Show Review: Your Renaissance Fest
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Southern California has been a bit of a talking point in the screamo discourse the last few years. Everyone has an opinion on a scene that isn’t theirs of course (as is tradition) and though the highs have been pretty damn high and the lows have been borderline disillusioning, I can’t help but feel that our scene down here is beginning to finish a chrysalis of sorts. Many would argue that Los Angeles’ screamo metamorphosis has already been completed, and perhaps time will prove them all right. Even still, as I watch people from all over the country and even some far flung parts of the world converge upon the true entertainment capital of the world, I see the cocoon beginning to seal and for the next stages of this genre to begin.
Day One
The line for doors wound round and up the block, so I unfortunately was unable to catch the Death of James Dean, a band I’d luckily seen a few times previously who I know put on an incredibly wild show. One of the group’s final performances (their conclusion being at Home to Heart Festival), I have no doubt that those there to witness it had an absolute blast.
A three-vocalist band existing in this day and age feels like the trumpet of judgement sounding, and I’m ready for the cleansing fire. Having a local band like Kiowa, one who plays intensely but so clearly exhibit a strong sense of comradery, will always be a boon to the scene in my eyes.
Photo by Camila Castro
Beforeyouleave
A real ass-beaters delight, Beforeyouleave created an absolutely ballistic environment, kids moshing intensely, stage dive hangtimes reaching record numbers and mass movement that almost seemed unadvisable this early on in the lineup. Spectacular riffs and breakdowns, the LA locals put on a hell of show.
A whole weekend of emotionally intense and heavy music certainly sounds like a full on great time for everyone, but ultimately we do need something a bit different in the mix, and that’s what Fight Fair provided. Sunshine and good fun times for all your California specific vibes, the band delivered with high energy and with bodaciously sick hooks.
From the heart to the air, Ghost Spirit comprises many screamo legends, veterans both of the sound but also of the DIY ethos upon which screamo is founded, but the old guard had some young blood fill in on drums as Jackson von Bloeker (Clay Birds, Kiowa, Homegrown) stepped up. They whipped the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
Intense and brooding, brimming with emotion and ache, Habak easily had one of my favorite sets of the weekend. Their most recent album, Mil orquídeas en medio del desierto (roughly translated to A thousand orchids in the middle of the desert) had already had its hooks in me upon release, but seeing and hearing the band vanish into their work like that was nothing short of transcendental. Spiritually attuned to early Envy records while still forging their own path, the Habak set was easily one of my favorites of the weekend.
Photo by Camila Castro
Fighting multiple setbacks that would’ve broken a lesser band, Drought managed to defy all odds and make it to the festival to rip a set. The bands energetic blend of melodic post-hardcore and punk feels like a catchier Sinaloa born by way of the Bay Area. As hype as a BME clique show, Drought played a hell of a set and here’s hoping they’ll be back our way soon.
A band I’ve followed from early on, they never cease to impress with their live sets, their vocals, their instrumentation, their raw emotive force. Quickly whipping the crowd into a frenzy every impassioned word shouted back before it could even escape the speakers, the hail of bodies whirling and flying ceased for barely a moment as the band blasted through their set time with aplomb.
It’s still incredible seeing In Loving Memory play, a band that’s as infectiously powerful to watch as they are sonically sound. Their set was a whirr of bodies and stage dives, an apt reception to one of the genre’s finest revival acts.
This music is a special thing. All music is special, certainly, and I am so clearly biased in a way that my very bone marrow is attuned to the nature of this genre, but to have listened and felt and ached to a band like Spirit of Versailles I’m sure I say nothing of strangeness to people who witnessed just how special this set was.
Photo by Camila Castro
When Portrait of Past released their self-titled album, they probably didn’t even know how absolutely ubiquitous it would be. A band that is cited as the inspiration of many yet utterly beyond any form of imitation. Their set felt as though it could have just as easily been one from their initial run. The Rites of Spring cover was truly a cherry on top.
Day 2
With all the charm of an early 2000s band, Stella’s sound feels like a bridge. Crossing the earnestness of the ’90s and the early aughts pop-flecked alt rock, the band juxtaposes Drive-Thru Records and driving ’90s emo, yet all comfort and class exploring a much needed variety of sound in the current scene.
Brahm are an act of God that are masquerading as a band. Few can compare.
Photo by Camila Castro
These AZ young guns played a ruthless set, it was fast, it was tight and the audience knew exactly what to do. Stage dives and moshing aplenty, in an already stacked lineup Journal were no slouches and definitely had everyone talking about their set for the rest of the day.
One of our scene’s pride and joys, Othiel are the beloved sons of Pomona, a city with a little known but rich music history. In a fest of heavy hitters, young legends, and elder mythic figures, Othiel’s set was one that looked not backwards or forwards but to the here and now, further cementing them as one of our fair states finer offerings.
There’s little that can be said about I Promised the World (fka sinema) that can do their music justice. There’s even less when describing their live show. A band that has a fan base that runs the gamut from kids to old heads and everyone in between. And we’re all clamoring for more.
Beloved by any lucky enough to catch them in concert, Trains Break Down seemed to be in absolute command of the crowd and audience.
I’d never gotten my shot to see herlovebeheadsdaisies before this so this set felt like a real treat to me. Relentlessly heavy and loud as fuck, their set was absolutely massive. Somewhere between Slint and The Khayembii Communique, herlovebeheadsdaisies’s sound is a pleasure to listen to, but even more so to take in live.
Febuary has this special quality in them: as musicians there’s a care and conciseness to their expressed pain that comes through just as well live as it does on record. It’s a moving experience, one I wish for all to hear. I find it entirely impossible for anyone to hear a Febuary song and not feel something.
I unabashedly love Knumears. They are, as people, all kind and wonderful, and as musicians they pour into the work with the very essence of what makes this genre special. A live experience that is truly unmatched both in performance and raw emotion, you do yourself a disservice any time you miss the chance to see them.
Flowers Taped to Pens
Believe survivors when they speak up.
Vs Self holds a controversial position in the scene at large. Whatever myriad gripe people let smolder in the hearts, the simple truth is that this band has done a lot for the SoCal scene and whether found through TikTok or for the lifers who happened to have seen them in person, it’s hard to deny that they are all just really fucking good at what they do. To have them close out one of the biggest screamo fests in recent memory only felt right. And they shredded their performance.
Photo by Camila Castro
I’ve been lucky enough to have been to New Friends Fest, a yearly Toronto screamo festival that occurs every summer. When I went in 2023 I had one of the most spectacular weekends of my life. Now, having gotten to experience a fest in a place that I live and through that getting to interact with my scene in an even further dimension, I can safely say that Your Renaissance was a backdrop for one of the best weekends of my life. Christian’s scaling from the shows he used to throw to larger spots and venues, all culminating in a successful fest is truly a great story that really only DIY can offer.
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Elias Amini | @listentohyakkei
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