Words and Photos by Desirea Corbett
Community, Chaos, and Crowd Surfers: The Idobi Radio Summer School Tour Takes Over Irving Plaza
The air outside was thick as New York City baked under a summer heatwave. School was definitely out for the season, and the atmosphere around Irving Plaza reflected it. Just outside the venue, a group of roller skaters gathered for the city’s weekly Wednesday Night Skate, while inside, anticipation was already reaching a fever pitch. Fans packed themselves against the barricade, snapping selfies at the venue’s photo station and buzzing with the kind of excitement usually reserved for the last day of school. The crowd was refreshingly diverse, from teenagers discovering their favorite bands to an older gentleman planted at the barricade in a “Support Women’s Rights” T-shirt emblazoned with a lightning bolt. Whether he was accompanying family or simply refusing to let age define his love of live music, he fit right in.
Opening the six-band bill was New Jersey’s Sage, an up-and-coming alternative metal outfit that wasted no time igniting the room. Crowd surfers appeared during the very first song, setting the tone for the night ahead. At one point, the band’s frontman encouraged everyone to high-five one another, though judging by the already swirling mosh pit, the audience hardly needed the extra motivation.
Long Beach’s Chase Petra followed with their self-described “quarter-life crisis pop.” Performing as a stripped-down duo featuring vocalist and guitarist Hunter Allen alongside a drummer, they delivered a dynamic set that balanced sharp hooks with emotional vulnerability. After performing the slower track “Sorry,” Allen laughed in disbelief.
“That’s definitely the most crowd surfers we’ve had for that song!”
The joke landed because it was true. Even during one of the set’s quieter moments, multiple fans were surfing overhead simultaneously.
Nashville punk trio Winona Fighter was the evening’s third act—and for many, one of its biggest highlights. Having previously seen the band tear through a much smaller New Jersey club, it was exciting to witness that same explosive energy amplified inside a packed Irving Plaza.
Frontwoman Coco Kinnon is an absolute force onstage, throwing kicks, launching into jackknife jumps, and pouring every ounce of herself into the performance. The band exploded into their set with “R U Famous,” immediately opening a massive circle pit in the back of the venue. Before long, Kinnon paused only long enough to remind everyone that chaos comes with responsibility.
“Don’t touch anybody who doesn’t wanna be fucking touched or I’ll beat your ass. Otherwise, go ahead and beat the shit out of each other.”
It was the perfect summary of punk etiquette: take care of each other while letting loose.
Before debuting their newest single, “Bombs Away,” Kinnon offered another message that resonated even beyond the music.
“Don’t trust the fucking government! And keep being a community because community is all we fucking have right now!”
The room erupted in cheers before the band launched into a blistering cover of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.” As the stage filled with darker lighting and thick fog, the energy somehow climbed another level. By the time they closed with “Hamms in a Glass,” Kinnon had abandoned the stage altogether, diving into the audience to crowd surf alongside the very fans who had been carrying each other all night.
Next up was South Arcade, the female-fronted rock band from Oxford, England, whose infectious blend of pop-punk and alternative rock sent the venue into another frenzy. The crowd surfing became so relentless that photographers were escorted out of the pit after only one song for safety reasons. Looking out at the sea of movement, vocalist Harmony Cavelle summed it up perfectly.
“Tonight you guys are feral.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. The room became so hot that the venue’s fire alarm interrupted the set, forcing the lights up and briefly halting the show. Fortunately, it proved to be a false alarm, and after about ten minutes the music resumed exactly where it had left off.
Games We Play kept the momentum rolling. Frontman Emmyn Calleiro and company hit the stage shirtless, smiling, and ready to party. Crowd surfers flowed overhead like a conveyor belt from one end of the venue to the other. Midway through the set, Calleiro invited a fan named Niko onstage, gave him a crash course on the keyboard, and had him perform a song with the band. He also shared that he had welcomed a baby since the previous year’s tour, prompting the audience to wave toward the balcony in celebration.
Closing out the evening was Los Angeles pop-rock outfit Honey Revenge. Frontwoman Devin Papadol commanded the stage with nonstop movement, gliding across it with the confidence and precision of a trained dancer while delivering powerhouse vocals. By this point, the crowd had reached peak intensity, with a constant stream of three or four crowd surfers making their way toward the barricade at nearly every moment of the set.
Throughout the night, one theme surfaced again and again, extending far beyond the music itself. Coco Kinnon’s call to “keep being a community” echoed through every stage dive, every mosh pit, every helping hand lifting a crowd surfer overhead, and every stranger looking out for another in the middle of the chaos. The Idobi Radio Summer School Tour was a reminder that live music creates spaces where people from every background can come together, celebrate loudly, and find belonging, even if it’s only for one unforgettable summer night.
Loudspeaker Collective 