This year was a major milestone as Riot Fest, the best outdoor festival to ever do it, turned 20 years old! The fest started as a two-day indoor show at the Congress Theater (RIP) and over the first half of the festival’s life it evolved into a massive outdoor festival while still retaining the charm and ethic that it started with. Every year they’ve constantly outdone itself with diverse lineups, shocking band reunions, and all kinds of surprises. This year was no different, and as usual they really went all out to bring the city of Chicago the best weekend of the year.
Beloved pop-punk trio Shonen Knife made their Riot Fest debut to open this first day of the fest and what a way to start! This Japanese trio has been active since 1981 and garnered some success here in the states in the early 90s thanks to bands like Sonic Youth and White Flag singing their praises among others. There was even a tribute album back then of bands covering Shonen Knife songs. These ladies were all smiles as they delivered a rock solid set of their infectious pop tunes. What a wonderful way to start the day!
Mac Sabbath were up next. I’ve never heard the term “Drive Thru Metal” before seeing this band but now I’m a huge fan! This parody tribute band features demented McDonalds characters performing Black Sabbath songs, except all the lyrics are changed to be about fast food! The lead singer, Ronald Osbourne, had every Ozzy mannerism down right to the way he walked, the voice, and the hand gestures! It was almost like seeing Ozzy himself dressed as a nightmarish Ronald McDonald. It was amazing! Slayer McCheese could shred with the best of them and Grimalice held down the low-end while looking equal parts adorable and terrifying. The drummer, Catburglar, was obviously based off Hamburglar, but he had cat makeup ala Peter Criss from Kiss! This was brilliant. They had great props, tons of character and were so much fun. They really stole the show for the entire day! They need to come back and play this fest again asap!
The Tossers made their Riot Fest return. They are a Celtic punk rock band and at times even have a bit of a resemblance to The Pogues (who would play this same stage later in the evening). They were very entertaining and made you want to have a drink and dance, and many did!
The comedy didn’t stop there, Puddles Pity Party was next. Downers Grove native and famous comedian Emo Phillips did the honors of warming up the crowd with a little of his comedy before introducing Puddles. This giant sized clown, played a really entertaining set of songs delivered though the lens of a sad clown. Puddles must be about seven feet tall and had a voice to match. He performed a mix of music and comedy that included some props and was really a fun set. The Weird Al themed stage this year at Riot Fest really was a highlight of the entire fest between Mac Sabbath, Puddles and later Weird Al himself. And speaking of Mac Sabbath (again), Ronald Osbourne joined Puddles and playing “guitar” for a number.
One of the most exciting bands of the entire fest for me was the reunion of Shudder To Think! They hadn’t been together in 30 years and I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted their return. The band sounded like they. never stopped and time stood still for them. They played a beautiful set whose only flaw was it was only 30 minutes. I guess they were given one minute for each year they were away but man was it the best 30 minutes of the day! Their set was comprised of songs from Pony Express Record, Get Your Goat , and Funeral At The Movies (sadly they didn’t perform the title track), and “Lies About The Sky” was a real treat especially! The band is currently on tour, and even has a new single coming out in the near future! Riot Fest please have them back and give them an hour!
Camper Van Beethoven was up next. They have a pretty diverse sound that mixes rock, country, folk, and alternative, and have been around since 1983. Their ten song set was quite enjoyable, especially their cover of “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”. Unlike most bands, they didn’t make the crowd wait until the end to play their biggest hit, “Take The Skinheads Bowling”, as that was the fifth song in their set.
New York Hardcore legends, Agnostic Front, put on a hardcore clinic on the Rebel Stage. One of the earliest and longest active hardcore bands, they showed that old age doesn’t diminish passion and energy as the band played a set every bit as powerful and energetic as the ones they did in the 1980s. It was fantastic, and the band still continues to make good records to this very day. They’ve definitely earned legend status and these elder statesmen of hardcore still do it better than most. They played their entire first album, Victim In Pain, which made it all the more special!
Speaking of bands that have been at it a long time, Sparks would’ve had the distinction of being the longest running band in Riot Fest history had it not been for the fact that The Beach Boys were also playing the fest this year. This musical duo featuring the Mael brothers have been together and active since 1971. They’ve had their popularity reignited by a really great documentary film that came out on them a couple of years ago. The band is so unique it is hard to pigeonhole them into any one description. Russel Mael, the lead singer, has a very operatic voice and is very animated and flamboyant as he moves around the stage with big booming gestures as he sings and is quite the showman. Ron Mael, on the other hand, sits statuesque behind his keyboard with a deadpan serious look on his face and rarely even turns his head. If you think all the photos of him on this page are the same photo I assure you they are not, the guy barely moves, he just stares at the crowd and plays his keyboard with as little motion as possible. They opened with “So May We Start” which I would imagine they probably always open with in the same way Cheap Trick always open with “Hello There”. They played a really entertaining ten song set and were one of the many true highlights to the fest this year.
Riot Fest has always been synonymous with band reunions and this year was no different as the Didjits played for the first time in nearly 20 years, and that one was a one-off for the Touch And Go Records 25th anniversary. Formed in the early 1980s, Didjits became rather infamous for their stellar rock shows and Rick Sims’ often confontational stage presence (it was all park of the gimmick). The band made some great records and then disbanded in the mid 1990s. Having the band reunite in any form is a pretty big deal. This version of the Didjits features founder Rick Sims (guitar/vocals) and two new members but the music sounded as great as ever and Rick hasn’t lost any ability to be an outgoing frontman. It was great to see him on stage again doing what he does best.
It wouldn’t feel like Riot Fest without Alkaline Trio being involved. They’ve been a staple of the fest throughout the years and this hugely popular pop-punk band are always a welcome addition that draws a massive sized crowd. This was the band’s first Riot Fest with their new drummer, Atom Willard and they did an album set this time out. After playing five songs, they proceeded to play Maybe I’ll Catch Fire in its entirety. It was fantastic and the people went crazy for them.
Speaking of crowds, the crowd was so massive for Weird Al Yankovic that he really shouldn’t been on one of the two biggest stages as the people were so packed in there that the back half of the festival grounds was completely full, in fact people probably got on the ferris wheel just to be able to see from afar as every square inch of ground was taken up with people. What’s even more amazing is the vast age range of people packed in like sardines to see Weird Al. The MTV generation makes sense, they all grew up watching all the great Weird Al videos, but there were kids out there who weren’t born and raised back then, where are they finding out about Weird Al?! It’s not like there’s a music video channel to watch videos on anymore. Regardless of how it happened, Weird Al was clearly one of the top draws of the fest and he sure delivered! Weird Al didn’t just stand on stage and play his many great parody hits, he did it with full production and theatrics including all kinds of video skits between songs and costume changes! He came out dressed like Kurt Cobain for “Smells Like Nirvana” and then changed into Devo for “Dare To Be Stupid”. Al even had all the mannerisms down of the people he was parodying in those songs! It was an incredible performance and just so much fun!
How do you follow, and even overlap with something on the level of a Weird Al? The Pogues sure tried but seemed downright subdued after that spectacle. There’s been some unfortunately passings of key members of The Pogues in recent years, the most recent being Shane MacGowan. The three surviving members reformed The Pogues last year and began touring. This was their first time here since before MacGowan died. The band had a ton of musicians on stage, it was hard to count them all as they were two layers deep. This rivaled even Pigface for trying to break a world record for how many band members are on stage playing. The band played a pretty solid 90 minute set that made their drunken long-time fans pretty happy, even if it wasn’t quite the same due to the members that are no longer with us. Despite all the drinking, they crowd seemed very unified in their love for this long-time band and hopefully they all had taken public transportation or had designated drivers lined up to get them home safely.
The first night of the 20th Riot Fest was a huge success and an incredibly fun day, and there was still two more days of even more great bands and surprises in store for everyone!
