Turnstile played the Washington Monument

Turnstile played a free matinee show in front of the Washington Monument on Saturday while gathering donations to support the people in Palestine, Sudan, and Lebanon. It was one for the books.

I won’t sit here and pretend that I’m a lifelong hardcore fan who has seen bands play in basements before getting to bigger stages or legendary acts in their prime because I’m not old enough to have seen Fugazi back in the day when they played free afternoon shows in D.C. (although I did see The Dead Kennedys at CBGBs before it closed), but I will tell you that punk rock in general has been an important part of my life for more than twenty years. Growing up in a small New England town, finding a scene rooted in punk and DIY shaped my world and introduced me to what it really means to be part of a community. The music itself has also always been fundamental in my listening habits, influencing aspects of my life in more ways than I would’ve ever guessed as a teenager. Of course there’s so much lore in the idea of punk and hardcore being an exclusive thing where the barrier to entry can feel intimidating and at times hostile. Yet any real fan will tell you that the gatekeepers are the ones in the wrong and really the idea is all about love, support, and community where all should be respected and welcomed. As with so many things in the age of the internet, the exclusivity of music is no longer such a guarded secret. You no longer need to dedicate hours to digging through crates and talking to record store employees to find your new favorite artist. Now everything is instantly available and that’s made a lot of things more popular than ever. At this point, the argument of whether Turnstile is really a hardcore band is trite. Those gatekeepers will do everything they can to push the band out of the scene from which they came, but regardless of how you want to classify how they sound, everything they embody is based on their beginnings. Hardcore or not, Turnstile have morphed into one of the biggest bands in the world which is likely why many may be quick to turn on them, but really it’s their loss. Turnstile is a band for everyone and that could not have been more clear as they took to the makeshift stage that was erected on the National Lawn in the shadow of the monument. The estimates have been between 60-80,00 people showing up on Saturday afternoon which has to make it one of the largest hardcore shows in history and anyone still wanting to argue is clearly missing the point. If you’ve been following along with the madness of their shows over the past year and a half, this one wasn’t particularly different and yet nothing felt as important and historic as this one. As they do, the show began with them ripping into “Birds” and even before the rest of the band joined in with drummer Daniel Fang’s opening beat, the pits were already forming and chaos began to brew. As the crowd nearly congealed, thousands upon thousands began to jump, dance, and rage amongst each other, eliciting unrivaled joy that seemed to be flowing far beyond what my own eyes could see. Their set didn’t stray from their other recent shows and there were no guests, but none of that was needed. This was all about this band from Baltimore getting tens of thousands of people together to celebrate music and rebel against a genocide, to join together in the name of humanity and to fight for peace. “We need them to hear us at the White House” Yates exclaimed after calling for "Free Gaza! Free Sudan! Free Lebanon!" after which when he thanked the crowd for being in attendance and on the right side of history and the overwhelming endorsement from the people in attendance was moving beyond measure. As it has in the past “I CARE” into “DULL” was epic and had the pits really gaining bodies and intensity, yet at no point did anything ever feel unsafe. Packed beyond the capacity of however many people could fit within the gates of the event, it was awe-inspiring to see people on the mound in the distance at the base of the monument. Seeing so many people to celebrate this band play this music was inspiring to say the least. During “LOOK OUT FOR ME,” a giant dance circle broke out during the breakdown replacing a mosh pit for a rave sequence that only added to the magic of the day as we switched from raging to raving and back again without losing a beat. As the twinkling piano riff of “MYSTERY” rang out, you could feel the tension rise and when the drop hit, Yates launched himself into the air and the crowd nearly came apart at the seams. Another jaw-dropping moment that somehow wasn’t the last or even most impressive part of the day. For those who still insist on arguing their status as a hardcore band, when the band roared into “Keep Moving,” there was no denying it, this was hardcore for the masses and the epitome of their rise from basements to festival headliners. As things progressed, the band had to ask everyone to keep moving back as the last minute barriers began to buckle as the crowd surged towards the stage with excitement. None of it mattered because when the band directly followed that ask with “HOLIDAY,” the crowd once again rushed towards the stage with an adrenaline rush of excitement. Even when the microphones stopped working, there was nothing that could be done to turn down the crowd’s massive spirit. “Things are starting to fall apart up here, but we have a few more and when we’re done that’s it” Yates told us all, so when the synths for “NEVER ENOUGH” hit, it was pure euphoria as we all shouted along, hands raised, and the feelings of hope and joy felt limitless. When Yates waved the flag of Palestine on stage, the masses roared back with support for one more reminder on the real reason of the event. Once again looking around at the amount of people in attendance all taking this in together, united by a shared passion for music and human rights was breathtaking. I’m not sure if I can say it was a “better” show than the one they just played in Forest Hills, but this was really something else. Even after becoming a Grammy Award-winning group, to see a response of this size in the sheer volume of fans that showed up has elevated the band to an even higher status, moving them to a new level of monumental and generational impact. I won’t sit here and tell you it was the best concert I have ever experienced, I’ll just say that I have a hard time thinking of anything that will rival the historic aspect and the pure happiness it left me feeling in its wake. One for the ages.

Set list:

01 "BIRDS"
02 "Real Thing"
03 "ENDLESS"
04 "I CARE / DULL"
05 "DON'T PLAY"
06 "Drop"
07 "WILD WRLD"
08 "MYSTERY"
09 "SUNSHOWER"
10 "7"
11 "Keep It Moving"
12 "Canned Heat"
13 "SOLE"
14 "MAGIC MAN"
15 "LOOK OUT FOR ME"
16 "HOLIDAY"
17 "BLACKOUT"
18 "NEVER ENOUGH"
19 "T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION)"