KNOCKED LOOSE DECIMATE THE OBSERVATORY IN SANTA ANA
Words and photos by Casey Corrigan
“Unable to be contained.” There’s no other way to adequately or accurately describe the energy Knocked Loose brought to Orange County’s Observatory Festival Grounds Saturday night. Continuing their tour to support their latest record, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, Oldham County’s hardcore outfit brought along Los Angeles’s Military Gun, Santa Cruz’s Drain, and Detroit rapper Danny Brown.
If it wasn’t apparent before Saturday night’s show, it was abundantly apparent after Knocked Loose is on a rocket-like trajectory. Drawing thousands to a hardcore show in what amounts to a venue parking lot, the Oldham County, KY quintet pulled out all of the stops for the thousands in attendance at what Bryan Garris noted was Knocked Loose’s biggest show yet. The anticipation was palpable after the steady build in energy through the three support acts. As the lights cut, a vaguely transparent curtain shows the illuminated cross that has become a trademark of their stage design.
Then the band launched into a near-relentless set, ripping right into the sub-two-minute “Thirst.” The band would play a set loaded heavily with songs off of You Won’t Go, including several tracks from Laugh Tracks, A Different Shade of Blue, and A Tear in the Fabric of Life. Every song felt like a fan favorite, the crowd yelling back every lyric, matching Garris’s ferocity, in constant motion, be it moshing, the pit swelling and swaying, or crowd surfers pouring over the barricade.
After a year that has held an astronomical rise for Knocked Loose, it seems likely that they will carry that momentum through the remainder of the year and into 2025 as the band is set to take to Europe to start 2025.
