Knocked Loose brought an incredibly heavy set to the Masquerade as part of the Shaky Knees late night showcase. The band took the stage in Heaven and quickly turned The Masquerade into a single wall-to-wall, unbroken mosh pit. Playing new and old songs, it’s the kind of set that reminds you why Knocked Loose has become the band other hardcore acts get measured against: pure, sustained violence in the best possible sense, played with a precision that keeps a room that chaotic from ever feeling out of control.
Formed in Oldham County, Kentucky in 2013, Knocked Loose — led by vocalist Bryan Garris and guitarist Isaac Hale — has spent the last decade pulling hardcore and metalcore together in the same room and making it look easy. Signed to Pure Noise Records, the band broke into the mainstream with 2024’s You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, their heaviest and most melodically ambitious record yet, which landed at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 and earned the band its first Grammy nomination for “Suffocate” (feat. Poppy) in the Best Metal Performance category. They followed it up in February 2026 with “Hive Mind” featuring Denzel Curry, further proof that a band this brutal can still cross genre lines without losing an ounce of intensity, something that Saturday night’s crowd made very clear.
