; as Trash Talk comes from an era where hardcore was synonymous with punk, a quality of the scene that has been somewhat lost nowadays with the focus on breakdowns we’re seeing lately that cater to the TikTok generation. With how much the scene has changed lately, I was wondering if we would ever see Trash Talk play Sound and Fury again; but they couldn’t have come back at a better time to show these younger kids the roots of what hardcore is all about. Although most people associate the chaos of LA’s iconic punk scene with bands like Black Flag and The Germs in the 1980’s, Trash Talk deserves to be held in the same historical reverence with the legacy they have created throughout the 21st century.
The gritty and unhinged nature of LA’s punk history was in full effect during their performance, with Lee Spielman thrashing about and screaming like an absolute madman. The massive dogpile on stage held him up on top of them in a ceremonial ritual that made him resemble a modern day Jesus with his punk rock manna from Heaven. This cult-like atmosphere they created was very clearly intentionally crafted, with Spielman demanding that everybody in the crowd kneel on the ground as they performed the slow and sludgey fan-favorite “Hash Wednesday”. The set moved at rapid speed feeling as if it ended almost as soon as it started, but the fleeting moment is sure to go down as one of the most memorable in Sound and Fury’s history. While not quite as iconic as their performance from the back of a Uhaul truck at S&F 2009, the energy in the air felt like being transported back to a hardcore show from that era.
Basement is a band that I’ve always appreciated, but never got into as much as I felt I should have. I’m not the biggest emo fan personally, but Sound and Fury always brings out a more lively side of performers that can be appreciated no matter what your tastes are. Sets like these are what truly make Sound and Fury one of the most unique festivals in existence, being able to see stage-dives and onstage dog-piles for a genre that very rarely sees that level of rabid crowd participation. Even with the mics and sound dropping in-and-out throughout the set, they sounded absolutely beautiful and created a blissful world in stark contrast to the riotous blasts of noise heard earlier throughout the day.
At first I was somewhat skeptical of having a more mellow band close out the day, as Sound and Fury is a hardcore festival after all. Basement provided all of the energy you would want from a hardcore set, however, and it’s near impossible not to scream along to their heartfelt lyrics if you know the words (which most people in attendance did). Being from the UK, it’s awesome that they were given the headlining spot and were willing to travel out here for us. Their last Sound and Fury performance in 2019 was incredible as well, but the outdoor nighttime atmosphere this time around transformed the set into an emotional experience that fans will look back on for the rest of their lives. Closing the night with their masterpiece “Covet” created one of my favorite moments of the entire weekend, with so many people on stage singing along that the guitars were unplugged. It wasn’t the typical hadcore chaos we saw from the other performances of the weekend, but it was chaotic nonetheless and I will forever think of the song with that wild energy rather than the somber nature that I previously associated with it.
Project Pat was the first hip-hop set I believe I’ve ever seen at Sound and Fury (possibly the first rapper they’ve ever had), and I can’t imagine any choices that would have been better for this lineup. Being heavily associated with Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia throughout his career, the darker demonic themed roots of the group made him the perfect candidate for such a heavy bill. He came out swinging as soon as the set started, opening with the classic “Poppin’ My Collar” and performing banger after banger; “Intl Players’ Anthem: I Choose You” was a choice that I especially was not expecting, as the Three 6 Mafia version is kind of a hidden gem being overshadowed by the Outkast one. Even with the shorter festival set, he crafted the tracklist perfectly and left everybody more satisfied than most rappers could even dream of doing if they were given a full length performance. This set really broke the ground for more hip-hop artists to hopefully play Sound and Fury in the future, which I predict will happen with how successful this experiment was.
One minor criticism I had is that Pat did do the signature hip-hop performer move of letting the background track play as they only rap every third bar or so, but it didn’t even matter in this case considering all of the crowd was shouting the words that he was missing. This was definitely a group participation type of set rather than just watching the artist performing on their own, fitting into the hardcore spirit of Sound and Fury flawlessly. I was incredibly curious about what Project Pat was thinking of the attendees and the punk atmosphere that he found himself in, but it appeared that his spirit was just as engulfed in the chaos as everybody else was. The whole set felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it warms my heart that everybody there appreciated that to the fullest extent. Hardcore is truly for everybody.
Danny Baraz at Sound and Fury 2025-
It was hard for me to choose my number 1 set of Sound and Fury 2025. Is it a coincidence that my top 3 are all sets I opted to spend in the pit instead of watching from backstage? Community and kinetic energy are as much of the experience at hardcore shows as the bands and music themselves.
Mindforce was the highlight of the festival for me. Thrash Metal was my first love, after all and the East Coast charm of singer, Jay Petagine is as endearing as it commands enough trust to follow orders. Ending their set with “Destroyer” and “Excalibur” opened the pit up nicely before UK outfit Basement finished out Saturday night with some sweet and vulnerable sounds.
God’s Hate made a strong case for number 1 set at Sound and Fury 2025. Knowing the band was going on hiatus soon gave an urgency to the performance and how it was consumed- both the band and the fans showed out for these local heroes from Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley. When Terror came out to murder a few songs the intensity of the pit went up a notch. When Ryan George and company came out for a Carry On reunion it turned into complete bedlam. God’s Hate singer and AEW professional wrestler, Brody King was the only thing standing between George being completely enveloped by the blizzard of stage divers trying to crush him under their weight. It sounded awful but was one of the funnest moments of the festival.
The biggest surprise of the festival for me was also the band that had the absolute tightest performance across all the bands that played to that point and maybe the entire weekend. In retrospect, it made me wonder how many bands showed up for sound check. Seattle death metal/grindcore outfit Caustic Wound were a bloody revelation. Their brutal assault gave me chills. Their 2025 album, Grinding Mechanism of Torment is one of my favorite of the year and now that I have seen them live, I have a newfound respect for them.
Picking the top three performances from Sound and Fury 2025 was difficult and limiting the discussion to just those three would be irresponsible. Los Angeles based synth pop outfit Nuovo Testamento completely pacified a rabid, blood thirsty crowd, both fatigued and resolved from the past three weeks of fighting fascist, secret police carrying out unconstitutional I.C.E. raids. It was a cathartic moment of joy and release in a sea of rage that united the hardcore kids and gave us a melodic respite in which we all danced.
Scowl absolutely crushed the Orange Stage- seemingly, they bear the torch for the next young hardcore band that might crossover, ala Turnstile.
related: Scowl at 1720 Sell Out The Venue But Not Their Souls
L.O.T.I.O.N. was the first band I saw on Saturday and they were amazing. I saw them the night before at 5 Star Bar and the sound was awful. But their main support at that side gig was The Dark and they were one of my favorite discoveries of the festival.
Big Boy caused bedlam and had one of the funnest sets of the weekend.
I was most excited to see Trash Talk and Poison the Well. It was hard to focus on the performances because I was fighting for my life in that pit but I survived with a quickening when it was all said and done.
I didn’t know much about Peeling Flesh before the gig but that was one I watched from an elevated platform back stage and that set was the pinnacle of joy in violence. The view of the ocean was spectacular at the moment but I’m glad I was enjoying the view rather than swimming in it.
I was never a huge fan of Knocked Loose. They are what it would sound like if Elmo fronted a dope hardcore band but it was most definitely, the crescendo of the festival and I barely made it out alive.
Watching Basement headline Sound and Fury from the back of the Orange stage on Saturday night was a vibe. Pop punk/emo used to make me mad, in my youth. But watching the teary-eyed pleas from the faces in the sea of humanity moved me and I had a moment with pop punk that let down my guard and allowed me to enjoy it for what it was. I am an ACTUAL fan of the new guard of bands in this vein, such as High Vis and Militarie Gun and watching the evolution of the genre has been fun.
A lot of young people look back on classic eras and times in America and think they should’ve been born earlier. Looking at this generation represented at Sound and Fury 2025, I sometimes feel like I was born too soon. The inclusivity is what I’ve always hoped for in any scene but especially the more extreme genres. The amount of women, POC and massive representation of queer culture present at these shows is a point of pride. The days of sausage fest are over in hardcore. Kids are way more open to being vulnerable and communicative and open minded to all music than my peers. It’s this kind of UNITY that we need, not just at shows but all across the country and Sound And Fury provides a safe space to be physical and dance but that doesn’t mean you won’t get hurt.
Words: Danny Baraz and Danny Ryan
