Grinderman, Frank Turner (!!!), Twenty One Pilots, Wolf Alice, Slaves (aka Soft Play), Drakulas, The Front Bottoms, Motion City Soundtrack, Sincere Engineer. That’s quite a collection of bands. That would be a hell of a lineup for a festival. It’s a list of bands I “discovered” at festivals. Bands I knew very little about going in to the festival but left as a big or bigger or HUGE fan. Is there an act of that nature at Riot Fest 2024?
I’m predicting The Hives. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know much about them before the last few weeks. They are a Swedish “garage punk” band that really got popular in the early 2000’s. Trying to figure out how I missed them but I think they got caught up in the other “The” acts of that time. At least in my mind…The Killers, The Strokes, The Hives.
Love their sound. Full on guitar assaults like few are still doing. Two guitars, one bass, drums, and a singer. Basic straight on rock and roll. And their live shows looks to be amazing. Matching suits that put the Bosstones to shame. Amazing energy. Full of personality with attitude. And they’re on at 255pm up against no one. The only knock is they only have 40 minutes.