It’s Not Dead Fest is a festival that depicts exactly that, that punk rock is not dead. A lot of heavy hitters were involved in this set up, to note some: Descendents, NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, TSOL, Conflict, 7 Seconds, and about 30 other bands came together underneath the San Bernardino sun. This might also be the last time that all of this many bands come together for a show. It was hosted at the San Manuel Amphitheater, home of many festivals such as Mayhem fest, Knotfest, and Uproar festival to name a few.
It’s not dead was separated by three different stages: Main Stage, Big Ernie stage, and the Old Skool Stage. Music wasn’t the only thing to entertain yourself with It’s Not Dead, it also included the Vans Old Skool Jam Half pipe, which had some legendary skaters and BMX riders, Steve Caballero, Christian Hosoi, and Mat Hoffman to name a few. They also had “Art’s Not Dead,” a pop up tent showcase curated by Lisa Johnson, showcasing photos of the first wave of punk, original artwork, book readings, and Artists/Photographers that coincided with the punk community from the 80’s until now.
Image Brett Zimmerman / BackStage360
They had an inflatable billboard posting all of the times for when each band’s set time and being divided between three stages, you really had to plan things out in order to soak it all in. The sets were roughly 20 minutes a pop.
The main stage had: Duane Peters Gunfight, H2O, Fishbone, Goldfinger, 7 Seconds, Strung Out, Reel Big Fish, Anti-Flag, Less Than Jake, The Bouncing Souls, and The Vandals.
On the Big Ernie Stage: Left Alone, Otherized, Rhythmic Asylum, The Untouchables, Total Chaos, The Briggs, The Interrupters, DI, and The Implants.
The Old Skool Stage: Manic Hispanic, Agent Orange, Pulley, CJ Ramone, The Dickies, Sham 69, TSOL, Devils Brigade, Swingin’ Utters, Adolescents, Conflict, and Riverboat Gamblers.
I thought that TSOL put on one of the better set’s of the day. I’m surprised they weren’t on the main stage, nevertheless Jack Grisham still brings em in. TSOL started in Long Beach, California in 1978. They can be mostly related to the first wave of west coast hardcore punk, but have branched out quite a bit over the years. They played their classics, mostly from their “T.S.O.L. EP” album, with hits like “Terrible People,” “Abolish Government/ Silent Majority,” and ”World War III.” Jack’s still got it, powerful and proud, yet very relaxed, must have been the candy skull dress he had on. Jack transitioned from one song to the next rather quickly, throwing in either a lyric from a song or a quick quips. He could have punched out a few more, had it not been for a heckling “fan.” Overall another classic set for TSOL, with the finishing song of “Code Blue.”
It’s Not Dead Fest was showcasing exactly that, that punk isn’t dead, it’s just getting a bit older and more pissed off. It was a way for the community to get together like a family reunion, members from other bands jumping to and fro onto other stages, showing support, and singing their friends songs. I can only hope that something like this will happen again, and if it doesn’t, then it was a great experience to be a part of.