Week of Riot Fest
I have ever only been to one music festival my entire life. So I was very excited to see what experiencing a punk festival would be like. Lollapalooza is one thing, but a festival where they're are no dub stepers and no drug alley, (Perry's), is completely new to me. Now it was time to throw down in mosh pits, headbang, and meet some of the craziest punk fans in the mid west.
Friday September 13th
The Flatliners 4:00
We took off from my friends house extra early because we didn't know how the parking situation would be like. It was a lot simpler than we expected and after exploring the park for a bit, we ended up at the first band of the day. A little punk band called The Flatliners. I hadn't heard this band before so I didn't know what to expect, but this band was ready to impress. First of the day should have been intimidating, but the band took it as a challenge. They only had 45 minutes but they used it wisely firing off punk rock anthem after punk rock anthem. It was over in the blink of an eye and on to the next thing.
Hatebreed 5:00
I didn't actually know any Hatebreed songs going into this performance, but looking back that hardly mattered. They were a much heavier band that The Flatliners, and that showed seconds into their show. They only actually played nine songs in their 45 minute set including one cover, but if you saw the audience after the show it seemed like a marathon. The opened with, "To The Threshold" and within seconds a circle pit opened up and the crowd was nuts. The front man payed his his respects to Jeff Hanneman of Slayer who passed away earlier this year, by playing, "Ghosts of War" which was the best tribute they could have asked for. The highest point in the show was when they they played, "Destroy Everything". It was a full out riot moment that amped me up for the rest of the day.
Bad Religion 6:45
Then it was time for the band that made paying for an extra day all worth while. We had originally intended to go just Saturday and Sunday, but when plans changed my excitement about getting to see this band before they retired could not be contained. They had said on their site that a farewell tour announcement would not be made, they would just stop touring. After True North they had noting left to prove, but that didn't stop them from putting on the best show of the weekend. Punk rock isn't dead it just goes to bed earlier. There is no more fitting statement for this show. From the starting chords of, "Past is Dead" it became clear that age was no object. They sounded amazing just like they always have on album, the pits didn't stop till the band left the stage. In their 20 song career spanning set. I danced till I couldn't dance anymore, threw myself into every single mosh pit, and had the absolute time of my life.
GWAR 7:30
By the time we made it over to Gwar's set they were about 15 minutes in, or on a more vulgar note. Right about the time they crucified Jesus. That's right you heard me correctly. Gwar has one of the most insane and vulgar live shows you will ever get to see. They use full costumes, fake blood and other body fluids, and they sacrifice celebrities on stage. This is to say the least not a show for kids. While in attendance at Gwar I was people get covered in fake blood, semen, saw Jesus crucified, monsters decapitated, and zombie Jesus killed again. I didn't know any of the music before hand, but it was a hell of a show. Next time they come to town I will definitely be there.
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts 8:30
Joan Jett is an absolute legend in the rock and roll world. One of two women rock singers to reach this level of rock fame, who is still actively touring. Just her and Pat Benatar. Everyone knows at least a couple songs by Joan Jett and that was reason enough for the entire park including myself to go see her. We just sat back listened to her, because there was no way to get any closer than that, and while trying to get closer we got separated. They opened up their set with, "TMI". I was expecting her to open with, "Bad Reputation". So then I played the waiting game to hear the hits, and when it happened it became a giant crowd singalong.
Danzig 9:30
Danzig almost didn't end up on the line up for riot fest. They were supposed to play at the Aragon Ballroom two months ago and they had to cancel when it flooded. So they were added opposite Fall Out Boy, thank god. This was part of Danzig's 25th anniversary tour. The best part of this tour was that he was bringing the original Misfits guitarist Doyle to play Misfits songs. The show started with music off of Danzig 1 2 and 3. Danzig still kills it, his vocals still sound like he is in his prime. One of the best parts from the first half of his set came when he covered, "Am I Evil". He absolutely killed that song. There were a few mosh pits during the Danzig part of the show, but most of the real moshers were just anxiously waiting for the real deal, the Doyle and Misfits part of the show.
When he said I would like to welcome an old friend to the stage, the crowd went nuts. Out came Doyle a beast of a man. He plays a guitar shaped like an axe, wears make up made for a killer, stomps around the stage the entire show, and is ripped as hell. They didn't waste any time diving right into The Misfits, "Death Comes Ripping", and the pits exploded. I found myself right smack dab in the middle of it flailing like a kid during a temper tantrum, and it was great. The entirety of the Misfits section of the show only lasted nine songs, but it didn't matter they played all hits and in pit time it lasted forever. During Danzig's big song, "Mother" I took a big hit to the shoulder and had to step back to not further hurt myself. The band left the stage following that song and we thought it was over. Just as we were walking away Danzig came back out and said, "We gotta make this quick we are are officially out of time, if they pull the plug just sing the rest of the song." Diving into the final song, "Die, Die My Darling." Which is my favorite Misfits song, capping a great end to a the first day of riot fest.
Saturday September 14th
When we started out for day two of riot fest it became very clear that as a Kuma's virgin it was very necessary that I start the day off right. Kuma's may be the best burger restaurant place ever! It is a metal themed burger place and all of the food is named after classic metal bands. The picture above is of the Slayer burger my friend David destroyed. He ate this so fast that he actually gained an audience. I was a great day to start the day.
Guided By Voices 4:45
After a long process of parking and finally making it into the park we had unfortunately missed all of Dinosaur Jr.'s set. So it was off to Pennywise, or so we thought. Some confusion and lack of communication got us separated and we didn't end up getting around to see music until Guided By Voices. I think that this was a classic case of good band wrong venue. Guided by Voices have one of the biggest kult followings of any band and have put out an astonishing 4 albums since their reunion. However they are used to playing for their fans, not a crowd full of punk rockers who just want to mosh. The music sounded great, but the crowd couldn't quite get behind the band. The energy in the audience just fell flat which made it very dull.
Flag 5:45
Then it was time to really start day two for real. The day may have started earlier but nothing mattered until FLAG. Before the show started the band made sure to say one thing, "We are not Black Flag, we are former members of that band and we are FLAG." With that said the show roared into full blast. They started out their 24 song set, "Revenge". After that it was all a blur of dust, sweat, and angst. This mosh pit was like nothing I had ever seen before. The ground was so dry and the wind was so strong that it actually turned into a dust bowl. In that dust bowl mosh pit, I ate at least a pound of dust. I also ran into Tom Delonge of Blink-182, literally ran into him in the pit. The main singer Keith Morris traded off with Dez through some of the show but it didn't matter. They played through most of damaged and a lot more. It was one of the best shows of the weekend.
Rancid 7:45
Next up was Blondie, but we weren't interested in seeing her too much so we used that time to go get some food. We cam back in time to see some old school punk via Rancid. The real headliner of Saturday. Rancid was celebrating it's 20 year anniversary. Rancid is a band that is just impossible to not have fun while watching. They use ska and punk rock styles in combination during their show. Most people don't know this but before Rancid, they were a ska band called Operation Ivy. They started their show with, "Radio" and the force of the mosh pit actually separated me from my friends. Once the mosh pits started they didn't end until the band left the stage. In their 23 song set list they played songs from every album. A true career spanning show. The energy in the crowd couldn't be any higher if it wanted to be. Why this band wasn't playing against Blink-182 was beyond me. They for all intensive purposes were the true punk headliner. Whether you were a new fan or a die hard Rancid fan, you had a blast at this show.
Violent Femmes 8:45
The last thing of the day for us was the Violent Femmes. Blink was
playing after this, but I outgrew that fad a while ago. The Violent
Femmes on the other hand are a fantastic folk band that I was very
excited to see. I didn't know this before hand but they were playing
through their entire debut album in it's entirety for it's 30 year
anniversary. I missed, "Blister in the Sun" trying to get through the
Rancid crowd which sucked, but the rest of the set made up for it and
then some. They sound
fresh like they haven't' aged a day. I got there just in time to hear,
"Kiss Off". I was so good it gave me chills. They album is fantastic and
sounds even better live. They played through the whole thing and then
played three more on the end for an encore. The crowd for this show was amazing, everyone knew the words to every song. It was a fantastic way to end the second night.
Sunday September 15th
Against Me! 2:35
The last time I saw Against Me!, Laura Jane Grace was Tom Gable, and not only that but I actually had a conversation with him. So this was going to be a different experience. I was happy to find out that Laura's voice still sounds the same as Tom's. They only had 45 minutes, so they dove right into it starting out the set with, "FuckMyLife666". The energy in the crowd was fairly dull because it had been raining all morning, but when Against Me!, came on things perked up. People starting bouncing and really getting into it around, "I Was a Teenage Antichrist". They ended a fun quick set with the obvious closer, "Trash Unreal". It was great, but all over too quickly.
The Dismemberment Plan 4:00
This was one of the bands I was the most excited for in the whole festival. I absolutely love the Emergency and I, just like everyone else. So when we go to the stage in the middle of the pouring rain, me in my shorts freezing my ass off, taking photos through the plastic bag my phone was in, I was very ready to dance. They opened the set up with three songs off of the Emergency and I, which should have been great but it all seemed off. I think the sound guys had covered up the speakers for the rain and had blocked out some of the sound. Which made it hard to hear them, which made no one want to dance, which made the band have less fun, and that made us all have less fun. It was all really a bad cycle. The music itself I'm sure would have been great if the speakers weren't covered up.
Suicidal Tendencies 5:30
By this point in the day I was freezing and not having the best time. I made the mistake of wearing shorts and a t-shirt on a rainy day which would have been fine if the rain had ever stopped, but that didn't happen till much later. So I was really ready to jump into a mosh pit to get warmed up. Thankfully for me, Suicidal Tendencies were ready to provide that. With an amount of energy and craziness not seen all day, this band brought the only mosh pits of the day to the people. I only stayed for half of their set, but it was one of the best of the day. I left early to go see Brand new, big mistake.
Brand New 6:00
The problem with Brand New for me is that I hate their first two albums and love their two most recent. When they play shows apparently they like to feature a lot of material from their classic days, I didn't know that. So instead of leaning towards the new harder rock sound, they play more pop punk live. I really didn't like that, and it was still raining and freezing out. They started off their show with three newer songs but I missed that. I got there just in time to stand and watch pop punk while freezing my ass off. I didn't enjoy this show much.
Pixies 8:00
Finally it was time for the band that was the reason I ended up at riot fest. The original riot fest line up was good, but it wasn't enough for me to bite the bullet and buy a ticket. When Motorhead had to cancel and got replaced by The Pixies, that was all the extra push I needed to buy a ticket. The Pixies stole all of Sunday for me. Their may not have been any mosh pits, but it didn't matter. The Pixies are truly great live band, mostly due to Frank Black's amazing vocals. He sounds better live than he does on CD. They started the show off with two covers and a rare song called, "Indie Cindy". Before jumping into the bigger stuff off of Surfer Rosa and my least favorite Pixies song, (Thank you rock band,) "Wave of Mutilation". I was waiting for anything else off of Surfer Rosa of Doolittle at the time. I was not disappointing, they played more than half of Doolittle and everything I wanted to hear off Surfer Rosa except, "Gigantic". I have to admit I lost my shit when they played, "Debaser", "Hey", and "Where is My Mind?". This was truly a greatest hits show. They even played a new song, "Bag Boy".
The Replacements 9:15
Next up after The Pixies was the best punk reunion of the year, it was time for The Replacements. For the first time in 22 years The Mats played in Canada in August, and now it was Chicago's turn for the old school punk band. The current Mats line up consisted of front man Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, and joining them would be guitarist David Minehan, and drummer Josh Freese. The Replacements are true legends up there with The Clash, The Ramones, The Misfits, and Iggy pop and the Stooges. To be honest I didn't know a lot of The Mats music going in to this show, but they were legends and I wanted to see legends in action. They were true musicians, and definitely didn't disappoint. They put on the show of a life time for punk fans. Ripping through songs from all of their albums, taking requests from the audience, and bringing that messy 80's strut to the stage that they are known for. It really says something about a bands fans when they are perfectly OK with the band forgetting some of the lyrics. The fans didn't care they just wanted to hear those songs and relive the memories. The band and the fans were in on this together, it was a magical journey. It had a few bumps, but neither the band or the fans even cared. They just kept going, and just as quickly as they came on, they were gone. I now can finally say, I saw The Replacements live in concert.
