A lot of these emo-leaning festivals lately have relied on nostalgia, but PUP are still a relatively new band and they really played like they had something to prove, making for a real sense of urgency both on and off stage. Opening with the two biggest songs from Morbid Stuff doesn't hurt (title track and "Kids"), but right away PUP had bodies moving in all directions and induced some of the loudest singalongs I heard all day. They were on the smaller Boot stage after Jimmy's main stage set ended, and they really fired on all cylinders.
It's hard to pick a favorite set with a lineup this stacked, but if pressed, I might have to say PUP. (PS, Drug Church and Gel meet again when they both tour with Drain in June, including Brooklyn Monarch on June 8.) Fresh off releasing their great debut LP Only Constant, they tore through a batch of short, fast, and loud rippers and kept the energy level at a constant high. Right after Zulu was a dose of hardcore for the freaks from NJ's own Gel. Whether it's a sunny day at the beach or a packed club, Zulu are a force to be reckoned with on stage. Fortunately, nothing could stop Zulu's crowd from kicking up mosh pits in the sand, and Zulu sounded as ferocious as ever. Vocalist Anaiah Lei kept cracking jokes about the inherent humor of playing this kind of music next to an ocean, and it really was a trip to experience Zulu's ass-beating breakdowns in this environment. Punk and hardcore is not exactly the kind of thing you expect to see on a beach, with waves crashing to the side of you and the sun beating down on your head, and no band made the contrast between hardcore and beach weather seem more stark than West Coast antagonizers Zulu. They tore through a selection of bangers from their 2022 debut LP Love Me Forever, their 2021 EP Saccharine, and their grungy new single "To Me," and really made the best of their relatively brief set. They've got a hard-hitting rhythm section, Paul Vallejo's riffs sound huge in a live environment, and Ashrita Kumar is a powerhouse frontperson. They were followed immediately by Baltimore's Pinkshift, who ripped as always.
#Emo mosh dancing series
Drug Church were on the Thimble stage, and they were the start of a series of rapidfire, back-to-back sets of punk and hardcore. They had a sizable crowd come out for their early 1 PM set, and they sounded as big and went as hard as ever.
I wish I saw more of them to get a better idea, but Drug Church always bring it and it seemed like this set was no exception. There were some delays getting into the fest, including very long lines that took a while to get moving, which resulted in some set times being pushed back, and I made my way in towards the end of Drug Church's set. As far as conflicts go, there were hardly any, and it was a very easy fest to navigate. The fest is split across three (Monopoly-themed) stages, the two smaller Boot and Thimble stages that are right next to each other with very little changeover time between sets, and the main Top Hat stage. It was a hot, sunny day as bands like Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, PUP, Thursday, and more played to crowds of thousands of people standing directly on the beach, with the towering Atlantic City hotels on one side and the ocean on the other. Memorial Day Weekend is here, marking the unofficial start of summer, and the summery weather's been perfect for Adjacent Music Festival, Live Nation's new emo/pop punk-friendly music festival that takes place right on the beach in Atlantic City.
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