This past Valentine’s weekend, The Echo and Echoplex joined forces to put on a hell-raising day-long festival. The two venues sit in the heart of the bustling Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s no secret that this is one of the biggest hubs for music in the world, and My Slutty Valentine set out to represent some of the best local talent around. While there were a few outlying bands featured, a majority got their start right here in LA. With two stages, this event packed in a rowdy lineup of punk, metal, hardcore, and erotic alternative bands that call this city home.
The event started early in the afternoon and there was not one dull moment once doors were open to the public. Besides back to back shows going on at either stage throughout the course of the evening, there was a range of activities held on their covered patio including a karaoke set up which was available all night long and a highly anticipated hotdog eating contest. In fact, the hotdog eating contest may have been one of the most packed events of the night. The crowd was going berserk for all the participating contestants, and it was so crammed they had to stop people from going outside because the patio hit its capacity limit.
Throughout the afternoon, people were trickling in in waves, but there was never a lack of support or enthusiasm as artists took the stage. The schedule was spaced out ever-so-methodically so that there were rarely two performances happening at once. This made it so that attendees didn’t have to decide between which band to see, they could pop to and fro each set as they pleased. This is always a good setup for performers because they are nearly always guaranteed a decent sized crowd. Each set was relatively short, between 30-45 minutes each, so every set was brimming with heightened energy. Let me reiterate, there was not one dull moment.
There were a few standouts from the night, starting with the self proclaimed trans black metal group Greenwitch. The group is based out of LA and has been gaining steady momentum since the release of their debut EP To Devour The Flesh of Worlds in 2020. A circle pit formed in the crowd and bodies began thrashing every which way. Following their set on The Echo stage came Slaughterhouse and the crowd revved up even more.
For those who don’t know, this is another LA based band who are on a steep incline within the punk world and per their reputation, they did not disappoint. As soon as they got to the mic, it was made clear that they wanted people high diving off the stage and from that point on all bets were off. People were hurling themselves from the stage and into the crowd while also keeping the pit circling. During their two big hits “Sick and Tired” off their newest EP, and “Poison” people were singing along to vocalist Meriel O’Connels honed screams that she has become known for.
Finally, the epic conclusion to a whirlwind night of music and fanciful chaos was the main event that everyone had clearly been waiting for. Mac Sabbath made a curtain call entrance, which is only to be expected, and all hell broke loose as soon as they began strumming. They call themselves the purveyors of Drive Thru Metal, a term they coined for their parody driven lyrical content full of fast food references. Mac Sabbath rock just as hard as Black Sabbath but they come dressed like the McDonalds mascots straight out of some nightmarish hellscape. Their live shows are a one-of-a-kind experience and this headlining set at My Slutty Valentine was certainly the cherry on top of a very spirited day of music, mosh pits, and of course hot dogs.
