PREVIEW: Substance Festival Comes to LA with Headliners The Jesus and the Mary Chain + Boy Harsher

Oct 12

☆ Aleah Antonio ☆

The dark wave, post-punk music festival Substance comes to downtown Los Angeles for its third year next weekend, October 21-22. Returning to the historic Los Angeles Theater, dark rock pioneers The Jesus and Mary Chain are set to headline Friday night, joined by atmospheric pop band The Chameleons. Miss Kittin & The Hacker will headline Saturday night alongside electronic trailblazer duo Boy Harsher.

Hosted by Restless Presents, Substance is due as an “immersive experience… a celebration of dark rock, high-force industrial, percolating electronics and strident post-punk” according to press release. The festival will feature some of the most prominent voices in the modern goth scene including Mareux, Sextile, French Police, alongside longtime dark wave icons like Schwefelgelb and Cabaret Voltaire. Restless Presents will host the official Substance Pre-Party on Thursday, October 21 at Rubycon Records in Hollywood with a secret lineup.

Doors to the festival open at 5 p.m. on both days, with DJs performing as late as 2 a.m. This is Substance’s third year returning to the Los Angeles Theater, an ornate, atmospheric theater built in the 1920s, complete with three stages and a full bar. Past performers of the festival include Gary Numan, John Maus, Ceremony, Chelsea Wolfe, and King Woman.

Second-tier passes to Substance are on sale now, one day tickets starting at $120 and weekend passes starting at $215. Substance partners with Afterpay this year, offering a payment plan for all ticket types. Set times are out now.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫