Culture & Community | Music | Arts & Culture | Toad's Place
Adrian Huq Photos.
Just off York Street, the floor was shaking. A mosh pit had opened in the center of the standing room, and adults handed over their drinks to join in the lively tussle. Heads bobbed; bodies rocked; arms waved through the air. Punk, it would seem, was very much alive and well—and still evolving before New Haven’s eyes and ears.
That sound enveloped Toad's Place last Wednesday, as the punk rock band The Linda Lindas took over the stage for a crowd of 150 people. Hailing from Los Angeles, California, The group (Lindas, for short) is a Generation Z-led group in the Riot grrrl sub-genre. (In the past month, New Haven also saw Riot grrrl pioneers, members of Bikini Kill, perform at College Street Music Hall.)
The group comprises Eloise Wong, Bela Salazar, sisters Lucia and Mila de la Garza, whose ages range from 16 to 22. The band formed in 2018, and went viral in May 2021 following a video uploaded of its performance at a TEENtastic Tuesdays event at the Los Angeles Public Library, where members played their original song, "Racist, Sexist Boy.”
The group wrote the song following an anti-Chinese comment one of the girls received from a peer. The next month, members made their late night television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Earlier this year, the group released its third studio album, Gotta Get Out, and announced an accompanying tour three days later, including one Connecticut stop. The New Haven show’s openers included New Haven-based band Cinema Stare, alongside Miami-based band Deux Visages.
Performing first was Cinema Stare, a pop-punk band formed in 2022 and signed to Static Era Records, an independent record label with a brick-and-mortar store in downtown Milford. The band performed their newest EP, Stink, released in August of this year.
The band’s singer and guitar player, Quinn, took a minute in between songs to condemn the activities and presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Connecticut and beyond, to cheers from the crowd.
Quinn, who declined to provide a last name, manages the band. Over text, they said it felt “monumental” to perform at Toad’s Place and “to be supporting a band who I think really deserves all their flowers.”
“I’m so inspired by [the Lindas’] kindness and artistry,” Quinn said.
Next came Deux Visages. Heads banged to the searing riffs of guitar, including that of their vocalist, Daphney Hanono, with her voluminous platinum blonde hair.
Multiple members of the Lindas joined in the crowd during the opening acts, including bassist and vocalist Wong, who actively moshed to the music sporting a Cinema Stare t-shirt.
Attendees included children that look up to the Lindas as role models alongside their parents, young adults familiar with the Lindas, older fans of the genre, and local fans of Cinema Stare.
One concert attendee, Melody De Blasio, praised the Lindas as a crucial, diverse addition to the new wave of punk music.
“I think that the most important things happening in punk music right now are happening from young, international scenes, and specifically queer people, people of color, and women,” De Blasio said. “Toad’s Place has also done a really great job this year particularly in highlighting those types of artists, and bringing in incredible crowds that push punk music forward.”
Another attendee, Nicole B., was introduced to the Lindas when she saw them perform in September 2025 as part of lineup of the CBGB Fest in Brooklyn, a music festival that “celebrates New York City’s gritty, sticker-covered past through the lens of the modern punk era, with a lineup bridging punk’s origins to its future torchbearers.”
Nicole B.
On the day of that performance, she remembered, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum titled "Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence," directed at entities and individuals ostensibly engaged in organized campaigns rooted in anti-fascism.
At the time, the punk show felt like a fitting response to the political turmoil of the day. So when she saw that the group was coming to Connecticut on tour, she knew she wanted to attend, especially because of their live performance sound. “I love how they sound recorded, but the energy they bring live is especially unmatched.”
And indeed, the band didn’t shy away from politics during its set (it never has, so why start now?). Between songs, band members invited their listeners to text a code on their phones to support the National Immigration Law Center for a chance to win a signed setlist from the band.
One dollar from each ticket sale also went towards PLUS1, a nonprofit that will regrant the funds to “initiatives that support healthier people, stronger communities and a more sustainable planet.”
Though the venue was not packed to capacity, spirits were high and welcoming. De Blasio emphasized the importance of supporting local music and venues.
“Live music in New Haven is really important. It’s a part of our identity … It’s really important that people have a third space to go to, especially during the weeknights, to form community with each other and to have a really great night out.”
“Midsize and small venues are really important to the community here … places like Toad’s Place and College Street [Music Hall] keep relevant acts coming here in between New York and Boston, and they keep us alive,” De Blasio said.
“I grew up around live music. I love it so much. I want there to continue to be a live music scene here in New Haven until the day that I die,” De Blasio said.