Tag: Substance Fest

With Substance Fest 2025 quickly approaching on November 7th/8th in it’s return to The Belasco, it has forced us to look back.  Amidst the exponential increase in the volume of content this year, in the scramble to preview this year’s Substance, we uncovered the unpublished coverage from a special year of the festival- Substance 2022. Laying in the debris of the pandemic, in the smoldering ashes of this music blog were the photos of Albert Licano- mostly unseen by the outside world.  As we all rise again to attend or cover Substance 2025, let us not forget the elation and gratitude of the after years in which we thought live music would never be the same again.  This was one of those years. Between October 21-22, 2022, Los Angeles played host to Substance Fest 2022, aka “LA’s Dark Underground Festival,” a two-night celebration of post-punk, industrial, darkwave, goth, synth pop, and ebm, et al.  Held at the majestic Los Angeles Theatre, the fest brought together a collective lineup of established underground legends, emerging acts, DJs, visual art, and immersive environments.  In this look back, we’ll break down the experience: the venue, lineups, standout performances, production, crowd vibes, strengths, and areas