Live Review: Total Bummer Fest 5/30/26 Knockdown Center, Queens, NY

Total Bummer Fest 

5/30/26 Knockdown Center, Queens, NY

"It can't be a Total Bummer with Flipper!" yelled Matt Korvette, who is taking over the lead vocal role for 80's punks Flipper during their 2026 tour. That journey had a stop on May 30th at a new festival in Maspeth Queens, titled Total Bummer. The two day fest paired some newer punk/noise rock bands with a few legends in the genre. The spacious Knockdown Center was not sold out for day one of the festival but still had a large crowd filling the inside/outside arts venue.  

I arrived with the sun still high in the sky to catch a few songs from Teen Mortgage, the Washington D.C. based duo of guitarist/vocalist James Guile and drummer Ed Barkauskas in large main room. The stripped down rock used a huge punk influence as "S.W.A.S." had a Misfits feel to it while set closer "Falling Down" mixed a stuttering vibe with an arena ready shout along chorus, ending on a high note.

The previously mentioned Flipper were up next on the smaller outside stage, and while the set up may be ideal for lesser known bands, Flipper brought a ton of fans, packing in the smaller stage. The group, who are Kelli Mayo on bass, John Kelly on guitar along with Korvette's vocals, opened with "The Light, the Sound, the Rhythm, the Noise" before focusing on their 1982 debut offering, Album – Generic Flipper. Their angsty noise rock grinded with clanging force, the best tunes arriving late as "Ha Ha Ha" was a crowd favorite and closer "Sex Bomb" was an extended freakout. 

Things were less hectic back on the main stage as Blonde Redhead took over the cavernous room. Their set went back throughout their career and delivered a very dreamy, bass heavy, indie rock vibe, the mellowest of all the performers today. They played "Bipolar" early and closed with a well received run of "SW", "Kiss Her Kiss Her" and "23" as the closer drew the biggest applause. 

As the sun set the outdoor stage overflowed for the Meat Puppets first east coast show since 2019.  The band for this show were Curt Kirkwood, Cris Kirkwood, Elmo Kirkwood, Derrick Bostrom, and Ron Stabinsky. The legendary desert rockers brought their twangy, stomping, punkish sound to life, opening with "Comin' Down" as the riffs flew and the drums kicked up. "Nothing" was well done while "Plateau" was an early set highlight and "Sam" had the most insane riffing of their set as the band locked in and flew. The crowd came alive for "Lake of Fire" while the grooving "Backwater" was a gem of a closer. 

Headliner Dinosaur Jr. saw the main room fill up as they took the stage, the warehouse space led to a bit of cantankerous sound from the band throughout their set, but the raw noise also worked very well at times. Opening with "The Lung" the band bit into the riffs and low end slamming hard.  A ripping "In A Jar" was an early highlight, while "Garden" was the newest tune played at this show. 

Always a set highlight, "Sludgefeast" was a monstrous display of wailing riffs from guitarist J Mascis while drummer Murph and bassist Lou Barlow kept the fury pumping as the tune pummeled ear drums and bounced around the venue. "Little Fury Things" revved up like a jet engine on a runway while a mid-set cover of "Just Like Heaven" vibrated with excellent wah-wah work. "Start Choppin'" had a cool beat with chugging bass before "Freak Scene" got wild with Barlow scrapping his bass on the floor. 

The trio called an audible as they were coming upon the venues curfew and dropped into "Gargoyle" from their debut album. The switch up led to a thundering display of power as the low end supported a cataclysmic solo from Mascis that was jaw dropping in its intensity and flare as Dino Jr. saved their best shredding for this finale. The group are still on top of their game and wrapped up the first night of Total Bummer on a blistering high, noisey, note.

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