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Riot Fest Mon Sep 14 2015
Riot Fest Recap: Day Three
Riot Fest 2015 - Sunday (photos by Rena Naltsas)
As the pools of mud began to settle and the freak-show carnies pulled the last swords from their throats, Riot Fest 2015 was officially coming to a close in Douglas Park. It was a weekend of dangerous stage dives, emo nostalgia, and a few indulgent sets of crappy party rap. Day three had many surprises in store with its vast variety of artists, and we look forward to another fest weekend in 2016.
Riot Fest 2015 - Sunday (photos by Rena Naltsas)
Yelawolf
While Sunday was the day for more electronic and hip-hop acts, Yelawolf sat at the bottom of the party rap barrel. His flow, or lack thererof, sounded more like a thoughtless burble atop soulless beats. His monkeying performances of incoherent Southern rap was like a hipster Riff Raff. Sure, he might be reinventing hip-hop into a weird new punk-rap, but I can't seem to let go of the fact that he defends the confederate flag.
-Emily Ornberg
Stephen Marley w/ Ghetto Youths Crew
Tucked away among the trees in the corner of Douglas Park, the sweet hymn of easy reggae played from none other than Stephen "Ragga" Marley--yep, the son of reggae legend Bob Marley. The melodic grooves induced the entire crowd into a dancing frenzy, however, his rendition of "Don't Worry Be Happy" was so void of originality the entire set felt like a caricature of reggae, down to the horns and choreographed backup vocalists.
-Emily Ornberg
Riot Fest 2015 - Sunday (photos by Rena Naltsas)
L7
At a festival with a substantial amount of male-fronted bands, the ratio of female fans to female bands fell short. However, L7 rocked harder than most bands throughout the entire weekend, with thrashing guitar solos and drum attacks that wavered between a heavy metal and fuzzy punk territory. Although their performances of '90s hits like "One More Thing" weren't necessarily made new, they were still delectable timepieces to revisit.
-Emily Ornberg
Riot Fest 2015 - Sunday (photos by Rena Naltsas)
Snoop Dogg
Here we are at 8pm, and headliner Snoop Dogg is nowhere to be found. He was supposed to go onstage 15 minutes ago, and the legion of fans are restless, and begin chanting, "WE-WANT-SNOOP!" Ten minutes later, the chants turn into boos. The video screen is not working, so a DJ and hype woman try to create some diversion by absurdly asking if we are ready for the tardy MC. Panic sets in--will we ever get to see the Doggy Dogg?
Then the opening chords of the G-funk canticle "Gin and Juice" gloriously commence as two shimmying bikini-clad dancers lead Snoop, who slowly scoots onstage wearing an Adidas tracksuit, sunglasses and a blunt between his lanky fingers.
The overly dragged out anticipation made hearing live iterations of Snoop's classic West Coast grooves "Drop it Like it's Hot" and "Who Am I (What's My Name)" that much more monumental, and his impressive cover of House of Pain's "Jump Around" (which coincidentally was the third time this was covered today) showcased his ability to bend his flow double-time in his gangsta-tinged bark.
Modest Mouse fans began shoving through the audience to get a good spot at the adjacent stage, as the sound booth flashed a 3-minute warning onstage. "Don't tell me I only have three minutes left, it ain't my fault y'all fucked up!" Snoop barks at the sound tent. "Ain't gonna cut me off, bitch-ass motherfucker. Put one of my security guards near the sound table to make sure they don't cut me off," he threatens. Sure enough,180 seconds later and the lights go out and sound gets cut out mid-song. Poor Snoop.
-Emily Ornberg