
Set It Off Festival to bring all-ages metal shows to Chelsea’s Live this weekend
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Baton Rouge’s first all-ages hardcore and metal rock festival is coming back for a second year, this Saturday, June 14, at Chelsea’s Live.
Featuring 13 local and touring bands, Set It Off Festival promises a night of rock music for anyone from ages 1 to 100, says Garrett Saia, the event’s founder.
Saia, 36, has been booking shows since he was 17. He’s also behind popular music events like Emo Night at Chelsea’s Live and says he had been looking to host an all-ages hardcore metal festival for years. Last year, his idea came to fruition at Mid City Ballroom.
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“It was just something that was long overdue,” he says. “That music, to me, has a lot of energy, and I don’t think it can be duplicated or replicated.”
The all-day festival features Louisiana bands like Swampgrave, Decoy and Christworm, along with Chicago-based Torture, Alabama-based Delta Hate and others.
“The touring bands, they all randomly had off days on that same day, so they kind of just jumped on the festival and made the lineup what it is,” says Saia, who grew the lineup from about 10 bands in 2024.

The festival is named after Baton Rouge rapper Boosie Badazz’s song “Set It Off” to give it a local feel and a metal connection, according to Saia.
“I was like, ‘Man, I need something that sounds cool and says Baton Rouge,’ and everyone likes Boosie,” Saia says. “There are also a few hardcore bands that have songs called ‘Set It Off,’ so you can go either way.”
Keeping things local, the fliers for the festival were drawn by Trading Post Tattoo artist Boo Driskill. Food vendors Tasty Creations and Boyo’s Black Magic Pizzas will also be on-site.

Saia says the idea for an all-ages concert came from his younger years, when he often went to all-ages concerts at venues like The Darkroom and even Here Today Gone Tomorrow Thrift Store. He remembers seeing touring bands like A Day to Remember at The Darkroom. But over time, those venues closed, and much of the younger crowd went without an all-ages venue in Baton Rouge.
He says he believes that getting younger people into metal and hardcore concerts will help keep concerts alive.
“The way I think about it is, if the younger crowd starts going to shows, they have a venue and stuff to go to, they’ll keep continuing going to shows when they’re older,” Saia says. “So, it kind of builds a scene.”
Set It Off Festival will run from 2:30 p.m. to around midnight. Doors open at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 online or $25 at the door. A full lineup can be found here. Chelsea’s Live is at 1010 Nicholson Drive.
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