Earth’s Crust: CY Fest 2024 at the Belasco

What does a typical LA punk want out of a festival? Given that Los Angeles is the most prominent live music hub in the USA, and the world, the average LA punk attends enough shows to make any given concert, no matter how badass, still leaving something to be desired.

From my personal experience, that thing LA punks are left desiring from their scene is to have their minds, tastes, and boundaries expanded. I want to see something different, new. I want a band to show me something I didn’t think was possible.

The best way to do this is by assembling bills with bands of various styles from various parts of the globe, and no festival has gathered more international acts in Los Angeles than CY Fest 2024. It was the World Cup of punk, with heavy representation from Sweden, Spain, Japan, Italy, Mexico, and so many more countries. Topping off the festivities, the USA’s contribution to the lineup came in the form of a rare Dropdead co-headlining performance before the reunion of Portland’s female-fronted crusties, Detestation.

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With a few bands of the upcoming CY Fest 2025 already announced, this seems to be new bar Nacho Corrupted, an icon among East Los Punks, is setting for himself and his festival. CY Fest is his baby after all, with the name taken from his band, Corrupted Youth.

As the lineup began taking shape in early 2024, it became clear that all bets were off as an avalanche of rare bands were set to perform. Then, in an even more, ante-upping maneuver, Nacho added a 2nd date of nearly the same lineup the day before at Echo and Echoplex for “Pre C.Y. Fest”. Usually, a pre-fest is never the same size as the actual fest, yet Nacho was determined to redefine what a festival could be by shattering everyone’s expectations.

Like a good punk, I had to be there for both days as well as the rare Templars performance at The Regent to soak in all the punk. My taste, mind, and boundaries have been expanded since the year began, and I totally have CY Fest to thank for the crustier brain waves and tinnitus.

Pre CY Fest

There are two types of punks. Ones that you see and at first glance know they like punk music. And ones that you see and at first glance you wonder how they’re able to exist in polite society. Perhaps they’re not able, and avoid polite society, but they were welcome at CY Fest. They were like human anomalies, mutants in flesh and spirit, boxcar-hopping squatters that grandmothers might switch seats to run from if one of these street punks sat next to them on the bus. Jagged face tattoos, leather and spikes, torn clothes, piercings, and an odor so neck-jerking, it immediately gives you a sense of their values, or lackthereof.

Being among these punks rubbed off some serious attitude unto me, churning whatever innocent blood was running through my veins to resemble something closer to piss and vinegar, perhaps thats the smell coming off them?

The Echoplex and Echo were filled with so many acts to praise, from Tenso‘s fast-paced, charged, and stampeding street punk, to Hot Load‘s raucous and rowdy music to commit crimes to, to Golpe‘s politically conscious and ravenous assault on our eardrums, and Problem‘s gut-punching, tough as nails, showcase of power. The early sets at The Echo gave CY Fest the feel of pure lawlessness that every punk festival strives for.

Beyond the international acts, the only kind of nationalism present at CY Fest was indigenous awareness, with native American representation like Resistant Culture opening with a traditional drum circle before ushering in their heavy, street punk. Even though the festival attracts punks from far and wide, it retained the spirit of Los Angeles by giving LA latinos every reason to be proud of their cultural contribution. By performing in the same place as bands from all around the world, we can see how East Los Punk shines so uniquely from the rest.

Haggus, Death Side, and Skitsystem were incredible, all three sets sounded pristinely jagged and unhinged. Haggus’ mangled mincecore made the audience feel like they were caught in a meat grinder as the pit churned. Japan’s Death Side proved why they are legends of the game, defining modern street punk as a pure extrapolation of their sound. “DO YOU SPEAK JAPANESE?” Skitsystem’s crust was mixed so incredibly, you felt like you were watching a nuclear war or car accident on repeat happening right in front of you. Crust is supposed to sound like pure violence, and this was fist hitting bone, bones crunching under boots, bat smash to skull, atomic blast at ground zero, click-bang-spray.

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After these incredible performances, I hustled over to the Regent to catch The Templars, the Long Island Oi! band, who were performing a rare LA one-off for the fest. Like working class heroes, tje LA skinhead community was out in full force, having a drunken party together. Once the set was over, I made my way home with high hopes for the next day’s frenzy of punk.

CY Fest

Walking up to the Belasco box office, I was able to catch Nacho before heading in. I asked him how he finds the bands he books given the lineup was so eclectic that one can’t simply be picking the best bands to play the fest to book a CY Fest, you have to be listening to bands around the world and crate digging for rare music in order to assemble this kind of murderer’s row of bands. He simply stated that he’s always listening to new music and new styles of punk, whether at the gym or otherwise, and with platforms like Youtube enabling music sharing, there’s avenues to find new bands around the world all the time.

The first band I caught at Belasco was Hong Kong Fuck You, always crunchy and blistering, this band really is the future of punk and perhaps the scene’s most capable young flag bearers. I had just missed Habak which truly upset me but was able to catch their singer performing with Lagrimas in the basement where the punks of CY Fest were serenaded with luscious shoegaze breakdowns creating a moment of serenity so pure that no other act was able to capture.

One of the most memorable scenes of the festival was seeing R.A.M.B.O. a comedic hardcore punk band from Philadelphia, reunite as a school of sharks fought off a gaggle of cops in the pit. Meanwhile the band’s singer, dressed in a dictator’s military fatigues, claimed they were the leader of ANTIFA. The set was fun and riotous, only accelerated by the fact the singer tore a muscle on stage but still powered through his set to the end.

Rixe was an electric, power punk party as always, perhaps the French just have the ability to make punk that gets people to dance no matter how brutal. Rixe sounded so good that it crossed over to reform attendees that weren’t so keen on extreme music coming in. In all of modern punk, I consider Rixe to be the most exciting and fun live act you could see.

Black Braid was amazing, offering a black metal assault that changed the day’s pace and sound, while also immersing the audience in the lore and spiritual mojo of Indigenous myhtology. It felt like walking through a winter forest, wolf shadows stalking the frozen Earth beneath animal hide moccasins. I caught increments of Icons of Filth, Qloaqa Letal, Conflict, and Dropdead, each set showcasing different dimensions of punk rock. Dropdead’s set was perhaps the most impassioned, politically motivated to the point of absolute clarity in their anti-fascist critiques of the American right.

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Lastly, Detestation sounded the most brutal of any band at the show, encapsulating crust punk perfection with guitars so guttural and brutal, you’d think they’d bend the wooden planks of the Belasco and collapse the place. Seeing the reunion of a crust punk band take the headlining slot of a sold out room as large at the Belasco, really gave everyone the feeling that punk itself was elevated.

CY Fest is an effort of love for a style of music that no other festival is as dedicated to. Your average metal and hardcore fest are not bringing together bands from every corner of Earth to educate Los Angeles on how punk sounds around the world. Nacho Corrupted is a maverick music mind, and though the fruits of his labor with CY Fest aren’t yet known, I suspect he will be to thank for a slew of amazing bands that come down the line that got the treat of seeing bands from Japan, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Mexico, and every other corner of the Earth’s crust. See you at CY Fest 2025, a musical tourist’s most important show of the year.

Words by: Rob Shepyer

Photos by: Taylor Wong