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Riot Fest Sat Sep 13 2014
Riot Fest 2014: Day 1
One of the first thing you notice about Riot Fest is how large the festival has become. The second thing is the mud, but we'll get to that soon enough. During the previous two years, the festival took place in the smaller southern portion of Humboldt Park. Before that for the better part of a decade, it was scattered around town with shows happening at various clubs around the city. This year is Riot Fest's tenth anniversary and they've decided to go big in response.
.@RiotFest is moving north this year to fit more awesome. http://t.co/oCDj9aCQhO Comparison: pic.twitter.com/PW07DU3IvT
— Evan Benner (@EvanBenner) August 21, 2014As seen in the above tweet, Riot Fest has taken over the much larger northern section of Humboldt Park, growing massively in the process. The new grounds feel immense in comparison to last year, like a small village or a commune in the middle of a metropolis brought to you by Red Bull and the upcoming Sunset Overdrive for XBox One. I walked in the park and surveyed my new surroundings. GWAR had just taken one of the stages and sounded as tight and as ridiculous as ever, seemingly not losing a step since the passing of Dave Brockie earlier this year. Their metal absurdities fit in rather well I as passed the haunted house, mini golf course, and fully stocked arcade as I made my way to Circa Survive.
This brings me to my minor criticism of the new grounds. As we all know, it was cold and rainy yesterday and got super muddy as a result. This is not Riot Fest's fault at all. But the gross weather in combination with the new grounds with little to no signage to direct people where to go made navigation problematic, as people wandered around aimlessly and extremely slowly, not knowing where to go while trying not slip in the mud.
—Justin Freeman
ALL by Katie Hovland
Circa Survive
It rained during pretty much all of Riot Fest Friday. The majority wasn't hard storming rain, but the dreary and grey misty kind. This sullen weather served many bands well. Backed by a ambiguously ominous grey sky, screeching guitars and Anthony Green's boundless and almost cult leader like charisma, Circa Survive whipped the crowd into a frenzy; Green getting in the muddy crowd, letting them touch him like a newfound messiah and placing his microphone in their faces so they can sing along during "The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is the Dose."
—Justin Freeman
The Hotelier
At this point it was raining slightly harder. Water was falling at a quickening pace and the sky looked ever more sinister, but still had a light of hopefulness. This served The Hotelier rather well. Drawing heavily from their excellent recent album, Home, Like Noplace Is There, they played an earnest set of Sunny Day Real Estate and Brand New-inspired emo. "Thank you. This is for sure the biggest crowd who've wanted to pay attention to us," they said with complete sincerity before playing "Your Deep Rest." As the rain continued to fall, the crowd sang in unison along with the lines "I called in sick to your funeral." It was fantastic.
—Justin Freeman
Pussy Riot by Katie Hovland
Pussy Riot
Henry Rollins appeared on stage and chatted some of that "punk rock is a continuum for all our lives" rhetoric. This set the the tone for the majority of the panel as Rollins waxed poetically about many things. Like Henry Rollins tends to do. This was both good and bad. I find Rollins to be fascinating, but I would have liked to hear a little more from Pussy Riot. I really dig the idea of these discussions and hope they have more of them in the future at the festival -- it was an interesting concept and a nice break from the music.
—Justin Freeman
NOFX by Katie Hovland
Radkey
While rushing over from the Pussy Riot panel, I caught the the end of Radkey's set. Oozing with psychobilly cool, Radkey are a trio of three black men from Missouri who use punk to examine things from their point of view, such as white entitlement and racism, with songs such as "N.I.G.G.A (Not OK)." One of the most enthusiastic and impressive sets I saw on Friday.
—Justin Freeman
Mastodon by Katie Hovland
The Offspring
"Wow, I feel like I'm back in 8th grade right now," the man behind me declared as The Offspring careened into their hour-long Riot Fest set. Though the four-person group is still recording together, having released their latest album in 2012, their music sensed its height of peak popularity back in the early '90s. However, this did not stop them from packing the muddy field that we all sloshed through to hear their greatest hits.
Combining '80s traditional music elements with a gritty hard rock vibe, The Offspring brought their cherished tunes out in full force. Outfitted in black, their sound was precise and crisp. Frontman Dexter Holland is a seasoned performer, truly at home on stage.
In order to celebrate Riot Fest's 10th year, 10 bands will commemorate their epic careers and play 10 pivotal albums from their catalog. The Offspring played one of their earliest records, 1993's Smash, much to the crowd's delight. With the audience typically singing along during songs such as "Self Esteem," the group finished with this album and dove right in to some of their high-octane popular jams, including "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)," and the ballad "Why Don't You Get a Job?", which the audience just couldn't help to sing along to. With a high-energy career retrospective, The Offspring showcased their immense staying power. As their opener "Time To Relax" stated, Lean back and just enjoy the melodies / After all, music soothes even the savage beast.
—Sarah Brooks
Slayer by Katie Hovland
Slayer
At this point, the sky was pitch black and it slowly was starting to rain pretty heavily. Bathed in rain and red light, Slayer appeared to their legions of unholy followers to play the very much appropriately titled, Reign in Blood. It was a master class and I looked on in amazement as I watched Kerry King absolutely shred his guitar. Also, watching thousands of people thrash around in the mud to songs such as "Altar of Sacrifice" as Tom Araya goes ballistic is an incredible sight to behold.
—Justin Freeman
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is one of those bands I needed to check off of my musical bucket list. I'd heard whisperings of Perry Farrell's stage antics, from their eccentric actions to their tour-de-force showmanship. With all of Jane's Addiction's controversy, therein lies stellar rock music that continues to influence that of today.
Their set brought us back in time, unfettered by the signs of the current day and age, to a crowded Los Angeles venue where they got their start. Also participating in the 10 albums initiative, Jane's Addiction played straight through their 1988 release, Nothing's Shocking. The title of this album permeated the set, with Perry Farrell exhibiting his talents as a true frontman. While I couldn't help but be dazzled by the quick-paced drumming of Stephen Perkins, who never missed a beat, or the cool, collected artistry of Dave Navarro's guitar backings, as an audience, our eyes kept going back to Farrell.
As all genius is infused with a bit of madness, such was Farrell's demeanor exhibited onstage. Emerging while somehow missing the signs of any age, Farrell careened across the stage, stepped down into the audience, and exhibited eccentric dance moves throughout the set. He is truly connected deeply with the music he creates, and he proves that it is more than merely a career, but an art form, an identity. His banter with the audience was a bit unorthodox and nonsensical, as he gave an ode about the rain's effect on his hair, and also prided himself on his (somewhat bleak) knowledge of Chicago sports.
"Jay Cutler is fucking great. But he's no Perry Farrell," he snickered as the set wound down and he expressed his sincere gratitude to the audience. As they wound through the album with their electrifying sound, it seemed as if we were transported in time and able to indulge in the past for just a little while. The only sour note of the set transpired during "Jane Says," during which the volume was simply not loud enough — the rain's deluge a likely culprit, as I watched Dave Navarro mouth words of confusion. Though it still sounded lovely, the audience was definitely aching to belt out all of the lyrics for this one. Ending their set featuring scantily-clad burlesque dancers suspended from the stage, hoisted around and eased down as if controlled by the hands of a puppeteer, I can honestly say that I had never seen anything of that kind before, and was joyous that I got to see the famous Jane's Addiction persona come to life. As Jane's Addiction is currently on a recording hiatus, this set was perhaps one of the intermittent Chicago stops the group would make, and I am all too pleased I got to be a part of it, eccentricity and all.
—Sarah Brooks
