Echo Park Rising 2026: Saturday Brings the Heat

I was shooting Echo Park Rising for the festival so Saturday was jumping around from one stage to the other as I was trying to give some love to as many of the stages as possible. So do I remember much of anything? I do and I don't. I captured 31 bands and singer-songwriters. Is that crazy? The day started off at 12 noon and didn't end until around 10 p.m. I would have pushed it harder, but The Semi Tropic was so packed that I couldn't get in to see Harry Katz and The Pistachios (even with a photo pass). I made the assumption there and then that I wasn't getting in to see The Mainliners at The Echo and so I went home. (Earlier in the evening, I saw a line curved out nearly to the bank, waiting to get into The Echo.)

Supershrew at Echo Park Rising

One of the first bands I saw on Saturday was Supershrew at KG Bakery. Hanging out to catch Supershrew was a member of Family Cash, who noticed me and strongly recommended seeing the band. The bassist played it dynamic while the guitarist played it cool. 

I should insert this here as I saw the band at 12 noon. By this time in the day it was probably in the mid 90s. The high was 97 degrees. I decided to hydrate as much as possible first thing in the morning and drank about 8 cups of water. That was not enough. A friend brought me a cup of water at KG Bakery. I drank it up. I then went to The Chocolate Dispensary and drank even more water. My estimate for the day is that I had 18 to 20 cups of liquids that day. I don't know the last time I drank that much water.  And I was still dehydrated.  

I'll show you magic at Echo Park Rising

A recent favorite band, I'll show you magic, took to the stage at Sticky Rice. I was hoping to catch their full set, but instead missed maybe the first song or two. I squeezed in the first performers at at Bar Bandini and Men & Beasts. I thought I could make it, but things were running a touch behind schedule at Bar Bandini and so I just couldn't make it for the full set. Sticky Rice had a large stage screen in the back that played videos for the bands. Lead singer Eva Smittle mentioned that what was showing for their set were old family videos that she had discovered. Out on the sidewalk, was a young girl who was watching the set intently (the stage was 21 plus). I thought, "She has good taste." 

Ryan Pollie at Echo Park Rising

Ryan Pollie also took to the stage at Sticky Rice. The temperature was slowly dropping, but it was still hot, "How are you guys feeling?" The audience yelled back their approve -- some six feet back, hiding in what limited shade there was a 4 p.m. Many of the people watching the set where sitting down on the ground, enjoying the set like they were watching it at a local park. 

Tolliver at Echo Park Rising

There was some real hiking around after his set. I went all the way up to Bar Henry and then circled down to catch brief portions of Tolliver's set (I first came across Tolliver way back in 2016 at another festival called Broke LA) at Bar Flores and Spiral Teeth's set at The Short Stop (made famous by Miya Folick . . . an over-exaggeration). I love her dance choreography. 

Spiral Teeth at Echo Park Rising

Then I continued on to The Cantiq to catch Pegzilla. I say look at a map of Echo Park, because that is one crazy journey. I've followed Olivia Lee since the Egg Drop Soup days. As should have been, out of all the artists / bands that I shot throughout the day, they probably had the most photographers hanging out in front of the stage. 

Pegzilla at Echo Park Rising

One tradition was definitely not going to end. It was off to catch MACKandgold (moniker for Mackenzie Graham) at Dada. This was my third time catching the band at Echo Park Rising. A dynamite of a singer. Later on, Graham would head up to The Douglas to play in Syster of a Down. I did not get to see that set, but I saw the videos. The outdoor venue was packed and hanging out on the edges of Sunset Blvd. 

MACKandgold at Echo Park Rising

Talk about fans hanging out on the street: Indigo De Souza was the headliner at Sticky Rice. Her face was painted in white makeup and her feet were chained together (Halloween like, not real jail chains). She mentioned it was her way of showing her anger around topics that she could not say out loud.

Indigo De Souza at Echo Park Rising

About that crowd? The stage area was packed and I saw people hanging out on the sidewalk four deep. In the past, this has happened for the bigger draws at the stage so I didn't give it much thought. And then, I noticed that her fans were also taking up half of the street, Lemoyne St. That's a way to end the night. As mentioned above, I did attempt to catch Harry Katz, but it was just too packed at The Semi-Tropic and so ended my night.  

As a note: I wrote specific posts about Adriana McCassim, Family Cash, Polartropica, and Primer.