Despite big acts dropping off the bill and rumors that the whole event might
be canceled, Riot Fest still managed to pull off another amazing year. Headlined by Weezer, Beck, Run the Jewels, and Incubus, the fest was able to make up for the unfortunate cancelation of Blink-182 as a headliner.
To say the least, we were surprised at the outcome after the coordinators fought the uphill battle to deliver this year.
To begin, we must mention the set from probably the most polarizing act, Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers. Johnson caused quite a conversation after his video for “Peach Scones” went viral, with some people being completely captivated by his over confessional lyrics while others seemed to just hate his guts.
Nevertheless, Hobo Johnson gathered what he called “the biggest crowd he’s ever played for” and delivered an enjoyable, high-energy set peppered with his signature brand of psycho.
Next, we have to shout out one of our personal favorites, The Front Bottoms. Despite being battered from months of touring, they brought a lot of energy with an excellent folk punk set.
In addition to playing new songs, they pulled from their back catalog to play some fan favorites which got a positive response from the crowd. Hobo Johnson and his band members were invited on stage to sing backup vocals on their classic, “Twin Sized Mattress” only a few minutes after giving his setlist a big shoutout.
To close out Friday, Weezer hit the stage and opened up with hit “Buddy Holly” and continued with a setlist full of their other classics along with a few covers. Frontman Rivers Cuomo also took a portion of the set to play a couple of acoustic songs by himself on the second main stage. He also addressed Blink-182’s cancellation saying that they were upset that they couldn’t make it but were happy to be there and followed the statement by playing a cover of “All the Small Things.” One highlight on Saturday was The Voidz. You may recognize the singer being the frontman of the Strokes. The Voidz, formerly Julian Casablancas + The Voidz, delivered one of the most sonically experimental performances of the set, complete with buzzing guitars, spooky keyboards, and Julian’s swaggering, I-don’t-care stage presence.
Before getting to the highlight of our Saturday, we have to shout out the Elvis Costello performance that we unfortunately missed.
To say he’s been feeling ill would be an understatement and everyone at WXAV admires his great strength and perseverance to perform for the crowd at Riot Fest.
Our Saturday highlight was none other than on of the original rock ‘n rollers himself, the one and only Jerry Lee Lewis. After about fifteen minutes of his band playing covers of artists from Carl Perkins to Riot Fest alum Merle Haggard, Lewis was escorted on stage by a stagehand. Despite it being very obvious that time has taken its toll on the legend, Lewis still plunked out some amazingly rockin’ piano riffs. In true Riot Fest fashion, the crowd for Jerry Lee Lewis opened a huge circle pit and produced dozens and dozens of crowd surfers. To close out our Saturday, we decided that we would havebad spots for headliner Beck, so we spent the last hour with Andrew W.K., who played the Rebel stage right after Gwar in true Riot Fest tradition.
The Sunday of Riot Fest fell on the same day as Mexican Independence day and it was best represented there with an excellent, energetic, and bilingual setlist from Californian band Beach Goons. They were grateful that their first performance in Chicago was Riot Fest. They closed out with a soaring cover of “La Bamba,” quickly starting a big, dusty moshpit.
For Sunday, we must first mention the blistering crossover-thrash set of Suicidal
Tendencies. By Riot Fest tradition, they played an album in its entirety. This one being their self-titled debut album with frontman Mike Muir giving some history and inspirational words about powering through mental illness in between songs.
The band closed their set by calling up fans to storm the stage and having guitarist Ben Weinman play while being held up by his feet in the crowd.
Suicidal Tendencies were the perfect spokespeople for anyone fighting an internal battle and they were more than worthy to play their now-classic album on the main stage.
As one of the acts announced alongside Blink’s cancellation, Run the Jewels co-headlined Sunday, sharing the headline title with Incubus.
A five-year old hip-hop duo supergroup composed of seasoned veterans, rapper Killer Mike and rapper-producer El-P were up to the task of closing out a three-day punk fest.
Last time the duo was here, they were alongside Mitski supporting Lorde on her Melodrama tour.
This time they effortlessly commanded a crowd of thousands to jump as their hard-hitting bass drops and futuristic instrumentals shook the chests of the first few dozens rows of people.
Speaking explicitly about suicide prevention and respecting women between fast-flowing rap songs, the group proved themselves to embody everything Riot Fest was about despite not being a punk band.
Respect, self-love, and fun.
Anthony Lopez & Luke Hodorek
Features Contributors
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