Echo Park Rising 2026: Friday Kick-Off Had Style

Echo Park Rising was advertised as a Saturday / Sunday event, but the festival had a "kick-off" on Friday evening / night. There were four stages involved. It was technically supposed to kick off at the Echo Park Farmers Market, but there was a delay and so the kick off was at The Echo with Ellery Harper playing to the 5 p.m. early arrivals. The night was filled with a nice mix of bands and singer-songwriters that I'd seen before as well as new ones. (FYI: I wrote specific posts about BEL, Creakbed, and WINN WINN so they're not being mentioned here). 

American Sigh at Echo Park Rising

Soon after Ellery Harper started, American Sigh (moniker for Theo Matz) hit the stage at the Farmers Market. Sie Sie Spacetrash took to the same stage with Dylan Rodrigue in support. I've been following Sie Sie Spacetrash since 2017 when she was going by Sie Sie Benhoff. "You're looking hot. You're feeling hot," was her comment to the crowd. It would represent the whole weekend where temperatures hit the low to high 90s. Luckily, on this specific date, the set times didn't start until after 5 p.m. 

Sie Sie Spacetrash at Echo Park Rising

Closing out the Farmers Market stage was Maybellene Ryder. Her set resulted in another theme of the festival: a festival where parents gave call outs to their children or had their children join them on stage. If I'm not mistaken, Ryder gave a call out to her daughter (or maybe the child of a friend). The daughter gave an explanation of what Bubble Gum Brain meant. Harmonica virtuoso Sugar Mill Slim was part of the band. 

Maybellene Ryder at Echo Park Rising

Over at Sticky Rice was Revenge Wife (moniker for Liz Nistico). My first encounter with her was at Echo Park Rising 2017 when she was in the band HOLYCHILD. I do believe I was aware of the band prior to that encounter, but that was the first time I caught the band. When Echo Park Rising was starting to promote this year's events, they used one of my photos that included a bubble machine. I joked in my Instagram Stories about the potential for a bubble machine. Well, I did not have to wait long as there were bubbles galore for Revenge Wife's set. 

Revenge Wife at Echo Park Rising

If the evening temperature was too much to bear, there was The Echo (nice air conditioning) with the highlights being Charlie Havenick and Emily Yacina. Earlier this year, I saw Charlie Havenick at Permanent Records Roadhouse. I was eagerly waiting for her to play her 2023 release "Stop It." Everyone else was, as well, because whenever she sang out "Stop," I noticed a number of people singing out that specific word. Then there is the brief trumpet solo. 

Charlie Havenick at Echo Park Rising

I caught Emily Yacina back in 2024 and covered that night for US Rocker Music. I happened to notice her hanging outside The Echo prior to doors opening. She mentioned that the last time she played The Echo was back in 2019. She was rather jazzed about the opportunity -- one could tell. Prior to her set starting, she was dancing on the stage and almost slapped the sound guy in the face.

Emily Yacina at Echo Park Rising

I only caught about half of Emily Yacina's set, because I had to keep a tradition alive. Over at The Semi-Tropic was The Blushes. I first came across The Blushes at another local music festival back in 2022 called Hot Line Fest that I covered for US Rocker Music. There is now a three year traditional of Echo Park Rising - The Semi Tropic - The Blushes and I've seen them play all three times. I could barely make it into the venue this time around. It was packed out for their set. I saw only a few minutes of their set, but that was all I needed to send me off to home in a good mood. 

The Blushes at Echo Park Rising

I will say that when I walked inside The Semi-Tropic, I was surprised that none of the trio had fainted on stage. All three members wore nun outfits -- the band is humorously subversive. Let's go back to the top of the article. It was hot. The Semi-Tropic is an indoor venue, but the venue doesn't have the strong air conditioning like The Echo. It was hot and humid inside The Semi Tropic. Maybe one or two of them were close enough. As the set was coming to an end, I couldn't help but notice the sweat pouring.