Halloween Meltdown Takes Over Oakland's Mosswood Park

CBS San Francisco

October 6, 2022

The second annual Halloween Meltdown brings an avalanche of garage-punk bands and host John Waters to Oakland's Mosswood Park with performances by Amyl and the Sniffers, Shannon and the Clams and much more.

The Mosswood Meltdown featuring marquee acts Bikini Kill, former Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon, Detroit garage-rock giants the Dirtbombs, SF punk pioneers Flipper and a host of others made a glorious return to the park back in July, drawing thousands of fans to the park. Total Trash is continuing its newfound tradition of a fall Halloween-themed two-day festival with many returning favorites on the second weekend of October. Once again hosted by iconic film director John Waters, the Halloween Meltdown will present another whopper of a line-up with performances by such returning favorites as headlining acts Amyl and the Sniffers and Shannon and the Clams, Ty Segall's ferocious psych power trio Fuzz, Detroit garage heroes the Demolition Dollrods, and hooky, glam-meets-punk outfit Sheer Mag along with first-time visitors like caustic punk band the Spits, legendary garage-punk guitarist and bandleader Kid Congo Powers (the Cramps, the Gun Club, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and NYC noise-rock/no wave priestess Lydia Lunch and her Retrovirus.

Spearheaded by main organizer and Total Trash honcho Marc Ribak and his wife Amy Carver, the Meltdown looks to solidify its reputation as one of the premiere underground rock festivals in the country on par with Goner Records' yearly Gonerfest. The October event has a smaller footprint in the park -- the cement amphitheater will serve as the main stage -- but will still feature vendors selling records, clothes and guitar gear in addition to an array of food options. There will also be a series of associated night shows all weekend at Thee Stork Club (which finally opened a couple of weeks ago following lengthy delays) featuring festival regulars the Mummies Friday through Sunday and at Eli's Mile High Club with the Banned, She's (Saturday) and Nobody's Baby (Sunday).

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