On March 21, a metalcore frenzy erupted at Irving Plaza. Bands ERRA and Currents, along with special guests Caskets and Aviana, played an explosive show that made for an unforgettable night.

Swedish band Aviana kicked things off, hyping up the crowd and starting a mosh pit that seemingly never ended. Caskets followed, calling up crowdsurfer after crowdsurfer through the audience.

Then, co-headliner ERRA played. Their set was electric, and the audience kept the energy from the openers going. To me, the heaviness of ERRA's set almost had a romantic touch, as guitarist Jesse Cash had a bouquet of flowers strapped to his mic stand. The softer theme ties into ERRA's recent album, Silence Outlives the Earth, which takes an introspective look at the human condition.

Fellow co-headliner Currents continued ERRA's introspective theme, screaming out deeply personal lyrics to the crowd. I got the sense that the audience not only heard the band's words, but that they understood. The music hit people where they truly needed it, and singer Brian Wille's calls to the crowd to mosh and dance allowed the audience to gain catharsis through movement. In the end, it was a genre-defining night. If you are a fan of metalcore, definitely check out this tour on a date near you.

Keep up with ERRA here, Currents here, Caskets here, and Aviana here.

PHOTOS BY NICO FOX

My Bloody Shoegaze Fest brought out Glass Star, Yearn, Luna Ivy, Joseon, and Cherry Pick to East LA to celebrate the heavy distortion and dreamy soundscapes of the contemporary shoegaze scene. Each band brought their own unique style to the table, mixing emo or grunge with the hypnotic waves of shoegaze.

PHOTOS BY ANASTASIA WHITE

Keep up with My Bloody Shoegaze Fest and all the bands here.

Queens-based grunge-gaze band Bummer Camp have announced their sophomore album Fake My Death, out May 8th via Trash Casual. To tide us over until then, they've let their lead single "One Bullet" loose with an accompanying music video (dir. Preston Spurlock).

"Climbing up the hill to tumble down," sings frontman Eli Frank on the new track. The song itself seems to do just that, as the simmering verse lifts its lid to give way to the momentum of a chorus that is as melodic as it is thrashing (and a burrowing earworm, might I add).

"One Bullet" is a first look at the record's themes, often centering around the "push-pull of wanting to disappear versus continuing on." Eli explains “You gotta take the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, and roll with it. In my opinion, whether you’re being punched or hugged, feeling something is better than not feeling anything at all.”

Before their upcoming album release on April 3rd, Bummer Camp is playing an exciting show on Sunday, March 22nd at TV Eye. Come early to catch some of Bummer Camp's new songs ahead of release day, and stick around to catch a special guest.

Get tickets to the TV Eye show here, and pre-save Fake My Death here.

Well, we've made it to the end of the week. After six jam-packed days of non-stop music and vibes, we're feeling super emo that it's all over. To close things out, here's a final look at the bands we caught on our very last day.

ALIEN CHICKS (@alienchicksband)

London-based experimental power-punk.

IN THE PINES (@inthepinesmusic)

Gazey psych-rock from Cincinnati.

SEX MASK (@sexmasks)

Melbourne-based alternative post-punk.

BED (@bbbbbbeeeeeedddddd)

Queer-gaze dream-pop from Berlin.

SLOE NOON (@sloe_noon)

Dreamy grunge-pop from Hamburg.

MAGDA (@magda1999___)

Incredibly addicting indie-post-rock from London.

SORRY FACE (@sorryfaceband)

Pittsburgh-based garage-rock with extra noise.

SAMWOY (@sam.woy)

Alternative electro-pop from Montreal.

LANE (@lanetotalwar)

Boston-based indie-art-rock.

TUKAN (@tukan_band)

Genre-blurring electronic post-rock jazz from Belgium.

CHOSES SAUVAGES (@chosessauvages)

An exhilarating disco-rock post-punk experience (from Montreal).

TWO-MAN GIANT SQUID (@twomangiantsquid)

Brooklyn-based dreamy dance-rock.

ZINNIA'S GARDEN (@zinnias_garden)

Ethereal Pittsburgh-based indie-rock.

This concludes our New Colossus Festival coverage for 2026. A huge shoutout to all the incredible bands who performed during week–and to the festival’s founders for having us back, and for bringing an extra sense of life to the Lower East Side each year. You know who you are.

See you next year.

Keep up with New Colossus Festival '27 updates here, and future RIP PRESENTS show coverage via our Instagram here.

BLOOD CLUB (@bl00dclub)

Bilingual coldwave alt-rock from Chicago.

LIP FILLER (@lipfillertv)

Thrashy indie-rock shoegaze from England.

DROOK (@droooooook)

Richmond-based indie-electro-pop.

FEET (@feetband)

London-based indie-rock, with pizazz.

WINTER MCQUINN (@_wintagram_) - mads

Folky singer-songwriter pysch-rock from Melbourne.

YUVEES (@yuveesnyc)

Brooklyn-based no-wave noise-rock chaos.

PLIGHT (@plightnyc)

Grunge-gaze from NYC.

WINTER GARDENS (@wintergardensband) -mads

Post-punk synthwave from Brighton.

AMOR VINCIT OMNIA (@amor_vincitomnia) -mads

Whimsical art-electro-pop from Reykjavík.

SUNSET IMAGES (@sunset__images)

Melancholic kraut-gaze-noise-rock from Mexico.

Keep up with our New Colossus ‘26 coverage via our Instagram, @rippresents.

JUNK DRAWER (@junkdrawerband)

Indie psych-rock from Belfast.

SUNDAYCLUB (@sundayclub.band)

Alternative dream-pop from Winnipeg.

DITCH DAYS (@ditchdays)

Funky Lisbon-based electro-indie-pop.

THE K'S (@theksofficial)

Electric indie-rock hailing from Earlestown.

SHALLOW (@itsonlyshallow)

Shoegaze noise-pop from Montreal.

AUNT KATRINA (@auntkatrinaband)

Experimental indie-pop from D.C.

BABE CITY (@babe_city_)

NYC-based patchwork dreampop.

ALIEN CHICKS (@alienchicksband)

London-based experimental power-punk.

J MAHON (@__jmahon__)

Nostalgic alternative dream-pop from Berlin.

THESAURUS REX (@thesaurusrexband)

Extra silly NYC indie-rock.

ADULT LEISURE (@adultleisureband)

"Happy music for sad people" from Bristol.

RUNNER (@runnerofficialband)

Modern indie-grunge-rock from Dublin.

DBA! (@band_dba)

Grimy post-punk from Liverpool.

TUKAN (@tukan_band)

Genre-blurring electronic post-rock jazz from Belgium.

Keep up with our New Colossus ‘26 coverage via our Instagram, @rippresents.

KACIE HILL & LUC SWIFT (@kaciejewelhill & @luc_swift)

Folksy singer-songwriter duo from San Francisco.

ACTIVEMIRROR (@active_mirror)

Alternative post-punk from Aruba.

PUNCHLOVE (@punchlve)

Brooklyn-based experimental art-rock.

THE SEWING CLUB (@sewingclubband)

Bedroom indie-rock from Nashville.

HIGH. (@high.asfuckband)

Jersey-based modern shoegaze.

MARCEL (@vive.marcel)

"Noisy pot-pourri" post-punk from Belgium.

DALLAS LOVE FIELD (@dlfband) -sab

Hypnotic dream-pop shoegaze from Glasgow.

TENTATIVE DECISIONS (@tentativedecisionsband)

Richmond-based post-punk art-rock.

LUCID EXPRESS (@lucid_express)

The most euphoric indie-pop shoegaze you'll ever hear (from Hong Kong).

DIARY (@diarysounds) -sab

NYC indie-pop-rock.

TORTURE AND THE DESERT SPIDERS FT. DBA! (AFTERPARTY) (@tortureandthedesertspiders & @band_dba)

An epic afterparty at Baker Falls to close out Thursday night.

Keep up with our New Colossus ‘26 coverage via our Instagram, @rippresents.

BEE BLACKWELL (@beeblackwell_)

Grungy female-fronted alt-rock from Texas.

WIRING (@wiring___)

Brooklyn-based melodic math-gaze.

HAUSE PLANTS (@hauseplants)

Euphoric dance-rock from Lisbon.

FAKE POLLOCKS (@fakepollocks)

A math-rocky post-punk amalgamation from NYC.

MIDSCALE (@midscaleband)

"Kind of shoegaze" from France.

THE JUMPCUTS (@thejumpcutsrock)

West Palm Beach upbeat garage-rock.

SUNSET IMAGES (@sunset__images)

Melancholic kraut-gaze-noise-rock from Mexico.

STILL DEPTHS (@stilldepths)

Vancouver-based industrial-post-punk chaos.

KEN PARK (@kenparkboy)

Brooklyn-based indie-gaze.

Keep up with our New Colossus ‘26 coverage via our Instagram, @rippresents.

This year’s New Colossus Festival was a whirlwind. We laughed, we cried, and we spent way too much money on frozen margaritas (thank you, Pianos). But more than anything, we made many new friends, and experienced a ton of incredible shows. 

Our Tuesday (Day 1) recap features some of our favorites; including MAGDA, Ski Club, Sexverbot, Run Remedy, Star’s Revenge, and many more. We highly recommend keeping up with each artist via their Instagram links, listed below.

MAGDA (@magda1999__)

London-based gazey-indie-rock.

SKI CLUB (@weareskiclub)

Swervy Boston-based math-rock.

SEXVERBOT (@sexv3rbot)

Good ol' German punk.

RUN REMEDY (@runremedy)

Queer indie-rock from Manchester.

BORSCHT (@borschtmusic)

High-energy noir-rock from London.

MESKEREM MEES & CARLOS GARBIN (@meskerem.mees & @carlos_a._garbin)

Soulful folk tunes from Belgium.

STAR'S REVENGE (@starsrevengeband)

NYC-based alt-rock with extra whimsy.

BAD TOMATO (@badtomatobadtomato)

Magnetic post-punk from Lisbon.

FAT CONCUBINE (@fatconcubineband)

London-based electro-punk.

Keep up with our New Colossus ‘26 coverage via our Instagram, @rippresents.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are so back. The New Colossus Festival 2026 is finally here, and this year's lineup is more stacked than ever before. With over 200 bands taking over the Lower East Side for the festival's seventh edition, there's no shortage of exciting talent–but narrowing down who to see can quickly become a daunting task.

Lucky for you, we've put together a short and sweet list of the acts we're most hyped to catch to make planning your week just a little bit easier.

We'll be on-site from start to finish, Tuesday through Sunday, so stay tuned for our live story coverage kicking off tonight via our Instagram, @rippresents. In the meantime, check out this year's full lineup and schedule here.

Aunt Katrina (@auntkatrinaband)

Friday 3/6 - Parkside Lounge - 7:00 PM

Stream This Heat Is Slowly Killing Me (2025) here.

Dallas Love Field (@dlfband)

Thursday 3/5 - Arlene's Grocery - 7:00 PM

Friday 3/6 - Arlene's Grocery - 2:15 PM

Friday 3/6 - Pianos Showroom - 7:00 PM

Saturday 3/7 - Arlene's Grocery - 7:45 PM

Sunday 3/8 - Arlene's Grocery - 3:00 PM

Stream "Pastime" (2026) here.

Ski Club (@weareskiclub)

Tuesday 3/3 - Pianos Upstairs - 8:00 PM

Wednesday 3/4 - Berlin - 7:00 PM

Stream Downhill Daisy (2023) here.

Winter McQuinn (@_wintagram_)

Wednesday 3/4 - Pianos Upstairs - 6:30 PM

Thursday 3/5 - Berlin - 7:00 PM

Saturday 3/7 - Parkside Lounge - 9:15 PM

Stream Where Are We Now? (2025) here.

Wiring (@wiring____)

Wednesday 3/4 - Arlene's Grocery - 7:45 PM

Stream Like a Porcelain Lamb (2025) here.

Drook (@droooooook)

Friday 3/6 - Pianos Upstairs - 5:15 PM

Stream The Pure Joy of Jumping (2024) here.

TUKAN (@tukan_band)

Friday 3/6 - Nublu - 12:15 AM

Saturday 3/7 - Baker Falls - 1:00 AM

Sunday 3/8 - Baker Falls - 5:00 PM

Stream "Layover" (2025) here.

The Metric Ton (@themetrictonohio)

Saturday 3/7 - Pianos Upstairs - 4:00 PM

Saturday 3/7 - Sour Mouse - 8:30 PM

Stream Can't It All Be So Simple? (2025) here.

Star's Revenge (@starsrevengeband)

Tuesday 3/3 - Pianos Showroom - 8:30 PM

Stream star's revenge (2024) here.

HIGH. (@high.asfuckband)

Thursday 3/5 - Arlene's Grocery - 9:15 PM

Stream Come Back Down (2025) here.

The Sewing Club (@sewingclubband)

Thursday 3/5 - Baker Falls - 11:15 PM

Friday 3/6 - Arlene's Grocery - 10:45 PM

Saturday 3/7 - Parkside Lounge - 10:00 PM

Stream Care (2024) here.

Lucid Express (@lucid_express)

Thursday 3/5 - Arlene's Grocery - 10:00 PM

Saturday 3/7 - Arlene's Grocery - 9:15 PM

Stream Instant Comfort (2026) here.

Babe City played an intimate set at The Woodbridge in LA on February 2, 2026.

Keep up with Babe City and future shows here.

Autoheart’s headlining Brooklyn Bowl show on December 1st was a celebration. I don’t say that because of the FOH engineer David's birthday that night, or in anticipation of Autoheart’s album I Can Build a Fire celebrating its 10 year anniversary next year; or even because the show was a perfect way to ring in the first day of the final month of 2025, though that was all quite celebratory as well. Everyone seemed to have their own personal reason to celebrate, culminating in a warm, lively dance floor moving to the rhythm of danceable hits like "Lent" and "Moscow" off 2013 album Punch. Vocalist Jody Gadsden has incredibly impressive tonal stylings, and their range and prowess really shone in songs like "My Hallelujah" and "Agoraphobia."

At the end of a night filled with such revelatory performances, an enthusiastic call for an encore erupted, the crowd's energy thundering beneath my feet.

Keep up with Wild Party here and Autoheart here.

PHOTOS BY MADDIE BARKOCY

Twenty-five years ago in Burlington, Canada, a band called Silverstein rolled into the post-hardcore scene. Fast forward to 2025, the band finished their '25 Years of Noise' tour on December 20th in Brooklyn, New York.

Four other bands performed before Silverstein. The first was Bloom, an explosive metalcore band from Australia. Their energy was contagious, and crowd surfers continuously swarmed towards the front of the crowd. The band kept calling for more movement, more dancing, and the crowd responded in turn.

Bloom was followed by Free Throw, an emo-punk band from Nashville. They were mellower and emotional, and forced the audience to feel along with them. Despite this, they kept the energy up. People swayed along to the music. Danced and held each other. Crowd surfed. Everyone was feeling the music, anticipating the next note, the next song, the next artist.

The next artist was The Movielife, a pop punk band from Long Island. Like Silverstein, they've entrenched themselves into the scene, performing since 1997, with a hiatus between 2003-2014. The band infused some irony to the performance, prefacing their song "I Hope You Die Soon" by calling it a love song. The audience sang along to the music, banging their heads and showing their connection to the music and the artist.

Then came Thursday, an iconic post-hardcore band from New Jersey. They began high-energy, starting their set with the blasting "Other Side of the Crash." They continued the energy throughout most of the set, pausing for a brief lull with their emotional track "This Song was Brought to you by a Falling Bomb." The audience matched their energy, and the mosh pit exploded outward like a bomb during "Understanding in a Car Crash."

Finally, it was time for Silverstein. They began with a short film introducing the band and their evolution from single-digit audiences to international recognition. The band was a constant stream of energy, with lead singer Shane Told rushing from end to end of the stage. The audience fed off the band's energy, and it seems as if the band took from theirs in return. Silverstein's energy only built up further and further throughout the night. Their encore began on a mellower note, with an acoustic cover of the crowd favorite "My Heroine." But afterwards they returned the high-energy for the rest of the set, finishing with "Smashed into Pieces and Bleeds no More."

The finale of the '25 Years of Noise' tour brought together all of the nights featured bands onto the stage–pairing scene veterans, Thursday, The Movielife, and, of course, Silverstein, along with incredible newer artists Free Throw and Bloom. It was a beautiful tribute to the scene, and the perfect way to end a 25 year celebratory tour

Keep up with Silverstein here, Thursday here, The Movieline here, Free Throw here, and Bloom here.

PHOTOS BY NICO FOX

Nashville-based power-punk band Winona Fighter recently opened for Waterparks' PROWLER US Tour, hitting Seattle on December 8. Frontwoman and multi-instrumentalist Coco Kinnon, lead guitarist Dan Fuson, and bassist/producer Austin Luther brought the energy and hyped up the crowd by utilizing the rage and frustration that courses through their music. Kinnon's compositions explore the unfiltered feelings of today's existence.

The trio starts the set by running onto the stage and cold-opening with "R U Famous," followed by "I Think You Should Leave." The band got through their introductions, and fans were warmed up and ready to party. They follow up with the songs "Subaru" and "You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers." Earlier this year, Winona Fighter released their debut album, My Apologies To The Chef, on February 14, 2025. It was only fitting that, as a celebration of the album, dedicated fans dressed up as chefs at the show. Spotted in the crowd were two fans with white chef hats and full matching outfits, which lead to Kinnon friendly teasing them by saying "Did you come from work?" These fans were then appointed as the pit-leaders, who proceeded to open up the circle pit during "Wlbrn St Tvrn" and "Swear To God That I'm (FINE)." The three-piece band danced and bounced around stage the whole set, never letting the energy dimmer.

Winona Fighter was electrifying–their dynamic stage presence and engaging interactions (with both fans and fellow band members) made for a purposeful set. They certainly did not give 'opening band' energy. Fans can't wait to see what's next in store for these ecstatic performers as they continue to grow as a band.

Keep up with Winona Fighter and future show dates here.

PHOTOS BY SHAY REICHOW

Back in September, Chicago-based band Belmont released their new EP titled Last To Love, via Pure Noise Records. The trio consists of Taz Johnson on vocals, Brian Lada on drums, Jason Inguagiato on guitar, and touring bassist Alec Coslow. Through this new EP, the band pushed their own boundaries and explored a brand new sound, while still staying true to their thrash-inspired pop-punk roots. It was only fitting that they toured around the US to celebrate the new release, joined by Seattle's very own, Avoid, and Unwell from Detroit.

Belmont's set opened with a heated warm up, with the band encouraging a proper pit to open up–and fans did not disappoint. Everyone from the back of the venue pushed their way to the front, and crowded around the barrier-less stage. Despite the stage being a taller one, the audience was still able to stand super close to it, making the 750-cap venue an intimate one. The show started with "In The Sky," which is the first song off the new EP. Fans had already learned the lyrics, and sang along without hesitation. Next on their set was "Hollowed Out," a classic from their 2018 album, Belmont. The fan-favorite track of the night–which also happens to be a personal favorite of mine–was "Bowser's Castle," from their 2022 album Aftermath. Throughout the night, the band pulled some of their best tracks from all over their discography, and created an electric atmosphere. This was further demonstrated by their mid-set death wall, initiated by Johnson himself, which required full crowd participation in order to be successful. And it was. Fans also got to hear "Day by Day," "Carry On," and "Overstepping," just to name a few more. As the show came to an end, or so we all thought, the band pulled a quick U-ie and rushed back to the stage to perform "Pushing Daisies" for their encore.

Seattle might've been a rainy stop on the tour, but every band still brought their high spirits and energy to the night. And even with an intimate room, the crowd showed up ready to 'go big or go home' for their favorite bands. You can keep up with Belmont's remaining tour dates and future announcements here.

PHOTOS BY SHAY REICHOW