The Oakland, CA punk festival Mosswood Meltdown returns on July 18 and 19, 2026. But, if festival goers show up one day earlier for the Pre-Party — hosted by director John Waters — then they'll be in for a star-studded lineup. Pavement, the slacker rock pioneers, will headline the July 17 showcase, performing alongside Wednesday and The Vivian Girls.

"Some call it ‘The Warped Woodstock’ or ‘An Asshole-free Altamont’ while others holler ‘Coachella, Go-To Hella’," said Waters in his official announcement. "We’re Mosswood Meltdown and we’re going to lose our musical marbles again this year."

The Pavement headline may come as a surprise. In October 2024, the band played a one-off show at Sony Hall in New York, NY, coinciding with the premiere of their semi-documentary Pavements. There, they announced that it'd be their final show together, with singer Stephen Malkmus ending their long, almost-every-song-in-chronological-order set by saying, "That's the end of our career!" per Slate.

Scott Kannberg hinted at a future return, according to Slate, following up his bandmate's comment with, "If you keep cheering, we’ll come back and play some more." The band has not played a gig since then.

Tickets for the Mosswood Meltdown Pre-Party will be sold separately from the actual festival's. The lineup for the July 18 and 19 dates will be announced in the coming weeks, per the festival via press release. The pre-party tickets are on sale now and can be purchased on the official website.