Observations, Musings, and Lessons Learned mostly in the world of Punk, Ska, Alternative, Metal, and just plain Rock and Roll. Music with guitars…mostly
Musings…observations from the fourth line on the festival lineup poster
Here are some “interesting” acts I ran across in my research. They didn’t make my final previews but some of them will be worthy of seeing, whether it’s for the music or the spectacle (a la Corey Feldman). One is an actor’s band that played a serial killer. One is Fat Mike’s latest project. And there’s a Yeti and a goblin.
Basement
English “soft grunge”
Saxsquatch
Just watch…
Princess Goes
Dexter’s band. Really. The TV Series about a serial killer. The actor that played Dexter is the singer of Princess Goes.
Urethane
From NoCal
Codefendants
A new band formed by Fat Mike. Includes a rap tone. “Get ready for the best aural sex of your life,” Fat Mike said.
Lord of the Lost
German “dark rock” band
The Warning
Mexican female band
The Aces
Pop band of four women. Imagine the Linda Lindas doing pop, older, and Mormon.
Sunday is Metal Day at Riot Fest with Slayer headlining and Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Rob Zombie coming along. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other nuggets to find. We start the day with the Packwood special; the certified album of the year. And we finally get Operation Ivy at Riot Fest, kinda.
Sprints – 120pm Metro Stage
The Packwood find. May be in the running for ”Future Favorite Discovered at RF24”. They fit the formula perfectly…raucous garage/punk with a female lead. The Irish Amyl and the Sniffers. Just formed in 2019. And I’m gonna plagiarize Wikipedia for this next line….” Journalist Ed Power wrote that “Sprints songs are breathless pile-drivers, powered by Chubb’s ear for cut-glass melody and by their producer Daniel Fox’s ability to make intimate music feel huge”. Listening to their music “feels like tiptoeing into a stranger’s room and reading their intimate diary entries”.
Fiddlehead – 210pm Rise Stage
Called a post hard-core Supergroup, but I hadn’t heard of the bands they were in before. From Boston. The guitarist will do double duty this weekend playing with Basement on Saturday. No fiddles in Fiddlehead, btw.
Swingin Utters – 230pm NOFX World
Street punk from Northern California. Been at it a long time. Played at the first Warped Tour.
Strung Out – 330pm NOFX World
So Cal punks on Fat Wreck. “Melodic Hardcore” of “Skate Punk”
Slaughter Beach, Dog – 415pm Radical Stage
Indie rock from Philly. Was a solo project from one of our Lolla bands, Modern Baseball. Jake Ewald formed Slaughter Beach, Dog while Modern Baseball was on hiatus. They has since broken up.
The Vandals – 430pm NOFX World
We’ve kinda seen them before. Pennywise brought the Vandals lead singer, Dave Quackenbush, on stage during Surf City Blitz to sing a song. SoCal punk of the likes of all of the others. Pretty fun.
GWAR – 455pm AAA Stage
No explanation needed. No explanation given. Except….is this the year we dress in white and get up front? Maybe not, but that time isn’t far off.
Laura Jane Grace with Catbite – 545pm NOFX World
This is a Big Deal. On a list of most influential punk bands, Operation Ivy has very few rivals. Without Op Ivy, there wouldn’t be a Rancid or Green Day. For years, there have been many calls for an Operation Ivy reunion at Riot Fest. Not many have been more vocal than Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!. Rather than wait, Laura Jane is taking the matter into her hands. While not Op Ivy, it will be awesome to see these songs played at RF.
Catbite is a Philly ska band akin to our friends The Interrupters.
Speaking of The Interrupters, note the rhythm section on the Op Ivy/Tim Armstrong/Jesse Michaels video.
Pennywise – 7pm NOFX World
There can never be too many Bro Hymn videos.
Rob Zombie – 705pm AAA Stage
Rob Zombie was a production assistant by day on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and trying to start a band at night in NYC in the early nineties. You learn something new everyday. If the stage show, at 7pm, is as good as the videos this make take priority over Pennywise.
Slayer – 815pm Metro Stage
They have announced they are done. This is a one-off show. If I was ever gonna see them it has to be here.
NOFX – 830pm NOFX World
The last Chicago show ever for NOFX. Slayer or NOFX? NOFX or Slayer? Or Lou Malnati’s.
Sublime – 9pm Rise Stage
You know the story…singer dies of drug OD on the eve of the band making it big. The band carries on with a new singer and slightly appended name. The original lead singer’s son gets old enough to take over singing duties. The replacement singer is kicked out. And they are Sublime again. Not thinking there’s a chance I’ll see them against Slayer and NOFX but by Sunday night I may need a low adrenalin show.
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.
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.
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.
