Hoodstock Brings Garage-Punk, Hip-Hop, and Dance Parties to an Oakland Warehouse

There is a purely authentic joy that runs through a festival like Hoodstock -- the warehouse-based mishmash of Oakland's finest, with sets by crusty punk acts, hip-hop DJs, electro dance parties and lots of other acts. The crowd appeared in high spirits during Saturday's six-hour-long show: bands preached of community respect, while nearly everything ran as smoothly as one might expect of a festival triple its size.

Saturday night, the second night of Hoodstock, might have been deemed the main event, but there were rowdy shows starting Friday evening that continued at different locations in Oakland through Monday. Saturday's event at the so-called Oakland Metro Opera House (essentially a large warehouse with different rooms) hosted 20 acts such as Japanther, Shannon and the Clams and Juiceboxxx, but it was the lesser-known bands that stole the show.

The winding white hallways from the small room to the larger room of the warehouse weren't yet unmanageable by the time Oakland's B. Hamilton took the stage, though that would change shortly. The twangy, bluesy rock act boasted serious chops, with a talented lead guitarist-vocalist and a drummer hitting so hard that he lost his ride cymbal halfway through the second song. The singer, who wore dark sunglasses throughout, sang in a velvet-smooth low octave and changed his finger-picking technique to slide guitar during standout "Miss Carolina." The crowd, now mounting in size, barely shook a shoulder, but occasionally nodded approvingly.

There was nary a moment between acts -- with a band performing at all times, either in the large main room or on one of two stages set up in the front room. The minute an act stopped, the crowd shot across the room for the start of another. The system worked well, but towards the end of the evening, the narrow passageways caused some pedestrian buildup. 

The roaming crowd packed into the small room when excellent thrash punk act Cycloptopus exploded with heavy guitar and metal posturing. As it appeared that the festival was running late, bands' sets grew shorter and Cycloptopus was asked to wrap it up it prematurely. The singer declared the band's final song -- then proceeded to bang out at least three more, to the delight of the rambunctious circle pit. While Cycloptopus worked the thrash angle, less cohesive hip-hop act Tha Pessimist flowed through songs like "Fuck the Police" in which members implored the crowd, "if you agree with us, say 'fuck the police!'"

Luckily, Big Kids was on next, and brought back the positive vibes of the festival. The rock'n'roll act, which sounds like a mix of At the Drive-In and Hot Snakes, played hard and tight, with angular guitar and heavy drums. The singer reminded the audience why they were there -- community. He asked the audience to be respectful of the neighborhood. 

By the time laptop-plus-keyboard DJ Bro Montana began spinning, the crowd had grown massive, and the line from outside showed no signs of quitting. "Are you ready for 20 minutes of dance music?" he asked. We were. His buildups were impeccable; the crowd broke into actual dancing with hands thrown in the air throughout the set. 

Personal bias: My heart swelled. This kind of festival revives my faith in humanity. 

Most fun band of the evening: The nasally two-piece Younger Lovers.

By the way: If you know any Southern California folk, Hoodstock L.A. is coming next weekend.