Week of Riot Fest

     Riot Fest has become my festival. Before Riot Fest I went to Lollapalooza every year since 2007, but I've skipped the past two years in favor of a better festival, Riot Fest. I have been going since 2013 and I haven't looked back since. In my time at Riot Fest I have learned a few things; it always rains and wrecks the park, every year I run into a celebrity in the park, and every year it has one of the best line festival lineups in the world. This year's bill was topped by No Doubt, System of a Down, Faith No More, and many others. After doing 100,000 dollars worth of damage they had to mover from Humboldt park to Douglas park.

Friday September 11th

      Before we even got to the park the rain came down hard just like clockwork. I knew we were in for a mess of a weekend. We go to the park and the rain had stopped, but it had already done a ton of damage. No time to worry about that now though, into the fray. We stopped in for some italian sandwiches and then made our way to the park. 

Mustard Plug 1:30-

     This was our first band today and nobody warms up fans like a good ska band. Emphasis on good because a bad ska band can be the worst thing you have ever heard. With songs like Skank by Numbers, Mr Smiley, Brain on Ska, and many other they were easily able to win over the crowd with fun danceable songs and even had a bit of a pit going. I was a good way to start the weekend after a quick 30 minutes it was on to the next ska band. 

Fishbone 2:00-

     Fishbone is one of most energetic ska bands ever and their live show did not disappoint. This band has been playing for 25 years and show no sign of stopping. They have become this generations Parliament like Rancid have become this generations Clash. The show had circle pits, inflatable crabs, interpreting dancing, stage diving, and tons and tons of ska. The crowd was going nuts stealing the inflatable crab and letting the lead singer crowd surf on top of it. The singer had ton of crowd interaction and hilarious stage antics. After a quick mosh filled 45 minutes the band took center stage did a jig and bowed.

Living Colour 2:45-

     The Living Colour are very talented rock band who have been playing for 25 years, but most people know them as the band the wrote the Cult of Personality. They did play that song later, but their set had a lot more to it then that. The only real problem with the show was that it was a little bit too quiet. They played 8 songs splitting the songs between core and vivid with a cover of The Clash's Should I Stay of Should I Go. The last two songs were a lot louder than the rest of the set giving the great band the energy they deserved. The lead singer had an amazing voice and gave it everything. They overall music and performance was great, the volume was a bit too quiet until the last two songs. 

88 Fingers Louie 3:30-

     88 Fingers Louie are local Chico punk band that actually had former member move on to start Rise Against. I didn't know anything about this band going into this show but this band was recommended to me over and over again. They played a solid hour of punk music and drove the crowd into a frenzy with a mosh pits that didn't stop until the band left the stage. This band broke up a while ago but are back with a new album on the way. They played 10 songs in an hour of music from 5 albums. You have to love these local punk bands coming back to play riot fest, they always end up having some of the most lively pits in the whole festival. 

Eagles of Death Metal 4:15-

     

The side project from Queens of the Stone Age has been resurrected. Josh Homme played a part in recoding the album, but unfortunately was not a part of the touring band. That aside it hardly mattered as they put on one of the best shows of the weekend. This is how to bring the sexy back in a rock show. The members itself don't do much for me, but this is old school dark blues driven rock just explodes in a live setting. The lead singer/queens of the stone age rhythm guitarist had some frozen fingers but delt with it in a humours was by inciting a guitar battle with the mighty bearded lead guitarist and having the bassist sub in for him. They played ten songs off of all their albums including the upcoming zipper down. The biggest moments were during hits Cherry Cola and I Want You So Hard, where of all people Ke$ha made a cameo on backup vocals. It was not appreciated by the lead singer who gave her a death glare the whole song. This show was blisteringly awesome rock and roll and a highlight of the festival. 

Coheed and Cambria 5:45-

     The next band was a band I have been a fan of for quite some time and was highly anticipating. On the beggining song the speakers crapped out ruining their entrance, but they scoffed it off with a joke. The show served as a greatest his show with songs off of all of their albums including a live debut of Here to Mars from their new album The Color Before the Sun. The band is now 10+ years into this and perform like a well oiled machine. The whole set being greatest hits led to the audience matching singer Claudio word for word on every song, not just Welcome Home, that was the obvious set closer. The biggest crowd reactions actually came during songs like The Devil in Jersey City, Ten Speed, or A Favor House Atlantic. The band was spot on and as always Claudio sounded amazing. They are in the road worthy veteran stage of their career and then do it well.

Anthrax 7:15-

     I tired to make it over to Flogging Molly for a few songs before making it to the section of immovable crowd and just gave up and made my way over to Anthrax. They we're one of the only metal bands I wanted to see to this weekend. I got there and quickly made my way to the front of the crowd as the band kicked into Madhouse and the audience erupted into a huge mosh pit. It was huge and every way and didn't stop until the final note of Indians ended. They only had time for 7 songs in an hour but it was a monster set of only greatest hits. In truth I would have loved more time with the band, an hour isn't enough for metal legends. From Caught in a Mosh, Got The Time, Antisocial, Fight Em Till You Cant, In the End, and of course Indians they gave the metal crazed crowd something to headband for. After headbanging and watches moshpits for an hour I checked my watch as I had come to the hardest decision on the weekend. Anthrax and Faith No More were overlapping and even with Faith coming on late I was going to have to miss the first song from Faith or the last song from Anthrax. Should have been easy with Indians but Faith weren't pulling punches opening with the new single Motherfucker. I looked back and forth at each stage and then dived back into Anthrax. It was the right decision. Following Indians I sprinted over to Faith No More.

Faith No More 7:45-

     I made my way to the stage just as they were finishing up Be Aggressive into Caffine and Mike Patton was absolutely slaying it. A couple of guys standing next to me agree saying, “Holy Shit he’s underrated, that’s amazing." Next he brought out the biggest one two punch of the weekend with Epic into Midlife Crisis. It was one of if not the best moment of the weekend. After the two biggest hits he said, “Now get out of here you casuals, were digging deeper into this shit.” They played songs off of all of their albums including the great new ones. Separation Anxiety, Superhero, and ive heard Motherfucker was amazing in a live setting. Mike Patton is one of the best live vocalists I have ever seen, up there with Bruce Dickenson and Brandon Boyd. The band was dressed in all white and surrounded by flowers like they were leading a cult to slaughter instead of performing a concert.  They quipped about how calm the audience is asking them if this what a riot looks like and that’s not how they did it in the 90s. They ended their superstar set with a surprise inclusion from Introduce Yourself from their first album. I could have seen another hour from them easy.

Motorhead 9:00-

     After the show I caught a few seconds of No Doubt as was not pleased, Gwen Stefani’s voice annoys me. I made my way over to Motorhead to pay my respects to the rock legends. We weren’t sure this show was even going to happen after Lemmy’s health failed again and he was forced to cancel two shows leading up to this. He came out to huge response of collective respect for the legend. They had to accommodate for his condition slowing down the songs so he could perform, but it didn’t matter this show was as much for him as it was for us. He performed an hour of rock music and we stayed and ate ever minute of it. Come time for the famous Ace of Spades, me and the guy next to me made eye contact and started one last most pit in honor of the living legend, it was only right. They left the stage and ended the show with overkill saying “God gless every fucking one of you”, and that was it.

Saturday September 12th

     This year has gone so much smoother than last. Just not coming back to a homeless person sleeping on my car was a huge improvement for me. Yes that actually happened. This year we stayed down town. So after making a short walk to the train we were back and ready for day two. A quick breakfast and to the park.

FIDLAR 12:50-

      The days first show was again a strong one. I have to keep reminding myself this isn't lollapalooza and good bands can play early. FIDLAR played their brand of skateboard stoner punk and this killed it.   It was a little too light for my friends,, but it was right up my alley. They played for 45 minutes with songs off of both albums including Cheap Beer and Bad Medicine. They actually focussed more on the new sobering up album Too and although it's lighter it still packs a punch. They sounded great but we were too distracted for what came next and left early for GWAR.

GWAR 1:40-

     GWAR have become a yearly staple of Riot Fest's line up, even last year right after lead singer Oderus Urungus past away. That show was a little off then and even the fans knew it, but the grieving has helped and they came back this year with renewed vigor. The show started with a riot fest rep  with a false head coming out and insulting the crowd as GWAR came out and decapitated him shooting his blood on the crowd. This is everything I love about Riot fest, huge mosh pits, giant monster costumes, fake blood, crude jokes, and loud rock music. A GWAR show is just plain fun and at Riot fest even more so. They only had time for 9 songs but they used that time for more important things like giant monter fights and spewing fake blood on the audience. After the horrible loss of their lead singer it's great to see them back to what they do best. I will be back next year and they will be a highlight again.

The Joy Formidable 2:15-

      We used this time slot to get some food but the Welsh band The Joy Formidable were a good backdrop for the afternoon. They only got through 7 songs from their first two albums. I was kind of expecting a sample from the upcoming third album. They last couple of songs were jammed out for upwards of ten minutes each with the set closer Whirring going on for 15 minutes and escalating to a huge blast conclusion. The last time I saw them play whirring they broke their instruments but that must get very expensive, so it's cool I understand. I did really enjoy it maybe next time. Overall though they play a great show. 

The Dead Milkmen 3:00-

     This band takes the cake for being the funniest band of the weekend and that's saying a lot considering Tenacious D played this weekend. This band had some of the best rants I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe the songs he played it was some of the best written satire songs. They had a lot of time and some of the choruses of the 16 songs seemed yelled at us in improve style. My favorite  quip at the audience was at a fan looking at his phone, "If you don't like us why are you here, they have like 10 bands playing right now. Make up your mind and pick one, or stay and get yelled at, your choice". My favorite song was the one where he told us that the gay people of  Des Moines were building space ships to sneak the gay martians home. There was another one about a small town written from the perspective of the racist. This band was one of the best of the weekend and although definitely not PC, and who cares they are going on my iPod.

The Thurston Moore Band 3:45-

     There wasn't much to say about this band aside from that it's the new project from legendary Sonic Youth singer Thurston Moore. That's not to say that the show was bad but it was really just one hour long jam session, four songs were played but I dare you to show me where they started and ended it all blended together. As for a band to listen to while holding down a great spot for Desaparecidos it was perfect. I probably won't be adding it to my iPod unless i'm in need of droning black metal elevator music. 

Desaparecidos 4:30-

     I already had a good spot for this leading into Thurston Moore and I went up and joined the Connor Oberst fan club in the front row. I love his work with Bright Eyes but I this punk project of his is my favorite. They played a thrashing 13 songs from both albums Read Music/Speak Spanish from 2002 and the one from this year Payola. The set was explosive and amazing from start to finish. Later in the set they brought out fellow punkers the So So Glos for Slacktivist. The audience moshed, jumped, and shouted along to every word as true die hards would.  This set was an hour long and I could have used more as this was one of the best sets of the weekend. I always love Conner Oberst especially live, but his voice fits so well in punk hope it's not his last foray into it. It would be a shame. The set closer of Greater Omaha was one of best moments of the weekend. 

Drive Like Jehu 6:40-

      These guys are hidden gem and in some circles one of the best post hardcore bands of this generation. This was a long jammed out hour with some absolutely blasting instrumentals. They only got through 8 songs because they jammed the absolute hell out of them. I didn't know any of their music going into the set but I have a new band to check out now. Some of the best hardcore jamming I have heard since I saw Mogwai.

Rancid 7:40-

     This was hands down the most exciting show of the weekend for me. I love Rancid and Out Come the Wolves is one of my favorite punk albums of all time. The crowd at the show was literally vibrating with excitement. When the band launched into from the opening notes of Maxwell Murder to the closing notes of The Way I Feel the crowd exploded, moshed, threw down, and screamed like you wouldn't believe. The circle pits was so big and so full of mohawks it looked like spin art. This was one of the best punk shows I have ever seen. It was just so huge for a punk festival to have a conert like this, I mean it's why we have punk festivals. Moments like this are the reason that concert addicts like me keep on going. I loved ever second and after the encore of Honnor is All We Know, Fall Back Down, and Radio I quickly made my way over to another huge show but a very different vibe. As I write this Out Come the Wolves spins in the background and the afterglow lives on. 

System of a Down 8:45-

     I full on sprinted over to the System of a Down show making my was as quickly as I could snaking my way behind a chain of hot girls, the best was to move up at a show. Somehow by pure miracle I made it up to the mosh pit just as the opening notes of Deer Dance were still ringing out. I moshed for a few minutes for Tentative and the beginning of Ariels before the mosh pit got out of control and the band had to stop the show because there were people being trampled and face down in the mud not moving. I saw that and got out of there, any mosh pit that doesn't follow rules isn't for me. It was  actually terrifying they had to carry people out on stretchers. I didn't even know until after that they were ok. After backing up and listening to BYOB they had to stop the show a second time to carry out more injured people. The band sounded great playing music from all the albums but Steal This Album. They actually ended up having to cut songs for time lost to injuries which is a shame on so many levels. the fact that the mosh pit couldn't follow the rules it hurts people and lessens the show for everyone. That all said the band still had the biggest singalong of the weekend with Chop Suey!. They ended up closing the set with Prison Song, Toxcitity, and Sugar. I backed up again during Prison song afraid the mosh would loose their cool even more, but they didn't and I got to enjoy the end of the night. People can sometimes get way too hyped up on testosterone and get too violent in pits, but that didn't happen at Rancid. Mosh rules are unwritten law of rock shows for a reason, it keeps people from getting hurt and allows everyone to enjoy the shows. It was a great performance, but Rancid showed the fest in a better light. 

Sunday September 13th

     After the mess that was Sunday with the violent trampling in the System of a Down pit and my friend having serious low blood sugar issues and having to be picked up from the park, we were all a little shaken up. The park was officially destroyed at this point. I'm beginning to wonder if they will have to move to another park next year. Overall the music still ruled the day, and today was a ligther day. So time to relax and chill into the third mud soaked day. 

The Dwarves 2:10-

      Day three was a bit weaker overall and the first band we wanted to see didn't come till 2:10. The Dwarves also happened to be one of the only punk bands on the day. The band brought out special guest Nick Oliveri from Queens of the Stone Age's classic line up. This made me so very happy, the band also has a mascot in the lead guitarist dressed like a gymp. This band is a very fun and funny punk band, but a more mean fun and less cleaver like the Dead Milkmen. They played they whole album Blood Guts and Pussy all the way through and like 17 other songs. Their songs are very short and they had the time to play a lot of them. At the end of the set the gymp took of his jock strap and threw it in to the crowd, the full monty everybody!

New Politics 3:00-

     This band is one of the biggest examples of how the music business can suck the real talent out talented musicians. This band is from Denmark and their first album was actually really good. From there they let american pop music influence their next two albums and all the rock was gone. They are now just another pop rock band with a singer who can break dance. It's truly just sad. 

Less Than Jake 3:45-

     This band was the most fun I had all sunday. As I have always said, a good ska show is hard to top in almost every way. These guys came out swinging, "I'm sorry we know how disappointed you were when had to step in as last minute replacements for Limp Biscut. Yeah I heard Fred Durst had a manscaping appointment." Just like that they were off. From men in pink suits, toilet paper launchers, mascot costumes, and the biggest circle pit I have ever seen, this show had it all. They stuck to a greatest hits show and that was exactly what Sunday needed. They said they wanted to create the biggest circle pit of the weekend and after dancing for a solid 45 minutes I was so tired I didn't know if I wanted to participate, but they played my favorite song Plastic Cup Politics. That was that, I jumped in and it was the biggest circle pit I had ever seen. This show was perfect and exactly what Sunday needed. The set was mostly from Boarders and Boundaries, Anthem, Hello Rockview, and Losing Streak. They dedicated All My Best Friends are Metalheads to riotfest and ended the set Gainsville Rock City as an ode to where they are from. I hope they bring more ska bands next year because they are always some of the most fun.

Kongos 4:25-

       I'm not the biggest fan of Kongos but I have to say that I do really like their song Come With Me Now and their accordions are fun. I really didn't need the rap added in but I really never listened to the whole album. I learned from listening to their set that I really didn't need to listen to the whole album I really only like the one song. Like I said the day was a little weaker, but their wasn't much else to do so I checked out a new band. You win some and you lose some.

Andrew W.K. 5:05-

     Next up was the king of partying and at one point Cultural Ambassador to the Middle East, Andrew WK. The first thing he does is storm the stage and scream, " Who's ready to Party", before jumping into   the opener from I Get Wet, It's Time To Party. The band had four guitarists, one bassist, and three back up singers and dancers. He played most all of I Get Wet as well as Close Calls With Brick Walls. Later in the set he brought out his pizza guitar and threw down an epic guitar solo. His punk and metal infused party anthems really work wonders in a live environment. The thing that really makes his live shows a blast is his unbelievably over the top energy. The man can party like none I have ever seen.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela 5:50-

     Rodrigo Y Gabriela are acoustic duo that play covers of metal and rock anthems. This was the only time we could eat so we made our way to get food and listen to this as our background music. They played a cover of Mettalica's Battery, Megadeth's Holy Wars and punishment Due, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, and Iron Maiden's The Trooper. They are amazingly gifted instrumentalists slaying solos in a way I hadn't heard before. I didn't get to watch much of the show because of waiting for food, but I heard it all, and it sounded great!

L7 6:40-

         L7 is one of the most famous Riot riot girl bands of all time and it was a blight on my music knowledge that I hadn't heard of them going into this. I love their style though, it's like someone combined Garbage and Alice in Chains. They took the stage in typical riot girl force blasting into Deathwish. This tour is actually the reunion tour and both the band and the fans seemed to be having a blast at one of a very few reunion shows. Throught the show the band would banter with the audience, “Put those cameras down. With that angle I would need a lawnmower to cut my nose hair out of the shot." They had and an hour to play 14 songs off of 4 albums. They mostly stuck to bricks are heavy and Hungry for Stink. They thrashed their way through a very tight set of grunge tinted punk songs. They finally got to the song even I knew and launched into Pretend That Were Dead, and the whole audience sang along. Following that they ended the night with a lightning speed Fast and Frightening. They may have been the only riot girl act of the weekend, but after their set I hope to see more next year.

Tenacious D 7:40-

     

Modest Mouse may have been the set headliner but if you looked at the crowd it became obvious that Tenacious D were the real headliner of the night. They wasted no time jumping right into Tribute and stirring the crowd into a frenzy and a giant sing-along. Jack’s voice sounded great as usual and Cage strummed the guitar almost perfectly. But it doesn’t hurt that their band is made up of all-star rock musicians. The last time I saw them it was members of Bad Religion. From Tribute they jumped into three songs from Rise of the Phoenix; title track, Low Hanging Fruit, and Throw Down. Afer that Jack gave a speech about he loved Chicago and he wasn’t just saying that because he was in the city at the time. He also made a jab at 2^nd city. The giant sing-alongs to Kickapoo, The Metal, Beelzeboss, and Fuck Her Gently were up there with the best parts of the whole festival. Throught the night we was hilariously demeaning his roadie making him change his shirt repeadedly and insulting him. It was all a set up to the song Roadie made for Brutal Legend. For the intro for Beezleboss they did a bit about how their guitarist was looking strange and had become possessed by the devil  and had taken him over. The best bit of the night was the song Jazz where they announced that they only played the old stuff because they were contractually obligated and wanted to show us their new direction.  They fucked around for a few minutes playing the music of their new record and Jack joked they would have to kick them off the stage because they were never going to stop playing jazz. This was overall one of the best set of the weekend and I can say that without it’s inclusion in sudays lineup it would have been pathetically weak.

Modest Mouse 8:45-

     I walked over to Modest Mouse and caught  few minutes of Snoop Dog as he came on 20 minutes late he was just now playing Drop It Like Its Hot. After receiving a message from the side he yelled at the audience that no one was going to cut his set short, but a few seconds later they did and he was pissed. As Modest Mouse started up I seemed to be the only one that noticed a hot air balloon inflate behind and snoop dog jump on before it quickly took off. It was very strange. Modest Mouse opened the set with Night on the Sun. They seemed a little quiet so I spend a lot of time slowly making my way up to the front. They played songs off of all of their records even the older stranger ones, but focussed on Strangers to Ourselves and We were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, as they should. The backing band is huge with; horns, strings, guitars, basses, and several drummers. The first half of the set was a very random set of old songs from weird albums and new ones with the exception of Missed The Boat. I wasn't until halfway thought the set when the hit parade started with Lampshades of Fire quickly followed by Dark Center of the Universe from The Moon and Antartica. The show quickly became the zany dance party we all wanted it to be. The next few songs really stired the crowd up as Dashboard, Float on, The Ground Walks With Time in a Box concluded the hit frenzy and they said they were incorrect on time and had to end the show with Float On. I started to make my was a way back as I heard them come back on and say the strict curfew was now limp curfew and ended the show with an encore of Spitting Venom. 

     This festival has now become my yearly festival and after three years I have noticed a few constants.  Every year this festival gets hands down one of the best festival lineups of the year, every year it rains and turns the fest into mud fest, every year the park get destroyed by punks who mosh anyway, and every year regardless of all the festivals logistical problems it is one of the most fun weekends ever for a bunch of rock music fans. The other fun bit is that for the past two years I have had a celebrity interaction. The first year I ran into Tom Delounge of Blink 182 in a mosh pit, and last year I pissed off Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and he kicked me into a pit. This year sadly I didn't have a direct celeb interaction, but I did see a very awkward back up singer as Kesha sang back up for the Eagles of Death Metal without the groups permission. I also saw an angry Snoop Dogg leave the fest in a hot air balloon. It remans to be seen after destroying another park again if they will be back in Douglas park next year, but wherever they go next year I will be there. Here are some of the cool photos I took in the park.