"Loud Fast Rules"
As a punk fan - those three words are all that matters. Starting back in 2005, Riot Fest was a totally independent, grass roots weekend embracing punk music of all generations featuring local Chicago products such as Naked Raygun and The Effigies to punk stalwarts such as Bad Brains and the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. Originally anchored at the Congress Theater in Chicago (a few short blocks from the Blogmaster general's house), the festival eventually grew into a multi-venue event culminating in 2011 with a 4 night residence with Weezer(??) headlining the final night.
Having outgrown it's initial locations, the organizers of Riot Fest (with assistance from a few corporate sponsors - a necessary evil) went all in and moved the event a mile southwest from the Congress to Humboldt Park. While generally thought of in a more dubious light because of the high crime rate and gang activity in the neighborhoods that surround it, Humboldt Park is breathtaking 200 plus acre piece of urban landscaping similar to Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
The move allowed the organizers to set up four stages, a carnival (yes - a tilt a whirl, ferris wheel and everything), and a food row with samplings from a number of local establishments. From a music perspective, the bands covered everything from the legends (Iggy and the Stooges, The Descendents, Elvis Costello) to the established (Dropkick Murphys, NOFX, Rise Against, to younger acts (Gogol Bordello, Gaslight Anthem). This was an extremely well organized, well executed two day festival that immediately put it in the same league as Pitchfork and Lollapalooza but keeping a local, independent vibe to it. We can only hope that spirit remains
Now to the bands - I was able to see a ton of bands over the course of the weekend and to prevent this from becoming a PhD dissertation length post, I'm keeping my review of each band to no more than three sentences max. Here we go:
Friday Night - Congress:
Neon Trees: Bad, worse, worst
The Offspring: More of a metal band than a punk band, they had a solid set that focused on the hits.
Saturday - Humboldt Park/Congress
GWAR: Their lead signer wore a codpiece that shot out fake blood. They sounded a bit like Slipknot but lacking one critical ingredient - good songs.
Andrew W.K. The great party set of the festival. Andrew W.K. specializes in brilliantly stupid music. "Party Hard" is a classic.
Gaslight Anthem: If Bruce Springsteen had given birth to a punk band, this would be it. A great, fast moving set from Jersey's finest - they will become huge soon. Bonus points for playing Fugazi's Waiting Room for their intro and covering Nirvana's "Silver"
Dropkick Murphys: They made the most of their short set time with a fast paced, blistering set that mixed the hits with a couple of new songs. It was great to hear "The Gauntlet" live for the first time plus adding AC/DC's "TNT" to the end of "I'm Shipping Out To Boston" was a great twist. Can't wait for the new album.
The Descendents: The inventors of pop punk - if they don't make Milo Goes To College, Green Day, Less Than Jake, etc do not exist. They were simply amazing playing all of their classics plus having punk kids read the All - o - gistics. Thou shalt not commit hygiene.
NOFX: After several opening bands at the Congress, Fat Mike and company rolled onto stage at 1:00 for the aftershow. I've developed a fondness for their un-orthodox live set. Despite Fat Mike's cold (and subsequent hot whiskey cure), they played a quick, great set.
Sunday - Humboldt Park/Cobra Lounge
Reverend Horton Heat: After making it to 9:45 mass (impressive after a very late show), made it to the Church o' Punk for a forty minute blast of psycho-billy with the Rev. An impressive set playing songs from each album his of 20 plus year catalog.
Less Than Jake: Full disclosure - they are one of my favorite live acts ever and have seen them 10 plus times. LTJ never fails to disappoint live with their intense mix of ska, punk, and occasional speed metal and smoked again today. Really liked their new songs.
Promise Ring: I was thrilled to see the godfathers of emo come back this year after a lengthy absence. Only saw their first couple of songs "Happiness is All the Rage" and "Very Emergency" but they were fantastic. Hope I get to catch them later this year.
NOFX (again): You know it's a good day when you get to see NOFX twice in 13 hours. Fat Mike's cold really hampered his vocals but still a great, fast set of the hits. Great cameo from Angelo from Fishbone.
Jesus and Mary Chain : They sounded great, played the hits, but had the stage presence of a box of rocks. Am now reminded of why I hated their performance at Lollapalooza 1994.
Elvis Costello and the Imposters: It was so cool to see Elvis play his classics with most of the Attractions. Turned into a bit of a jam version which showed off his chops as a guitarist but did get a little long winded (a 10 minute version of "Clubland" bordered on overkill). His closing versions of "Pump It Up" and "Peace, Love, and Understanding" atoned for his foray into Dead-land.
Gogol Bordello: Didn't see much of the set but it was like an Eastern European style version of P-Funk,
Iggy and The Stooges: Apparently someone forgot to tell Iggy that he's 65 years old, jumping into the audience, running all over the place. An monster set by the band who started it all 40 years ago. The one two punch of "I Got A Right" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" still gives me chills a week later
Fishbone (at Cobra Lounge): I got to see Fishbone in a small room no more than 20 feet away from the stage at any given moment. Took me three days to get my voice back. My life is complete.
That's it - my abbreviated (well, not really) review of Riot Fest. While there a couple of bands touring that would have been great to see on the bill such as Refused and OFF!, it was a great start on such a large stage. Can't wait to go back next year.
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