Following their massive arena tour with Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins this summer, The Linda Lindas released their new album No Obligation on Friday, October 11 via Epitaph. The quartet of teen punk stars hosted a Halloween-themed album release show at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever the same night their record officially hit the streets.
The Linda Lindas celebrated the release of their sophomore record, No Obligation, with a Halloween-themed show at none other than at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever this spooky season. The new album further advances the band’s trajectory with major L.A. punk sounds ranging from garage rock, new wave, post-punk, and Spanish rock. The record has been in the works for the past two years while the members are not in school as Lucia de la Garza and Eloise Wong are still in high school, Mila de la Garza just finished middle school, and Bela Salazar patiently waits to record.
The night kicked off with performances by Kuromy and Juan Cavallo who joined the lineup for the sold-out show as the openers. A few minutes past nine o’clock, a smog machine set the stage for four zombies in leather jackets. The Linda Lindas kicked off their set with a strong cover of the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach.” Taking a quick breath and time to throw their jackets out of the way, the band welcomed everyone to their show and performed the title track to their new album “No Obligation.” Bratmobile’s Allison Wolfe, who DJed between sets, joined the band on stage to sing “Monica.” The band performed their new record in its entirety with other fan favorites including “Nino” which had everyone especially the children in the crowd dancing and singing along. The band included quite a few covers in their setlist such as the Talking Heads’ “Found a Job,” Los Prisioneros’ “Tren al sur,” Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl,” and the song that inspired the band’s name The Blue Hearts’ “Linda Linda.”
The Linda Lindas got political throughout their set. At the beginning of their performance, Wong shouted “Free Palestine” and asked people to do what they could to make the world better. Towards the end of their set, the band called out an unnamed politician for being racist and sexist and urged the crowd to go out and vote before getting into their viral hit “Racist, Sexist Boy.” The majority of the band is unable to vote as they are still under 18 years old with only one member able to vote for the first time during a presidential election.
The night was overall incredible. Special guests in the crowd included a range of celebrities such as actress Xochitl Gomez, musician Alice Bag, philanthropist Linda Ramone also recognized as the widow of Johnny Ramone, and more. The Linda Lindas always put on a great show, but Friday night was more than an album release performance with a 24-track setlist of each member switching off on vocals. The band was not only celebrating their new record but also celebrating punk, rock, and the culture as the group paid homage to those who have inspired their career and sound.
The Linda Lindas’ new album No Obligation is now available. The band has yet to announce tour dates.
All photographs by Conny Chavez.
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