Photos: Diana Cordero

SAN FRANCISCO — The Frights came out swinging from the get-go and refused to slow down for the entirety of the San Diego surf-punk quartet’s Noise Pop set at The Chapel Saturday.

The band kicked off its set with “You’re Going to Hate This,” setting the tone for what turned into its own memorable festival of youthful excitement. The majority of their set consisted of a usual collection of songs, but The Frights did take an occasional detour, such as an extended version of the intro to “Crust Bucket” that had hundreds of fans holding their lighters to the ceiling. They also threw in some unexpected, seemingly random covers. They used the intro to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” to transition into their own song “Cold.”

The band even finished the last song of their set with covers of Sublime’s “Santeria” and Smash Mouth’s “All-Star.” Onstage, The Frights were unapologetically candid and that attitude was felt in their performance. 

The evening’s supporting acts were able to build up an appropriate amount of angst. Los Angeles quartet The Regrettes, the second of four on the bill, were probably the least experienced but showed great poise in the face of the, large sold-out crowd. As the band played fan favorites like “Hot” and “A Living Human Girl,” a sea of swaying, moshing bodies was too remarkable to ignore. Crowd surfers likely to be twice as old as the teens on stage stayed up on people’s shoulders minutes at a time, which speaks more to the strength of non-stop songs.

Vocalist-guitarist Lydia Night’s deft, brazen stage presence was absolutely electrifying, and lifted the mood further. Night put on display for all to see what a true punk performance should be; constantly moving, walking into the sea of moshers, mic in hand, without missing a word, and spraying water into the crowd from her mouth.

Fellow supporting act The Garden continued to compliment the fast and aggressive energy that The Regrettes built. From the outset, twins Fletcher and Wyatt Shears came in bouncing off the walls and waving a giant “Vada Vada” flag. They used electronic drum beats to create their chaotic symphony.

To describe the duo as “energetic” would be a complete understatement. The two looked absolutely insane as they acrobatically threw their bodies across the stage. At one point, Fletcher even front-flipped into the aforementioned packed crowd.

Follow reporter Hector Aguilar at Twitter.com/HectorJ_Aguilar.