March 4-9, 2025

The annual indie music spree returns to the Lower East Side. Described by organizers as a “five-day fest.” Listed by organizers as running from March 4-9. Seems like six days, bro. Whatever.

You’ll love the energy at this affair, which operates as a decentralized buffet of small club gigs, attracting hordes of local talent, plus the international crowd on their way to SXSW later in the month. Combine the buzz seeking thrill of CMJ with the homespun vibe of Northside Fest back in the day, and you’ve got the New Colossus Fest.

Hump Day News provided boots-on-the-ground coverage in 2024. And we named it one of our Top Fests last year. Will we have boots in 2025? Is there any ground left, or are we all spinning infinitely in the void…

As of 2/11, the fest schedule is still not posted at their website. In the meantime…

A spotlight on a few New England artists at The New Colossus Fest.

The four-piece from Somerville Otis Shanty wheels & deals in medium tempo dream pop that rarely turns down an opportunity to hang a nice rock n roll twang on the listener. The band is absolutely, positively, 100% certain that their music is for fans of Real Estate, Courtney Barnett, Men I Trust, Kurt Vile. I can hear it. I can hear all sorts of things. I can hear their recent LP Up On The Hill (Relief Map Records) pushing into previously unexplored emotional extremes. There’s even a song called “Outrage.” Go hear them be outraged live at Baker Falls. Extra points for repping Somerville, instead of claiming they’re from “Boston.”

Playing Baker Falls (Wednesday, 3/5, 9:15 PM)

If you’re frustrated by the lack of medieval folk influence on contemporary indie rock, the Croaks are your band. They pack harps, flutes, dulcimers, handbells, and tambourines into their full-length album Croakus Pokus, along with the usual guitar, bass, and drums. With merch like a “Dreams of Croakus” smoke blend for sale at their website, the band knows how to have a laugh. But don’t sleep on the music, which keeps finding new ways to make strange time signatures and odd artistic choices sound inevitable and enjoyable as pop.

Playing Nublu Classic (Thursday, 3/6, 7:00 PM)

Winkler brought home a brand new baby last December, Bazooka Baby. Their latest album shimmers and shakes with vintage rock n roll sounds, fed through bedroom psych pop production. This is the kind of band that fills a small stage like a symphony. Five musicians, and they all seem to play multiple instruments, so expect a broad sonic palette, swelling vocal harmonies, and a little bit of magical mystery.

Playing two shows at Pianos (Friday, 3/7, 9:15 PM and Saturday, 3/9, 5:45 PM)

Wait, is the music collective Constant Smiles from Queens now? Maybe they were always from Queens, but for sure the mainstay of the collective, Ben Jones, grew up on Martha’s Vineyard and worked at Aboveground Records (since closed) in Edgartown. Digging through the crates all those hours nurtured a love for music that propelled him through the creation of more than a dozen albums before a name brand indie label like Sacred Bones realized what a cool, electro, New Wave-tinged popper was waiting to be signed and jumped on it. Jones’ compositions have that lovely “broken in” feeling that belongs to music whose author has lived and died a thousand lives in the making of it.

Playing Berlin (Friday, 3/7, 10:00 PM)

The New Colossus Fest, to its detriment, is weak on hip hop. So the placement of Worcester’s Mister Motivation on the Friday night bill at Pianos is a good thing. His brand of clean, Christian rap might be a hard sell to an indie music crowd looking to get its party started at the start of the weekend. But the man behind the moniker, Shaun Murphy, could surprise you. I fell deep into the motivational speaker rabbit hole when I searched for him online, held spellbound by his promise to unlock potential, inspire the next generation, and build confidence. If he can accomplish any one of those feats in a live set, the guy is a legend.

Playing Pianos (Friday, 3/7, 11:30 PM)

Shout outs as well to Balaclava (who made the trip to Fuzzstival in 2024), Outer Shapes (who we caught at New Colossus last year), and Rosier, a Canadian band whose song “other forms” we wrote up in Tracks. All of them and more playing at the 2025 New Colossus Fest.