Hometown Throwdown is an annual music festival held in Greater Boston. It is hosted by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The festival features local Boston-area acts, focusing on ska, punk and hardcore bands. The festival is traditionally held in December, usually the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve at clubs around Boston. The first Throwdown was held in from July 27–31, 1994 at The Middle East in Cambridge. Starting in 1995, the festival moved to December, where it has remained ever since. It ran annually until 2002, when the Bosstones went on hiatus. Both the band, and their festival, returned to active status in 2007, and it has been held annually ever since, with the most recent Throwdown, the 22nd, being held December 27–29, 2019 at the House of Blues in Boston.
Festivals have been held annually from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2007-present. The most recent was in 2019.[1][2]
| # | dates | location | acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 27–31, 1994 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Black Train Jack Still Home Love Huskies The Goats Godpocket Mung Steady Earnest The Belle Isles |
| 2 | December 13–17, 1995 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Big Lick Deniros Buzzkill Beezwax Doc Hopper The Hornets Mung |
| 3 | December 11–15, 1996 | T.T. the Bear's Place The Rathskeller Mama Kin's (now House of Blues) The Middle East Paradise Rock Club |
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Agents Toboggan The Outlets Betty Goo The Racketeers |
| 4 | December 10–14, 1997 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Allstonians The Mission 120 Clowns for Progress 9 Lives The Smooths Pressure Cooker Johnny Too Bad and the Strikeouts Spinecracker |
| 5 | December 9–13, 1998 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Spitvalves The Enkindels Mung Boxer Clowns for Progress Ann Beretta The Smooths |
| 6 | December 8–12, 1999 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Herself The Raging Teens The Radiation Kings Big Bad Bollocks Drexel |
| 7 | December 6–10, 2000 | Axis (now House of Blues) | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Venus 3 Heidi The Interpreters Kings Of Nuthin Sinners And Saints |
| 8 | December 12–16, 2001 | Axis (now House of Blues) | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Madcap Jake Brennan & The Confidence Men The Worried 5 Bucks! |
| 9 | December 11–15, 2002 | Axis (now House of Blues) | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Favorite Atomic Hero The Kenmores Suspect Device River City Rebels |
| 10 | December 26–31, 2007 | The Middle East Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel |
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Gaslight Anthem Bouncing Souls Darkbuster Westbound Train Street Dogs (two nights) Gimme Danger Shods Loved Ones Big D and the Kids Table Pietasters Victims Of Circumstance Zox |
| 11 | December 26–29, 2008 | The Middle East | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Westbound Train Roll The Tanks Big Bad Bollocks Have Nots Slapshot The Attack Big D and the Kids Table Vagiant Murder Mile Tip The Van Far From Finished Cobramatics The Agents |
| 12 | December 26–29, 2009 | House of Blues
The Middle East |
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Pilfers Razors In The Night Darkbuster Void Union Bim Skala Bim Pietasters Far From Finished Side Effects |
| 13 | December 26–28, 2010 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
F.U.s Flatliners Less Than Jake DYS |
| 14 | December 28–30, 2011 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
H2O Ducky Boys Slackers Have Nots Smoking Popes Bomb The Music Industry |
| 15 | December 29–31, 2012 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Soul Radics Dogmatics Bouncing Souls Moufy Amazing Royal Crowns Big D and The Kids Table The Convictions |
| 16 | December 27–29, 2013 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones Mephiskapheles Continental Street Dogs with Rick Barton Youth Brigade (band) Sam Black Church Rebuilder |
| 17 | December 26–28, 2014 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones Fishbone Big D and the Kids Table The Interrupters The Warning Shots Andrew W.K. Lost City Angels |
| 18 | December 26–28, 2015 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Upper Crust (band) The Neighborhoods The Queers The Real Kids Stranglehold The Outlets |
| 19 | December 28–30, 2016 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Skatalites The Planet Smashers The Porkers Peelander-Z The Skints Los Kung-Fu Monkeys |
| 20 | December 28–30, 2017 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones Piebald (band) The Doped Up Dollies Vic Ruggiero Rude Bones The Pietasters Kicked in the Head |
| 21 | December 28–30, 2018 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Aggrolites Stray Bullets Bedouin Soundclash R.W.W. (Reggae Workers of the World) Color Killer |
| 22[3] | December 27–29, 2019 | House of Blues | Mighty Mighty Bosstones Art Thieves Walker Raiders Suicide Machines Rebuilder Big D and the Kids Table |