Riot Fest 2014
I went to Riot Fest for the first time last year and it was amazing. I got to see Bad Religion, Rancid, Flag, Danzig, The Pixies, and even The Replacements! So when they dropped the best lineup of the year, I was going again. Time again to run around in circles until I can't walk.
Friday September 12th
The start to this year's Riot Fest couldn't have been rougher if it
tried. After parking in a spot that sent my scared white boy senses
into overdrive, I went into the festival with my anxiety creeping on me the whole day. What was supposed to be a
sunny warm music festival started as a freezing, rainy, mudfest. I of course didn't plan for this, and showed up to the festival with shorts, a T shirt, and a half dead phone. My own fault and a great start to the day.
GWAR 4:15
The first thing I made it to was the new line up of Gwar. Last year was my first Riot Fest and my first experience with the legendary live band that is Gwar. Since then lead singer Oderus died and they have a new lineup. I wasn't sure how it would compare to the line up of the past, but I went in open mined. They have two new lead singers to replace Oderus a Female named Vulvatron and original vocalist Mike Bishop Beefcake. The show it self was theatrical, bloody, and over the top as usual. They even took a moment to honor their losses. "Now everyone I want to drop character for a second. I want all of you to bow your heads for a moment of silence for our grave loss. We just can't find that crack rock anywhere." The band is still the same over the top, violent, and entertaining metal band as they always were, but without Oderous they are lacking something and it just doesn't feel the same.
Stiff Little Fingers 4:45
At this point during the day my phone was almost dead, and I was paranoid about my car getting towed so I went to a charging station near by so I could hear the music at the same time. The band Stiff Little Fingers have been around for a long time. They are one of those old school slower classic punk bands. it was a shame that they only got to play for 30 minutes, because they were great and I would have liked to heard more. The closing number of Alternative Ulster left the crowd cheering for an encore.
Failure 5:15
My plan was to go see Clutch but, because of Riot Fest's awkward horseshoe shape I had to stay around or miss a lot of both. I used this slot to try and find water and food because, I was starving and seriously dehydrated. It was an almost impossible task and cost me bits and pieces of the set to do. When I finally got back to really listen to Failure, I loved it. They are kind of like Tool mixed with Chevelle. A very good band that I want to hear more from. They're heavy rock sound was the start of trying to turn around this shit sack of a day.
NOFX 6:00
I got to NOFX a few minutes late because of my excursion for food and water. I got there just in time to hear them nostalgically talking about a favorite band of theirs called Blag Flag. They were saying that it was a great band until Henry Rollins joined the band. I didn't know much about their music except that they were playing Punk in Drublic all the way through, and that they are such a fun live band. They take shots at other bands, the audience, them selves (Famously on I Wanna be an Alcoholic, Fat Mike calls him self an everyday fat drunk.), and everything else. In essence it's a drunken comedy set that doubles as a punk show. Don't get me wrong the music is good and fun to mosh to, but their strongest suits are the social commentary. They made fun of Golgol Bordello for following their set and not getting as much time as them. "Take that you gypsy punks we are more important than you. We get a pour hour, what do you get nothing. Actually Mike they get 45 minutes." If you ever get the chance go see them, the chance really is a chance, because their live shows seem to get fewer and farther apart as the years pass.
Golgol Bordello 7:00
I didn't know it yet, but my day was about to turn around big time. I am one of the biggest concert lovers in the world but this freezing day had started to get the best of me. At one point I had to by a sweatshirt just to ensure I didn't freeze to death. I had to make the hard decision between this and Mastodon, but since I saw Mastodon already once I had to go with Golol Bordello. They have a reputation for being an amazing live band, and they lived up to it.
Here is Golgol Bordello live on Letterman.
Within seconds of the start of their show I knew I had made the correct decision. The energy that this band has, can't be matched by anyone at anytime. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. The front man seemed like he had injected himself with charisma, and raw energy. They mostly sang in a foreign language, and brought instruments I had never seen used in punk rock before like an accordion and a fiddle. At one point during the show I found myself in the middle of a circle kick line with a unicorn and a teletubbie. During the last song the singer asked the professor, (fiddle player), to show him the frequency of purple, then he asked us to show him the frequency of purple, and we all stomped the ground. After that they blasted into their final song. The 45 minutes flew by in a what seemed like an instant. I need to see this band again, like now.
The Offspring 7:45
After that amped up blast of a show, I was more than ready to hear The Offspring play one of my favorite albums all the way through. I made my way quickly through the dense mud to as close as I could get to the stage, my shoes were dead and I didn't care. The show started the way the album starts with the announcer voice from the album, this time saying that we wanted to have a classy night before changing it to, no you just want to fuck shit up. The band bantered with the audience about playing the whole album all the way through before launching into Bad Habbit.
Here is Bad Habbit live.
It is one The Offspring's most popular songs, and it showed the entire crowd loose it's collective shit all at once. It was an amazing experience. They played the album all the way through, hit after hit, the crowd continued to go into a frenzy, and slogged in the muddiest mosh pit I have ever seen. The played the album mostly in order except for Self Esteem that was played at the end. After Smash ended they came back with the greatest hits for the encore; All I Want, You're Gonna Go Far Kid, Why Don't You Get a Job?, Pretty Fly, and The Kids Aren't Alright. The best moment of the sow, and maybe of the entire weekend was screaming, that famous line from Bad Habbit with 10,000 other people."I feel like I'm god. You stupid dumbshit goddam motherfucker!" After this the guitarist was so happy he told the crowd he wanted to have sex with everyone of us. "I mean it behind the Ferris Wheel 20 minutes." Apparently people actually went there, and twitter followers found him signing autographs behind the Ferris Wheel.
Slayer 8:45
The last show of the night was Slayer for me, because Slayer duh! What other options do you need. I wasn't the biggest fan, or the most knowledgeable about their music, but it was something I just had to see. Their were three upside down crosses and that was it, no other effects just the band on stage playing. Kerry King is to hurt to do much, but he still plays and that's all that matters. They played through all of Reign in Blood, out of order of course, to end on the tital track. The rest of the set was loud and chalked full of hits. They played; Hate Worldwide, War Ensemble, South of Heaven, and Disciple. It was brutal, the pits were scary, and the ending with that classic rift in Reign in Blood capped off a great, but wet first day at Riot Fest.
Saturday September 13th
Remember that story about parking in a shady area, well after about an hour of looking I found my car with a homeless person sleeping on it. My scared white boy senses went crazy and I vowed to myself never again. I quickly woke the man, started my car, and drove off. Needless to say I took a strangers advice from yesterday and parked in the drug store parking lot.
7 Seconds 1:40
I made it in much earlier and much quicker today. The sun was out, it was warm, but still muddy muddy. It was time to finally enjoy the good weather, and just declare my shoes dead. The first band of the day was the old school punk band 7 Seconds. They didn't have long to play so they didn't waste any time. They played material off of all of their albums. The songs rocked hard, and most of them clocked in at under 2 minutes. People were really getting into it, but trying to mosh was more likely to help you loose a shoe then to let you express yourself through dance. They were done quickly and it was on to the next thing.
Buzzcocks 2:20
The Buzzcocks are one of the older more famous bands in all of Punk rock and I was very excited to get the chance to see them. They really don't play many shows anymore, or tour at all. The only shame about this spot was that they only 30 minutes to play, maybe that's all they can do. They must have been at least 60 by now. The show was very fun all that considered, playing a lot more recognizable songs than I was expecting. Even getting up there in age they still ooze that rock rebellious spirit. 10 songs and 30 minutes later they vanished back into legend.
Television 2:50
In case one legendary punk band wasn't enough riot fest booked two back to back. All you really had to do was turn around. Television is a band I really knew nothing about going into the show, aside from their reputation. They have very long songs and only 45 minutes to play, so they wasted no time going straight into their set. They only had time for 7 songs including Marquee Moon. It's not your typical punk band, they are a lot more instrumentally driven with very few vocals in the whole set. They kind of invented that dueling guitar solo sound that your probably used to hearing with Avenged Sevenfold. They show was hypnotizing and before I knew it, over.
Face to Face 3:35
Face to Face started within five seconds of Television finishing their set. They must have been waiting in the wings with instruments in hand. They blasted into You've Done Nothing and I do mean Blasted into. This was a band ready to melt faces, and it was the first real mosh pit I saw all day. At least mosh pits that didn't involve sloshing or loosing shoes into the swamp, (as entertaining as that was.) This band was a lot of fun, but the next band was much more important so I moved to the front of the next band's stage and listened to the end of their set.
Mighty Mighty Bosstones 4:25
Right before the next band, I encountered what is probably one of my best rock stories. I got to around the second row when I saw someone who looked eerily familiar and I didn't know why. As I got closer I realized it kind of looked like Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, except disguised as a punk rocker. My curiosity got the best of me and I had to know. I approached him and said he looked like Pete Wentz and he deliberately ignored me turning away to avoid eye contact. Something about this took me as suspicious and I was not going to let this go. So I approached him again and this time asked him if he was Pete Wentz, and again he ignores me turning to face away from me. At this point I was done being ignored and had to know, for all the times I have had to listen to the new Fallout Boy record. I got an idea on how to get a reaction. Right as the show was starting I turned and asked him why Fall Out Boy's last album sucked, without missing a beat he turns and says, "Because of people like you", and sparta kicks me into the mosh pit. So to summarize I met Pete Wentz and he hates me.
The actual show for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones only made the experience better from there. You know when guys with giant mow-hawks start doing leg stretches around you before the show that shit is about to go down. Sure enough, out come the Bosstones in matching red and black suits and mosh pit central had exploded. They had 45 minutes and they used ever single second of it, 13 songs in 45 minutes not bad. They played some of the hits, but it was more of a career spanning set missing key songs like Royal Oil, and Where'd You Go, but The Rascal King, 1-2-8, and That's the Impression that I get were enough. The crowd left this show worn out from dancing and ready to have a short break. Too bad Riot Fest wasn't ready to give them that break, yet.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes 5:10
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes were the only band that I saw today that I hadn't even heard of previously. They were a cover band, the only one on the line up. It turns out their was a reason for that. They are not just a normal cover band, but a punk rock supergroup formed by Fat Mike of NOFX. Half of their show is a stand up comedy special and it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. "Our theme is being awesome- wait we have a theme. Yeah we do, but it's really mediocrity at it's best." They covered everything from The Beach Boys, Paul Simon, Dolly Parton, Judy Garland, R. Kelly, Boyz II Men, and John Denver. Of course all of those songs were not just covered, but covered in a punk style, yes that includes Dolly Parton. Jolene in fast punk rock style is the funniest thing ever. This was hands down the best cover band I have ever seen.
The Get Up Kids 5:55
This is the part of the day where that break I talked about earlier finally happens. I was starving and exhausted and this was as good a time as any. This was a band I knew but wasn't especially interested in seeing so it was food and rest time. The music was good, but not my thing. The kids were loving it so I suppose as far as being an emo rock band goes, they were succeeding. I like most pop punk, but mostly because I grew up it. For most of the genre, I am over it. I know that's a hipster thing to say, but I truly believe that some genres are grown out of. If I had listened to this band in high school I would have loved it.
Cock Sparrer 6:55
Cock Sparrer otherwise known as the biggest punk rock band from England, that I didn't know about. I wish I had known about them before, because they are awesome. This band almost never plays in the US, which made this show even cooler. The audience was chalked full of die hard fans that knew every word. It was amazing, after 40 years of punk rock they still sound great. Some of the songs that got the biggest crowd reactions were; Riot Squad, England Belongs to Me, Running Riot, and Where are They Now? I would have said hits, but I don't like that word, the songs were good or they weren't, who cares if they were hits. They were an amazing live band, and proof that they were still living legends at their peak after all these years. Punk rock isn't dead it just goes to bed earlier.
Descendents 7:55
Then it was finally time for the main event of the evening. The Descendents are already one of the most legendary punk bands of all time, the fact that they were playing Milo Goes to College one of the best punk albums of all time makes it so much better. That wasn't even the end of it, we found out last minute that original Descendents bassist Tony Lomardo would be joining the band for the album. The album is only 22 minutes long so they had plenty of time to play other material. The show started with Milo walking out with a backpack and asking the audience if this was the class that listened to classic rock albums. This is the band that all the nerds listened to while they plan ways to get back at all the bullies, and dealing with rejection from girls. How did I not know about this band in high school. Milo goes to College was one of the most raw 22 minutes of my life. Following Milo the Descendents current bassist took over and the finished off the last 35 minutes with the greatest hits of the Descendents. It was awesome and also a lot of fun, but it won't compare to that blasting in your face nerd rock masterpiece that was Milo goes to college.
Samhain 8:55
The final show of the night was the return of Glen Danzig, who preformed last year with Danzig and Doyle playing Misfits songs. This year he brought his other band Samhain out of retirement for the 20 year anniversary to play initium in full. The band came out covered in fake blood as was their look. Glen of course was his usual charming self complaining about the fake blood within minutes of being on stage. You know, Glen he gets angry and he throws things, but he sure can sing and put on a hell of a show. He threw guitars, ejected fans for taking pictures, stomped around the stage and sounded amazing. The highlight of the night came when he brought out Randy Blythe of Lamb of God to help him sing All Hell. They both killed it and even though Danzig was noticeable pissed at the audience for taking his picture during the show, something he really hates. (I did it too, sorry, I'm not sorry). He still came back for the encore of one more unscheduled song. He blasted through To Walk the Night and wished us all a happy Halloween.
Sunday September 14th
The Hold Steady 2:10
For the first time of the weekend I actually got there in time to see the first band of the day that I actually wanted to see. I've been listening to The Hold Steady for years, but this was the first time I got to see them live. Lead singer Craig Finn is electric and even at two in the afternoon he draws your attention to him like a diamond. They played songs off of most of their albums, knocking out 12 songs in 45 minutes.
Superchunk 2:55
Shuperchunk fill the spot that Guided by Voices filled last year, as that cool veteran indie band in the punk festival. Again I like alternative music so I had to check out Superchunk. I didn't actually know any of this music, (except for Precision Auto), but I liked everything I heard. This is one of those indie bands that invented the cool indie band flair. For and indie/ alt rock band they really brought out the punk rock attitude. They ended their set with an absolutely blasting guitar rendition of Precision Auto. I just thought that was a Jimmy Eat World song, shows how much I know about Superchunk.
Naked Raygun 3:35
I've heard the name Naked Raygun talked about fondly by so many of my favorite artists like; Foo Fighters, Bad Religion, Incubus, and The Offspring, that I had to see them. With all of these people loving this artist how could it be bad? They were playing their debut album Throb Throb all the way through. One of the more awesome things about this show was the fact that almost all of the audience was made up of old school punk rockers. This was made even better by the fact that during the show the old punkers started mosh pits. This show will always be remembered for me as the old person mosh pit show. The band itself still sounds great nailing ever song, but having to make some changes to some songs; "This song is on the record backwards, but we are going to play it forwards." After they played Throb throb they played a mostly greatest hits. "If you ever wanna hear Throb Throb again play it on your Fucking turn tables." After the set finished the creators of Riot Fest came out and made a very heartfelt speech about how without Naked Raygun Riot Fest wouldn't exist. Thank you Naked Raygun and thank you Riot Fest.
Tegan and Sara 4:30
I wasn't a big fan of Tegan and Sara so it was time again for me to go get some food before the big guns came out. I got a cheese burger, a red bull, and some water. I came back to sit and listen to the end of their set. I was a nice change from the faster stuff, just a relaxing break for a bit.
Dropkick Murphys 5:15
This was one of the shows I was most excited for, because I am a die hard Dropkick Murphy's fan. I hadn't seen Dropkick live since 2008 and they had put out a lot of albums since then, so I was curious to see how much their set had evolved. I tried to get up as close as I could but this band is super popular and even attempting to get closer to the front of the show could get you beat up by the angry Irishmen. The opened the show with The Boys are Back, and within the seconds the crowd went into a frenzy I hadn't seen since the last time I saw Dropkick Murphys. They just have a very special way of making an audience loose their shit, and kept it that way till the set ended. The show mostly focused on their newer materiel and Warriors Code. They cut a lot of my old favorites like Flannigans Ball, Captain Kellys Kitchen, and Sunshine Highway and replaced them with songs like Rose Tattoo, The Boys are Back, and their karaoke style singalong at the end of the show. The show was by far the most rambunctious show of the day and maybe the weekend. They ended the set with a rousing bout of Takin' Care of Business, Blitzkrieg Bop, and We're and American Band.
Mudhoney 5:55
Mudhoney was one of the biggest grunge bands on the planet in the 90s and in a way still are. I didn't know much of their music, but I love grunge and it was a nice bit of variety from the Punk of the rest of the day. They had a new album Vantage Point, that just came out last year. They played from it heavily. The whole set did feature material from almost all of their albums and an amazing cover of Black Flag's Fix Me. The lead singer has a grunge scream voice that is right up there with Kurt and Chris Cornell. He really brings out the anger out in the music. They put on a great show with 14 songs off of six albums, a screaming 50 minute set.
Social Distortion 6:45
On my way to this show I waited for five minutes to hear the first song from Cheap Trick's set. I sang along to surrender and made my way to Social D. This was the second show of the day that could qualify as old people mosh pit music. They Opened the show with Through These Eyes and during this a drunk hipster thought that this was the perfect moment to climb a tree and freak out all of the people under it. We all thought for sure he was going to fall and die. Social Distortion singer Mike Ness is just one of the most real rock and roll guys I have ever met. All of his stories are real he has lived through the roughest possible rock and roll lifestyle. This is the kinda guy that other rock stars wish they were. He was kicked out of his house at 15, raised on the blues. When he talks you listen, and when he sings, he's exposing a little bit of his soul each time. Before every song he played he would tell a story about the punk scene in the early days, or the story behind the song. It was fascinating and just really inspirational. Unfortunately I had to leave early to see Primus play and missed the last couple songs. Then I looked at the set list and realized the I missed Story of my Life, such is conflicts. I'm just happy I got to see this amazing band live.
Primus 7:40
Next up was the second band I was most excited to see today, aside from Dropkick Murphy's. That excitement only increased when it was announced that while Primus's drummer was getting brain surgery, Tool's drummer Danny Carvey was filling in for a few performances. The fact that the show included a partial cover of Tool's Aenema was just the icing on the cake. At first I was kind of concerned that the sound was too quite for Primus's set, but then I just decided, screw it lets fix this and stormed up as close as I could get. Once I got closer the bass got to the brain pounding levels that I was expecting. The setlist for this show was absolutly amazing; Those Dammed Blue Collar Tweakers, Here Come the Bastards, Southbound Pachyderm, Last Salmon Man, Over the Falls, Jilly's on Smack, Aenema, My Name is Mud, and Jerry was a Race Car Driver. This was the most Jam filled Primus shows I had ever seen. I think that Danny Carvey brought out their inner metal heads and it was glorious. Les Claypool brought out his fun basses and the now famous pig satan mask. He even had Tim Alexander Primus's injured drummers face on the inflatable astronauts so he could be here in spirit.
Weezer 8:40
The final show of the weekend was Weezer, which may seem anti-climactic for some. For me the chance to see them play the Blue album all the way through was just the perfect end to the weekend. Weezer are not typically what you would call a good live band, but no one cared. Everyone just wanted to scream along to every word. They started by taking us through the history of Weezer, time machine style with the new single Back to the Shack starting the show. (Side note, the new album form Weezer is really good and so is the lead single, but more on that later.) They went from there to Pork and Beans on the Red Album, to Make Believe with Perfect Situation and Beverly Hills, The Green album with Island in the Sun and Hash Pipe, and on to Pinkerton with El Scorcho. After a quick intermission the put of the Blue album art work up and went through every song. It was amazing, every one there knew every word to every song, and screamed along the whole way. The moment when the "This bottle of Stevens" line came along was one of the best moments of the entire festival as the screams from the crowd echoed over the entire festival. The show ended with the sweepeing 10 minute version of Only in Dreams.
Riot Fest is an amazing festival, but a festival that has some things to workout since it is still only 10 years old. After all compared to others festivals it's a baby. The new location in the park was chosen to give more space for the expanding lineup and attendance, but it was a huge pain. The horseshoe shape, with no through spots made it harder to make it from stage to stage than any other festival I have ever been to. The weather also took a huge toll on the festival, this is not the first festival to have weather screw things up. Lollapallooza was almost cancelled because of a rain storm one year. I just think they could have had more preparations for this, next time they will. The festival itself put out, in my opinion, hands down the best line up of any North American Festival this year. It was even better than last year, and last Year The Pixies and The Replacements played back to back. The kind of love that artists show to this festival by playing fan favorite albums all the way through is amazing. I can't wait to see how the relationship between bands and the festival changes through time. If you like a festival that is something different, with a much more rebellious, and angsty spirit, than Riot Fest is for you.
