Nearly 20 years after the legendary CBGB club closed its doors on the Bowery, the punk spirit was alive and thrashing once again in New York City. On September 27th, Under The K Bridge Park in Brooklyn was transformed into holy ground for punks of all ages as the CBGB Festival brought together an iconic lineup spanning generations.
The Setting
With three stages—CBGB Stage, Young Punks Stage, and Hilly’s Stage—the festival honored the memory of Hilly Kristal’s fabled club not just with music, but with atmosphere. Attendees could wander through displays of the original CBGB awning, bathroom, bar, and office, relics preserved from the club’s East Village heyday. It was part museum, part festival, and entirely a love letter to the institution that defined punk in New York.
The weather cooperated beautifully, and the crowd reflected CBGB’s legacy—teenagers moshing shoulder-to-shoulder with fans old enough to have witnessed the Ramones firsthand in the 1970s.
The Music
The lineup was nothing short of stacked. Iggy Pop, the godfather of punk himself, closed the night with a ferocious run through Stooges classics and solo cuts that left the audience buzzing. Just before him, Jack White delivered a career-spanning set that tore into White Stripes staples, Dead Weather grit, and Raconteurs grooves.
Earlier in the evening, The Damned turned the clock back to 1979 with a set as sharp and fiery as their early days, while Johnny Marr filled the Brooklyn air with Smiths classics like “This Charming Man” and “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.” The Lunachicks brought their signature chaos, and The Linda Lindas showed why they’re leading the next generation of punk, balancing youthful urgency with sharp hooks.
On the Young Punks Stage, Destroy Boys, Scowl, Lambrini Girls, Teen Mortgage, Pinkshift, and The Molotovs reminded everyone that punk isn’t just alive—it’s evolving. Meanwhile, Hilly’s Stage delivered relentless energy with Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, Gorilla Biscuits, Lip Critic, YNWH Nailgun, Soul Glo, and Angel Du$t, bringing hardcore, experimental edges, and raw spirit to the crowd.
Marky Ramone stood as a living link to CBGB’s origins, hammering out Ramones classics that had the crowd chanting along with fists in the air.
The Legacy
By the time Iggy closed his set, the grounds felt like sacred punk soil. From pioneers to rising stars, the festival bridged generations and scenes, mirroring what CBGB itself once did nightly on the Bowery.
If you closed your eyes, you could almost imagine you were back at the cramped, graffiti-covered club—but instead, you were under a Brooklyn expressway, surrounded by thousands, with CBGB’s artifacts on display like relics from a shared religion.
Iggy Pop Setlist: Nobody (Joe & The Shitboys song), T.V. Eye (The Stooges song), Raw Power (Iggy and The Stooges song), I Got a Right (Iggy and The Stooges song), Gimme Danger (Iggy and The Stooges song), The Passenger, Lust for Life, Death Trip (Iggy and The Stooges song), I Wanna Be Your Dog (The Stooges song), Search and Destroy (Iggy and The Stooges song), Down on the Street (The Stooges song), 1970 (The Stooges song), Some Weird Sin, Frenzy, L.A. Blues / Nightclubbing, Modern Day Rip Off, Funtime, Louie Louie (Richard Berry & the Pharaohs cover)
Jack White Setlist: Old Scratch Blues, That’s How I’m Feeling, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (The White Stripes song), Cannon (The White Stripes song), John the Revelator (Blind Willie Johnson cover), Broken Boy Soldier (The Raconteurs song), Cannon (The White Stripes song) [Reprise], Archbishop Harold Holmes, Freedom at 21, Ball and Biscuit (The White Stripes song), I Cut Like a Buffalo (The Dead Weather song), It’s Rough on Rats (If You’re Asking), Little Bird (The White Stripes song), That Black Bat Licorice, Icky Thump (The White Stripes song), Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes song)
The Damned Setlist: Love Song, Machine Gun Etiquette, Wait for the Blackout, Lively Arts, The History of the World (Part 1), Eloise (Barry Ryan cover), Fan Club, Ignite, Neat Neat Neat, New Rose, White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover), Smash It Up
Johnny Marr Setlist: Generate! Generate!, Panic (The Smiths song), Spirit Power and Soul, This Charming Man (The Smiths song), Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths song) [Acoustic], How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths song), Easy Money, Getting Away With It (Electronic song), There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths song) [Dedicated to Glenn Branca]
The Lunachicks Setlist: Drop Dead (Theo then removed the cape she was wearing), Less Teeth More Tits, Say What You Mean, F.D.S., Don’t Want You, Bad Ass Bitch, Light as a Feather, C.I.L.L., Fingerful, Jerk of All Trades, I’ll Be the One, Luxury Problem, Shut You Out
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