Entertainment

Turnstile Draws Over 60,000 to Free Washington Monument Benefit Show

Kiran MachadoPublished 3m ago2 min readBased on 4 sources
Turnstile Draws Over 60,000 to Free Washington Monument Benefit Show
Photo by A J. on Unsplash

Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile played a free benefit concert near the Washington Monument on Saturday, October 24, and drew more than 60,000 fans. Billboard reported that the show raised more than $260,000 in humanitarian relief for people affected by conflict in Palestine, Sudan and Lebanon.

Hardcore is a fast, heavy style of punk rock. Turnstile comes from the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area, and the band has built a large following over the past decade. Billboard described the Mall show as the biggest hardcore headlining show ever, meaning the largest one in which a hardcore band was the top act.

The band's 2025 album, Never Enough, gave Turnstile its first top 10 on the Billboard 200, the US chart that ranks albums by sales and streaming. Turnstile has also won two Grammy Awards, for best metal performance and best rock album. It became the first hardcore band in 45 years to play Saturday Night Live, according to Billboard.

The benefit was held on the National Mall, the open green space that runs past the Washington Monument. The National Park Service issued a formal notice, called a Record of Determination, that temporarily restricted access to D.C.-area parks for the event. The closures stayed in place on October 24 and October 25, 2026. The show was hosted with Human Concern International, a humanitarian aid group.

The album campaign began earlier with a free record release show at Wyman Park in Baltimore. A record release show is a concert held to launch a new album.

Turnstile is managed by James Vitalo, founder of Gold Theory Artists. His other clients include Knocked Loose, Boy Harsher, Deafheaven and Show Me The Body. Billboard named Vitalo its Executive of the Week for the momentum around the Washington Monument show.

For the crowd on the Mall, the show was free to attend. For the causes it supported, the fundraising total now stands at more than $260,000, a figure that will reach aid groups working in the regions named at the show.

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