Tied Down 2025 Recap

On May 31st and June 1st, 2025 Tied Down Detroit once again took over the historic Russell Industrial Center for another weekend of incredible hardcore in the Motor City. Once again, not only did the fest feature an incredible lineup of bands, including American Nightmare, Foundation, Turnstile, and Speed, just to name a few, but also featured two incredible pre shows including a live episode of Hardlore Podcast and sets by Mongrel, Cosmic Joke, Merauder, Cold As Life, and more.

Since its inception in 2022, Tied Down has quickly earned a reputation for being one of the year’s most highly anticipated events, and 2025 marked my first trip to the fest I had been watching every year by proxy in highlight reels online and couldn’t wait to see for myself. From the beautiful historic venue to how smoothly the fest ran to the incredible food options and how friendly every single person I encountered was, Tied Down exceeded my expectations in every regard. Add to this the incredible lineup of bands, a true sense of community, and the opportunity to see friends and family from around the world, and the weekend couldn’t have been better.

There were truly too many highlights to recount them all, but a few that stand out include seeing Detroit hardcore legend John Brannon join American Nightmare on stage for “Ready To Fight,” Speed and Whispers performing together, the true spirit of hardcore and friendship on full display, seeing Never Ending Game put on an incredible set on home territory, and Turnstile closing the fest with a no holds barred, no barricade set that truly epitomized the electrifying energy of the entire, incredible weekend.

From beginning to end, Tied Down got it right, bringing the hardcore community together for a weekend in Detroit that somehow made a massive fest feel as warm and welcoming as a local show where everybody knows your name. 2025 may have been my first trip to Tied Down, but it definitely won’t be my last. Next year I hope to see you there. <3

Photos by: Danielle Dombrowski – https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielledombrowski – IG: @danielledombrowskiphotography