Punk Means Cuddle: Insubordination Fest 2009

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THE NAME SHOUTS anarchy, but Insubordination Fest is more like a punk-rock cuddle. The brainchild of the Insubordination Records label in Columbia, Md., the two-day event (plus a jam-packed pre-show concert the day before) is a first-class showcase for the thriving pop-punk underground.

"And there's a lot of great melodic hardcore bands playing, too," said label and festival co-founder Christopher Thacker. "We just try to find bands that write catchy, hook-driven songs."

That includes everything from goofy '80s punkers Dead Milkmen to the 15-year-old pop-punk group Dillinger Four as headliners, along with Toys That Kill, Pansy Division, Teen Idols, Squirtgun, Copyrights and about 50 more bands including the recently reformed Boris the Sprinkler and Abducted. Also on the bill are Insubordination Records bands Be My Doppelganger, Le Volume Etait au Maximum, The Adorkables, Beatnik Termites and The Cretins.

"We put bands on that we hope enough people in the area would want to see, but trying to draw in mainstream interest isn't really your goal," Thacker said. "We would like to bring more people in, but it really depends on the bands. We're huge dead Milkmen fans, and they have a broad audience, and a broad audience of people over 30. I'd like to see them help us bring in more people who might have missed out on these great [younger] bands. Some of them are pretty special; they may not have tons and tons of fans, but the fans they do have are absolutely die-hard."

What Thacker is saying can be summed up by an old Dismemberment Plan lyric: "You are invited for all time."

"We started doing the festival on the 10th anniversary of our label, which we've been running since 1996," Thacker said. "It's fun bringing all these bands together, and everybody knows each other in some way. It really is like a convention. Everybody works with each other ... it's really neat to watch people who show up and interact. What better way to have a show? That's the point of music — to bring people together."

» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore; Insubordination Fest, Fri. & Sat., June 26 & 27, $25 (one day), $50 (both days), starts 4 p.m. Fri. and 1 p.m. Sat.; 410-783-7888.

» Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St., Baltimore; Insubordination Fest Pre-Show, Thu., June 25, $12, & 5 p.m.; 410-662-0069

Official Fest Schedule

Pre-Show Thursday, June 25, 2009 (at Ottobar)
Main Stage - Doors 5:00 - 6:00
Firecrackers 6:00 - 6:20
Rational Anthem 6:35 - 6:55
CBGaV 7:10 - 7:30
Deep Sleep 7:45 - 8:05
Sick Sick Birds 8:20 - 8:40
Loblaws 8:55 - 9:15
Challanged 9:30 - 9:50
Max Levine Ensamble 10:05 -10:25
Delay 10:25 - 10:45
John Walsh 11:00 - 11:20
Festipals 11:35 - 11:55
Short Attention 12:10 - 12:30
Teenage Bottlerocket 12:45 - Close

Friday, June 26, 2009 (at Sonar)
Main Stage
AV Club 5:00 - 5:20
House Boat 5:35 - 5:55
Karmellas Game 6:10 - 6:30
Unlovables 6:45 - 7:05
Le Volume 7:20 - 7:50
Underground Railroad 8:05 - 8:35
Copyrights 8:50 - 9:20
Pansy Division 9:35 - 10:05
SUCIDIE 10:20 - 10:28
Steinways 10:30 - 11:00
Boris The Sprinkler 11:15 - 12:00
Dead Milkmen 12:15 - Close

Second Stage (at Sonar)
Shuttlecocks 4:45 - 5:05
Jetty Boys 5:20 - 5:40
Banner Pilot 5:55 - 6:15
Guts 6:30 - 6:50
Secretions 7:05 - 7:35
Dopamines 7:50 - 8:20
Backseat Virgins 8:35 - 9:05
Abducted 9:20 - 9:50
20 Belows 10:05 - 10:45
Be My Doppelganger 11:00 - 11:30

Talking Head Stage (at Sonar)
Serlington 7:40 - 8:10
Sheckies 8:30 - 9:00
Prozacs 9:10 - 9:40
Fiendz 9:50 - 10:20
Metzingers 10:40 - 11:10

Saturday, June 27, 2009 (at Sonar)
Main Stage - Doors 1:00 - 2:00
Kung Fu Monkeys 2:00 - 2:20
Hextalls 2:35 - 2:55
Gateway District 3:10 - 3:30
Lemuria 3:45 - 4:05
Dear Landlord 4:20 - 4:40
Apers 4:55 - 5:25
Cretins 5:40 - 6:05
Spodie 6:20 - 6:45
Egghead 7:00 - 7:35
Beatnik Termites 7:50 - 8:20
Methadones 8:35 - 9:05
Toys That Kill 9:20 - 9:50
Kepi Ghoulie 10:05 - 10:35
Squirtgun 10:50 - 11:25
Teen Idols 11:40 - 12:25
Dillinger Four 12:40 - Close

Second Stage (at Sonar)
Prozacs 1:45 - 2:05
Proteens 2:20 - 2:40
Nancy 2:55 - 3:15
Marshmallows 3:30 - 3:50
Full Of Fancy 4:05 - 4:25
Wimpy 4:40 - 5:10
Repellents 5:25 - 5:50
Adorkables 6:05 - 6:30
Arrivals 6:45 - 7:15
Parasites 7:30 - 8:05
Dead Mechanical 8:20 - 8:50
Leftovers 9:05 - 9:35
Psyched To Die 9:50 - 10:25
Sidekicks 10:40 - 11:10

Wallride Records Stage (at Sonar)
Animal Poison 1:30 - 1:50
In the Hollows 2:10 - 2:30
Active Sac 2:50 - 3:10
Clint Maul 3:30 - 4:00
Head Home 4:20 - 4:50
Sleepwall 5:10 - 5:40
the Swims 6:00 - 6:30
Tenement 6:50 - 7:20
Ringers 7:40 - 8:10
Cloak/Dagger 8:30 - 9:00
Pleasure Kills 9:10 - 9:40
One Short Fall 9:50 - 10:20