Music for the Melting Pot at Sunset Junction

The 22nd annual two-day Sunset Junction street fair opened Saturday with its usual fascinating intersection of the cultures and subcultures inhabiting Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Echo Park.

Live music on three stages along Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake not only provided an appropriately diverse soundtrack but also made for a major summer happening as an overflowing crowd gathered for the night-closing set from New York rockers Sonic Youth.

Booked by the folks behind area nightclubs Spaceland and the Echo, the 30 local and national acts included former Supremes singer Mary Wilson, popular DJ Juan Atkins, space-rockers the Warlocks, blues-rocker Gregg Young and the engaging East L.A. Sabor Factory, a confident young band whose rapped and sung tales of inner-city life recalled Ozomatli and the spirit, if not the sound, of Los Lobos.

Latino families, miniskirted drag queens, Hula-Hoop-toting punks, face-tattooed modern primitives, sunlight-braving goths and thousands of colorful characters genially toured the trinket and clothing vendors, ethnic food, and carnival rides and games.

Signs of the gentrification that many longtime residents revile were possibly evident in booths hawking cabinet veneers, electric vehicles and fancy furniture, but you could still replace that worn-out bondage harness, pick up some gorgeous goddess-wear or get a free mohawk.

Two hours before Sonic Youth’s scheduled start time, fans pressed into one stage area for a thunderous hourlong set by newly revitalized grunge icons Mudhoney. The Seattle band mixed old favorites with a heaping portion of its just-released album, “Since We’ve Become Translucent.”

Grunge may be practically ready for the dreaded “revival” phase, but such numbers as “Our Time Is Now” and a cover of Hawkwind’s “Urban Guerrilla” proved Mudhoney still has its finger on the pulse of the disaffected.

By the time Sonic Youth started playing the alternately catchy rockers and meandering art tunes, the audience had swelled so much that the police weren’t letting anyone else into the festival area. No matter. Hundreds clustered outside, behind the stage and on the balcony and rooftop of an adjacent mini-mall to listen as the flashing stage lights and singer Thurston Moore’s screams echoed the strobe effects and delighted howls coming from the midway rides. A midsummer night’s dream gig, indeed.