Craft beer may be the main attraction at Snallygaster, but the annual festival also provides an excellent showcase for live music, particularly bands from DC and the surrounding region.
The 14th edition of Snallygaster took over Pennsylvania Avenue NW on Saturday, Oct. 10, bringing hundreds of beers, food vendors, and live entertainment to the heart of the nation’s capital. With the Capitol dome rising over the festival grounds, music filled two stages as thousands of visitors explored the enormous selection of brews.
Among the afternoon’s performers, three bands offered an interesting contrast in musical styles. DC’s Tosser brought alternative rock to the 6th Street Stage, followed by the brassy, genre-defying Black Masala on the Capitol Stage. Richmond’s Keep later returned the focus to the 6th Street Stage with its atmospheric brand of shoegaze.
DC noise rockers Tosser are loud — and I mean that in a very good way.
Performing on Snallygaster’s 6th Street Stage, the four-piece band, fronted by singer-guitarist Eric Zidar, delivered a guitar-heavy sound that emphasized sheer volume and intensity. Tosser likes heavy guitars, and the band’s music draws its power from thick, distorted riffs and the tension between melody and noise.
The band’s latest release, the four-song EP Mechanism, arrived in May, a little more than two years after its 2024 full-length album Sheer Humanity. Recorded in Washington, DC, in 2025, the EP continues Tosser’s exploration of aggressive, guitar-driven alternative rock, drawing on the muscular sound of ’90s noise rock and post-hardcore.
That musical approach makes Tosser an interesting addition to the Snallygaster lineup. The festival may be best known for its enormous selection of craft beers, but its musical programming also gives local bands an opportunity to reach audiences beyond the city’s usual clubs. Tosser brought the volume and attitude of a small rock venue to the festival’s outdoor stage.
Watch Tosser perform live at Gallery X in Bedford, Mass., on YouTube:
Here are some photos of Tosser performing live at Snallygaster 2026. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.
If Tosser brought the noise to Snallygaster, DC’s Black Masala brought the party.
Performing on the festival’s Capitol Stage, Black Masala delivered a high-energy set that blended brass-band funk, zydeco, and klezmer into a joyous musical celebration. Although the band hails from Washington, its sound and exuberant performance would have seemed perfectly at home on the streets of New Orleans.
The band’s infectious rhythms and powerful brass arrangements made its performance feel like a street party. There was something wonderfully communal about the music, which drew on traditions associated with New Orleans brass bands as well as the celebratory sounds of Eastern European folk music.
Vocalist and percussionist Kristen Long embodied that spirit, punctuating the performance with high kicks that showed off her shiny gold shoes. Her animated stage presence matched the exuberance of the musicians around her, adding another dimension to a performance already bursting with energy.
And the music wasn’t just attracting festivalgoers. Black Masala’s performance stopped passersby on the street outside Snallygaster, with many settling onto the sidewalk to watch the show. It was a striking sight: people who weren’t necessarily attending the festival nevertheless found themselves captivated by the band’s performance.
Toward the end of the set, Black Masala covered “Start Wearing Purple” by Gogol Bordello, a band with which it shares a strong musical kinship. The song’s exuberant blend of punk energy and Eastern European folk traditions could almost have been written for Black Masala, making it a particularly fitting addition to the afternoon’s festivities.
Black Masala was an ideal act for an afternoon festival built around celebration and discovery, bringing an unmistakably New Orleans spirit to Pennsylvania Avenue.
Watch Black Masala perform “Bhangra Ramo” live at Pearl Street Warehouse:
Here are some photos of Black Masala performing live at Snallygaster 2026. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.
Richmond, Virginia’s Keep brought a decidedly psychedelic atmosphere to Snallygaster when the band took over the 6th Street Stage later in the afternoon.
Drawing on shoegaze and psychedelia, Keep offered another dramatic change of musical direction. Where Tosser favored raw, guitar-driven intensity and Black Masala celebrated infectious rhythms and brass, Keep explored the more hypnotic possibilities of electric guitars.
The four musicians looked effortlessly cool onstage, but their psychedelic sensibility came from their musicality rather than their appearance. Their sound was immersive and atmospheric, with guitars creating the swirling textures and hypnotic passages that characterize the best shoegaze. There was an appealing sense of musicians exploring the possibilities of their instruments, allowing layers of sound to build into something greater than the individual parts.
Interestingly, Keep’s frontman, Nick Yetka, is also the band’s drummer, an unusual arrangement that gave the performance a distinctive dynamic. Handling lead vocals while holding down the rhythms from behind his drum kit, Yetka demonstrated an impressive command of two demanding roles.
Keep also distinguished themselves through their professionalism and personable stage presence. The musicians appeared completely at ease before the festival audience, engaging with the crowd in a friendly, unpretentious manner. Yetka was particularly engaging, helping make the band’s psychedelic explorations feel inviting rather than inaccessible.
Their performance offered a compelling reminder that psychedelic rock doesn’t necessarily require elaborate visuals or theatrical flourishes. Sometimes four musicians with a shared musical vision and a command of their instruments are all that’s needed to transport an audience somewhere unexpected.
Keep provided a fascinating counterpoint to the afternoon’s earlier acts, demonstrating yet another dimension of the musical diversity on display at Snallygaster.
Watch the official music video for “Fun Facts” by Keep on YouTube:
DC go-go legends Trouble Funk closed out the musical program at Snallygaster, just as they did in 2024. Although we didn’t cover their performance this year, we encourage readers to check out our 2024 Snallygaster recap for an up-close look at Trouble Funk’s electrifying performance and the band’s enduring place in DC music history.
With another eclectic afternoon of live music in the books, we’re already looking forward to seeing what Snallygaster has in store for 2027.
Visit Snallygaster online for more on the next festival!
Here are some photos of Keep performing live at Snallygaster 2026. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.
