Noise Pop’s 20th Street Block Party rocks the Mission
More than 16,000 people danced in the streets of the Mission on Saturday for Noise Pop’s annual 20th Street Block Party Festival, where the smell of grilled Del Popolo pizza and Farmhouse Kitchen Thai filled the air, and the sound of Chicano rock resonated through the alleyways.
The block party has always been popular — free festivals generally draw large crowds — but this year’s mass was bigger than ever, drawing in crowds of music fans with a lineup that included Miami Horror, an electronic pop act from Australia; Los Angeles rock group Chicano Batman; Oakland’s own dream pop performer Hazel English; funk musician Boulevards from North Carolina; and more.
Noting that the “weirdest festival” the Melbourne artists had ever played in the city was the Folsom Street Fair in 2013, the band’s bassist, Daniel Whitechurch, said that the five-piece always has fun playing in the city.
During Miami Horror’s hour-long performance, the group’s energy was rambunctious — vocalist Aaron Shanahan at some points suspended himself off trees, stood on speakers, and, to the joy of the many fans in the audience, invaded the crowd in bopping along to the sounds of the band’s 2010 hit “Holidays.”
Noise Pop festivities have long been a rallying place for those working in the independent arms of the Bay Area music industry, but this festival proved a space for those to discuss the future of a few community-benefiting events.
Radio Valencia’s John Hell chatted up Bay Area Record Fair co-founder Marisa Breall, Oakland artist Madeline Kenney played a live gig at the nearby indie Mutiny Radio (in which this writer participated in a live broadcast), and local vendors like 826 Valencia, Mission de Flores and San Franpsycho met festivalgoers, Mission residents and beyond expanding their fan bases.