Last year, the great punk band Ekko Astral founded the DIY trans-rights music festival known as Liberation Weekend and held the first installment in their Washington, DC hometown. The second Liberation Weekend goes down 4/24-26 at the Black Cat, a local institution, and at Transmission, a new venue on the site of the former Rock N Roll Hotel. Ekko Astral, a 2024 Stereogum Band To Watch with a new album in the works, will headline one of the nights alongside "friends." The Liberation Festival shows at the Black Cat have extremely cool lineups that go way beyond the headliners. Here's what Ekko Astral leader Jael Holzman says in a press release:We cannot rely on institutions to save us.