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Riot Fest 2025!

Conflicts

Definitely a first-world problem, but when the lineup is this stacked, conflicts are bound to happen. Two—or sometimes even three—great acts playing at the same time. Every time I look at a new schedule, I do it with a mix of hope and dread, praying my favorites don’t overlap. And, almost without fail, they do. This year is no exception—if anything, it’s worse.

Before diving into band previews, here are a few tough choices that need to be made. I’ve got some leanings, but nothing’s set in stone. Honestly, a few might come down to a game-time decision.

Friday kicks off with three conflicts, two of which are brutal.
First up: Agnostic Front vs. The Hold Steady. I said I hadn’t made any decisions yet, but this one’s basically locked. Agnostic Front are OG New York punk legends and absolutely deserve respect—but The Hold Steady is a bucket list band for me. Plus, they’re on the small stage, which makes it even more tempting.

Next: Weird Al vs. Stiff Little Fingers. Weird Al is one of those “you gotta see it once” shows—costume changes, the whole spectacle. And let’s be real, when will I ever get another chance? But he’s up against Stiff Little Fingers, one of punk’s true pioneers out of Belfast. That’s a tough one.

And then there’s The Pogues vs. Blink-182. The Pogues are legendary Celtic punks, and this tour is their farewell after Shane MacGowan’s passing in 2023. They’re doing a full album play of Rum, Sodomy & the Lash with guest vocalists. But Blink is my guilty pleasure—I saw them twice last year and had a blast. Fully reunited and firing on all cylinders, they’re just so much fun live. This one’s going to hurt.

Saturday doesn’t let up.
Superchunk vs. GWAR kicks things off. Both are great live, but very different vibes. Luckily, we can probably catch all of Superchunk and still catch the end of GWAR—which might be enough, especially since half our crew is allegedly terrified of them.

Then it’s James vs. Marky Ramone. James had some catchy hits back in the HFS days, but Marky is a machine—29 songs in 58 minutes. No contest if you’re judging solely on the live energy.

Dropkick Murphys vs. The Damned is another partial overlap. I’ve seen both (The Damned just this year), and they both deserve full sets. Might be a split set or a last-minute call—fingers crossed for an aftershow to save us from making a choice.

The big one Saturday night: Weezer vs. The Sex Pistols. Both are playing their iconic debut albums in full. I saw Weezer do this show in December and it was fantastic. But the Sex Pistols? That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Plus, if the stage setups stay the same, I can probably get a better spot for them. I’m leaning one way, but still not 100% sure.

Sunday, thankfully, is smooth sailing. From Soft Play to Green Day, with Bad Religion and IDLES in the mix—no conflicts, just a solid run of great music.

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Riot Fest 2025!

The Boys Are Back

This lineup is incredible—maybe the best we’ve ever seen tailored so perfectly to our tastes. It’s the first festival where all three headliners are a hit for us. Even the best past lineups usually had one outlier (looking at you, Arcade Fire). This one is packed with our favorite live acts. I’ve seen over 20 of them before—and I’d gladly see all but two again (sorry, Beach Boys and Agent Orange).

Just in the past year, I’ve caught Blink-182 (twice), Weezer, Bad Religion, and The Damned—all fantastic. So there’s a strong sense of familiarity. But it’s also stacked with bucket list and near-bucket list acts: IDLES and The Hold Steady have been on my must-see radar for a while. And then there’s The Pogues, Sparks, and Weird Al—perfect “why not while I’m there” picks.

There’s a lot to unpack. Seeing the Sex Pistols—a band credited with igniting the punk movement—is likely a once-in-a-lifetime chance. And if you lean toward the idea that punk started in the U.S., you’ve got Marky Ramone playing the Ramones’ classics. Want to talk first punk record? That’s The Damned’s New Rose, and we’ll get to hear it live. Add in Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers, and Agnostic Front, and you’ve got a full OG punk roster.

Hidden in the fine print is a gem: Soft Play, formerly Slaves. Their 2017 aftershow at the Cobra was unforgettable—just two guys, no stool for the drummer, and a total disregard for the hi-hat. They’re back, and I’m all in.

Despite the familiarity, there’s still room for discovery. Inhaler is Bono’s son’s band. Lambrini Girls bring wild energy. It’s a lineup that keeps giving.

Of course, with so many great acts, there are trade-offs. Conflicts are inevitable (more on that later), and the strength of the headliners might make aftershows tough to pull off—logistics, energy, and timing all come into play. But if I can swing it, I’m aiming for Soft Play again (at the Cobra). The Damned would also be amazing in a smaller venue—Concord Ballroom, please. The Front Bottoms and The Hold Steady doing full sets would be fantastic too.

Can’t wait. And there’s only one way to kick things off this year:

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Bonus – Riot Fest 24, My New Favorite Band

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.

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Riot Fest 2024 – Saturday

Saturday at Riot Fest is Alternative Day with Brutus, The Dead Milkmen, The Hives, Manchester Orchestra, Spoon, Waxahatchee, St. Vincent, Pavement, Bright Eyes, and Beck.  Of course NOFX World still brings the punk. 

And more conflicts:

  • Buzzcocks or The Dead Milkmen
  • The Dickies or The Hives
  • Manchester Orchestra or Sincere Engineer
  • Spoon or Lagwagon
  • St. Vincent or Descendents or L.S. Dunes
  • Pavement or Bright Eyes
  • Beck or NOFX or Taking Back Sunday

Brutus – 1235am Metro Stage

Belgian alternative, post-hardcore.  Three piece.  Female singer.

The Dead Milkmen – 140pm NOFX World

No explanation needed.  No explanation provided.

Buzzcocks – 145pm Metro Stage

Along with Descendents and The Dickies, one of the early bands that put a melody into punk.  Buzzcocks doing it in late 70’s UK and Descendents and The Dickies in 80’s SoCal.  Created the blueprint for bands like Blink and Green Day.

Part of the most epic aftershow at the Cobra Lounge with Slaves (now Soft Play).  Since then, lead singer Pete Shelley has died leaving guitarist Steve Diggle to carry on as lead singer.  He is the only remaining original Buzzcock.

The Dickies – 230pm NOFX World

A huge influence on most punk bands after them.  Formed in SoCal in the late 70’s.  Johnny Ramone and Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion/Epitaph) call The Dickies on the greatest punk bands.  Like Buzzcocks, put melody into fast punk rock.  They have a lot of interesting back stories.  Of note, their guitarist, Stan Lee, was friends with Iggy Pop and Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot).  Also, they replaced the Sex Pistols on A&M Records after the Pistols were sacked.  A&M wanted a punk act that was “more manageable”.

The Hives – 255pm Metro Stage

Swedish “garage rock revival” band.  Known for their live shows with Spin magazine ranking them #8 on their 2006 Best Live Band list.  Formed in 1993 with only their bassist not being an original member.

Sincere Engineer – 410pm Rise Stage

The house band of “Familypalooza”, we saw them open the main stage at Bud Light stage at Lolla last year.  Pop punk from Chicago.  Really are just Deanna Belos with a band she puts around her.  Had a famously creative circle pit at Riot Fest for Corn Dog Sonnet.  Deanna designed the “Familypalooza” logo for us.

Manchester Orchestra – 425pm Metro Stage

We’ve seen them at Riot Fest before.  Great show.  Does the quiet loud quiet Pixies thing very well.  The only knock, like Offspring, they are playing an album play.  It’s a great album, but not all of it.

Spoon – 530pm AAA Stage

“Art rock” band from Austin.  I know them because “The Underdog” was everywhere about 15 years ago.  And it should have been as it’s a great song.

Lagwagon – 545pm NOFX World

Skate punk from Santa Barbara.  On Fat Wreck Chords.  Pretty typical of that sound and pretty good.  Interesting that Chris Shifflet, Foo guitarist, once was a touring guitarist for Lagwagon.

St. Vincent – 635pm Metro Stage

Stage name for Annie Clark.  She’s an amazing guitarist and puts on a very good “art rock” show.  Has a lot of collaborators. 

Descendents – 7pm NOFX World

Early SoCal punk band.  Was one of the first to do the melodic punk thing.  Blink call them out as a big influence.  Really interesting story as their singer, Milo, has a PhD in biology and worked for Dupont.  Between Milo and Dexter, from Offspring, they may be the smartest guys in all of rock.  See All play on Friday to see what Descendents did while Milo was off at school.  Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson played with Black Flag and now has a studio in Fort Collins.

LS Dunes – 705pm Rise Stage

Punk supergroup that has been at the last three Riot Fests.  They have members from My Chem, Circa Survive, and Coheed.  Kinda feel like we need to see them however them being up against Descendents probably leaves them missed again.

Pavement – 740pm AAA Stage

Alternative band that was everywhere in the 90s.  Super fun sound.

Bright Eyes – 755pm Radical Stage

“Indie folk” or “emo-folk” from Omaha.  Led by Conor Obest who is everywhere in the Indie Rock/Folk scene.

NOFX – 830pm NOFX World

Day 2 of their Chicago finale.

Beck – 845pm Metro Stage

You don’t need an explanation for Beck.  I’ve seen him a couple of times and his shows are super cool. Two turntables and a microphone…

Taking Back Sunday – 9pm Rise Stage

Another one of those bands that play Riot Fest almost every year and we still haven’t seen them.  Pop punk superstars.  Maybe we seen them here.  Maybe not.

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Riot Fest 2024 – Friday

Friday at Riot Fest.  A pretty stout, if not all time great day of music.  But that leads to conflicts.  Below are videos of acts I’d like to consider in general order by start time.  And there are only four acts on Friday that I have seen before.

While they don’t announce it, Riot Fest seems to give their days different themes.  And Friday is the Punk day this year.  From OG punks of The Exploited and Circle Jerks to the stacked day at the NOFX World stage to the finale of pop punk superstars Fall Out Boy.  And some OG rap mixed in.  Saturday is the Alt-Nation day.  Sunday is Metal.

But there are conflicts.  A good sign of a great lineup.  By comparison, I had no conflicts at Lollapalooza this year.  Here are the conflicts that need to be resolved on Friday.

<Edits> There was some movement of bands and some additions. Most notably, Suicidal Tendencies moved from Sunday to Friday. They will be added below.

  • Hot Mulligan or Face To Face or Suicidal Tendencies
  • New Found Glory or The Lawrence Arms
  • Sum 41 or Cypress Hill
  • The Offspring or Public Enemy (and I’m not even considering Circle Jerks which is a crime)
  • Fall Out Boy or NOFX or Marley Brothers



The Exploited – 1pm NOFX World

One of the early UK punk bands of the ilk of other punk bands we have seen, UK Subs and GBH.  Lead singer Wattie Buchan is the only remaining original member.  He’s an old 67 and had multiple heart attacks.  They were scheduled to play last year but had to cancel because of his health.


The Defiant – 2pm NOFX World

This is a tough one for me.  The sound is great.  But I have issues with them. They were formed by Dickie Barrett from the Bosstones after he blew up The MMB after his anti-vax stance.  Additionally, he got the drummer that was kicked out of The Offspring for the same stance, Pete Parada.  Add a former member of Smashmouth and this could be considered a supergroup.  Considering watching them up close wearing a mask.  Or just skipping them in protest…that’s punk right?

ALL – 3pm NOFX World

What happens when your lead singer wants to be a biochemist?  You get ALL.  When Milo, singer of the Descendents, decided to get a PhD in molecular biology and work for DuPont the rest of the Descendents didn’t want to give up and formed ALL.  Three quarters of this band will perform double duty and play both as ALL and Descendents at Riot Fest.

Hot Mulligan – 415pm Metro Stage

Emo from Lansing, Michigan.  I didn’t find much more noteworthy, except they are good and have interesting song titles.

Face To Face – 4pm NOFX World

SoCal punk band that came up the same time as Offspring, Guttermouth, and Voodoo Glow Skulls (Charlie Brown you’re a clown).  Will be on the NOFX stage as they have been on Fat Mike’s Fat Wreck Chords label.

Suicidal Tendencies – 455pm Rise Stage

S!T! Seen them a few times and they are great live.  Included below are a couple of clips from Surf City Blitz.  If you look closely you may find us in the crowd.  I didn’t, but you may.

They were moved from Sunday to Friday.

New Found Glory – 5pm AAA Stage

Pop punk from Florida; formed in the late 90’s.  Seems like they play every Riot Fest.  However, I’ve never seen them.

The Lawrence Arms – 530pm NOFX World

Punks from Chicago.  Played at other Riot Fests.  Been on both Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph, which is a good sign for me.

Sum 41 – 605pm Metro Stage

Punks from Toronto.  This is part of their farewell tour.  The other “normal” dates have The Interrupters opening for them, so that’s an endorsement for me.  Never really listened to them past “Fat Lip”, but “Fat Lip” is a banger.

Cypress Hill – 620pm Rise Stage

Do they really need an introduction?  We saw some Cypress Hill at Riot Fest before.  B-Real was in Prophets of Rage and they did some Cypress Hill.

The Offspring – 710pm AAA Stage

Another no explanation needed.  Except they are playing their album “Smash” in its entirety.  Not a fan of album plays as most albums have a slow portion, Smash included.  And it’s 45 minutes long leaving only 15 minutes for other songs (Dance Fucker Dance…).

Public Enemy – 725pm Radical Stage

How many Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame members have we seen at Riot Fest?  NIN, Patti Smith, Foo Fighters, Cory Feldman.  Not many but here’s another.  I’ve seen them before…touring with The Cult. And odd pairing for sure.  And they are exactly what you expect.  Great rhythmic old school rap, Flavor Flav jumping around with his clock, military dressed support on stage, Chuck D owning the stage.  Another act we saw a few songs with Prophets of Rage as Chuck D was a member.

Fall Out Boy – 815pm Metro Stage

Chicago emo pop punk.  Very successful and popular.  Co-headlined Hella Mega tour with Green Day and Weezer a few years ago.  Unfortunately couldn’t play a few dates because of COVID.  An endorsement by Green Day and Weezer should be good enough.

Marley Brothers – 830pm Rise Stage

Bob Marley’s catalog is beyond reproach.  The songs speak for themselves.  This is five of his kids performing his songs.  Could be a can’t miss show…if it wasn’t up against Fall Out Boy or NOFX.

NOFX – 830pm NOFX World

NOFX are completing their farewell tour this year.  Riot Fest are their last shows in Chicago with only their three Long Beach shows left in their career.  They have curated their NOFX World stage, selecting all of the acts.  And great acts that could have you camping at that stage all day all three days.  They are headlining each night as say they will play different songs, though they have never been one to stick by the rules.  The key is picking which night(s) to see them.

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