La Escalera Fest 5 Night 2, Til-Two Club, San Diego

Many years ago, as Will Castro and Ziggy Pelayo toured up and down the west coast of the USA with their respective bands, close friendships formed with other bands. These bands took care of each other, fed each other, housed each other when they were on tour, and kept in close contact. This was more than mere friendship; this was family. They called it La Escalera.

When Will and Ziggy had the idea to help some of their La Escalera family put out records, the logical name for the label was La Escalera Records. The first record that came out was a split 7” with Seattle’s Success and Sacramento’s Bastards of Young. That was five years ago. Since that time, the label has grown, and has more than thirty releases, from bands such as DFMK, Signalman, Caskitt, Nothington, Burn Burn Burn, The Anchor, Civil War Rust, and many more.

Every year, La Escalera puts on a mini fest, usually one night in San Diego with a bunch of bands from the label. But for the fifth anniversary of the label’s founding, something bigger was required. Three nights were planned, with 25 bands, and spanning two countries. Friday night saw seven bands perform at San Diego’s Tower Bar, Saturday night saw thirteen bands on two stages at San Diego’s Til-Two Club, and Sunday night had ten bands at the Moustache Bar in Tijuana, Mexico. The sold out clubs were packed with sweaty punks, there to see bands on the label, as well as many bands that were also close friends.

I was able to make it to the Friday and Saturday night shows, and they were the most fun I’ve had at a show in awhile. These sorts of things are more like family reunions than music festivals, because everyone are friends, and anyone who you don’t know yet quickly becomes a new friend.