Musings…observations from the fourth line on the festival lineup poster

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Riot Fest 2019 Countdown 12 Weeks – Bikini Kill

Going forward, rather than one long post on Wednesdays I wll try to post smaller previews each day Tues, Weds, and Thurs. Same stuff, just hopefully easier to digest.

This week we’ve got an eclectic mix for Riot Fest.  Some Riot Grrrl punks and a couple of international acts that defy any categorization (but I will try).  But these are all acts that could scare you, but are so different that they have to be seen.  Certainly a couple of my top 5 must sees.

Bikini Kill are groundbreakers.  They carried along the Joan Jett attitude that girls could rock.  Certaily soon to be a favorite of KJ. They’re kinda the poster child of the Riot Grrrl movement of women fronted punk bands.  But don’t compare Potty Mouth to them (link; at 17:10).  Bikini Kill are from Olympia, WA and formed in the early 90s.  Ian Mackaye of Fugazi and Minor Threat fame produced their first album, which alone legitimized them.  But they rocked regardless.  They broke up just years later but their legend continued.  They recently reformed with a new guitarist as an all female foursome.  As usual, Riot Fest hosts a big reunion (Jawbreaker, Replacements, Misfits) and they are as big as any just by who they influenced.

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Riot Fest 2019 Countdown 13 Weeks

We’ve got about 13 weeks until Riot Fest, and there’s a lot of music to catch up on.  We’re kicking it off with our bread and butter, punk.  Here’re three punk bands, one old school, one not quite as old but super influential, and one carrying the banner now.

The Descendents deserve to be in the shotgun spot for the countdown.  They perfectly segue from Surf City Blitz to Riot Fest (and would be a shoe-in for the next SCB).  We saw them at Coachella 2013 and they were excellent.  They’re from SoCal and formed in the late 70s/early 80s akin to Bad Religion and Social D and The Offspring.  And they have a freaking genius with a PHD for a lead singer…like The Offspring and Bad Relgion.  The Descendents have followed an interesting path going on hiatus numerous times, usually because Milo, their singer, wants to be a scientist (he even worked for DuPont at one point).  Their drummer even played with Henry Rollins in Black Flag for a while.  And the band absent Milo formed the band “All”.  These guys are called out as one of the firsts that brought melody to punk.  As usual with Riot Fest, there are a number of bands that influenced the rest of the lineup.  You’d be hard pressed to find a band that influenced more of the rest of the lineup than the Decendents (Patti Smith indirectly as an exception).  Gotta be super stoked to see them.  One of my top 5 must sees at Riot Fest.  If you can, check out the documentary “Filmage” about them (streaming free on Tubitv.com).  Good stuff.

Cock Sparrer are old school punk.  They’ve been around since the seventies.  And most of their lineup are originals, which is super impressive considering their age.  Widely considered “Oi Punk” (with chants of “Oi, Oi, Oi!!) along with our friends from UK Subs.  I’m really looking forward to seeing one of the acts that helped kick start a lot of music we’ll see at Riot Fest.  One of my top 5 must sees at Riot Fest.  Hoping for an aftershow.

While they’ve been around for 20+ years, it seems like Anti-Flag is carrying the mantle for the politically charged hardcore punk acts of today.  Kinda like Bad Religion with an even harder edge.  I’m a little embarrassed to say that I am late to the Anti-Flag party. They are the next generation’s Dead Kennedys (without the shock factor). From Pittsburgh and they definitely feel like an East Coast hardcore band contrasting the West Coast punk of our Surf City Blitz friends. One of my top 5 must see acts at Riot Fest.

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Riot Fest 2019 Preview…the playlist

It begins.  At first glance this lineup looked weak.  The top line headliners really only showed one (maybe) that I would consider headliner worthy.  Sure Bikini Kill had reunited, and Slayer was calling it a day, and any time Jack White is on stage is exciting…but at a glance it didn’t get me excited.  But we know that headliners don’t drive a great festival.  Think of your great experience at festivals and I’d bet more came from the small print on the poster.  And the small print, lines four and below, deliver at Riot Fest 2019.  Deliver big time. (By the way, for my taste, line three is stacked.)  The lower lines on festival poster are the lines you discover new acts or get a favorite on a small stage with only a few people.  At RF19, you’ve got old school English punk (Oi! Oi! Oi!).  The frontman for one of the most influential American punk bands ever.  2Tone ska legends.  More pop punk than should be allowed.  Metal.  Speed Metal.  Metal supergroups.  Mongolian Metal.  Ski masks.  And so much more.  This is the point where I start to dig in and figure out what deserves a deeper cut.  Even the most active can likely see only five or six acts a day.  Which ones?  Here’s a playlist to prep by.  Not much logic to it.  Just took a few songs from many of the bands and am playing it on shuffle and repeat before whittling it down.

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The Specials, the Encore Version

The Van Buren, Phoenix, June 3, 2019

They are one of my all time favorites. But I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve seen the Specials before.  But the ’90s version without Terry.  And they were fun.  But as much as Roddy tried singing lead, there was something missing without Terry’s distinctive tone.  So I was concerned at this version has been reduced even more. Neville moved on due to health issues and Roddy moved on for reasons more personality driven (from what I hear).  The Specials are now Terry, Lynval, and Horace.  How would they fare?  I love their new album, Encore.  I love that it is political, that it has poignant covers, and is diverse.  It feels like a better follow up to their eponymous debut than “More Specials” was. And I got my answer….live, they were even better than I had hoped.

So with a new lineup and a new album that plays a big part of the setlist, how would they be?  Impressive.  Fun.  And relevant.  While they may be missing Neville’s energy and Roddy’s knock kneed solos, the three Specials left are not missing a beat.  Lynval is just cool doing double time with rhythm guitar and filling in for Neville, both vocally and by working the crowd.  And no one looks like they are enjoying themselves as much as Horace.  But this is Terry’s band.  And his voice makes the songs work.  And even though he really didn’t seem like he wanted to be there, that’s Terry and The Specials and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.  He’s an introvert, awkward, shuns the spotlight. And I love it. Imagine The Specials with Terry running around like David Lee Roth…see it doesn’t work.

Their setlist was quite a mix with classics, a few lesser known from the second album, a b-side, and new stuff (that includes a Fun Boy Three cover).  And it all worked.  While I’ll always jump for “Gansters” or “Rudy”, a couple of highlights are from the new record, Encore.  I loved the cover/remake of Fun Boy Three’s “The Lunatics…”.  Unfortunately it as relevant today as ever.  And Saffiyah Khan joining them to rightly call out Prince Buster’s “10 Commandments” with their own new version was certainly appropriate. If you don’t know of her, read up on her story. From Lynval’s opening “Warning, warning, nuclear attack…” to the crowd singing along to “you’re wondering now what to do now your know this is the end…” it was a great night of old and new. And all of it was relevant.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-specials/2019/the-van-buren-phoenix-az-391ad23.html

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Riot Fest 2019 Lineup Kneejerk reaction

While festival headliners sell tickets, the best festivals are because of the lower line acts. RF19 seems to be missing at least a couple of headliners. However, the lower lines are full. My initial must sees:

  • Die Antwoord – I will rarely be in a place to see this crazy live “act”
  • Cock Sparrer – Gotta give props to one of the originals. Might be the reason we have Oi.
  • Bob Mould – Never saw Husker Du. This will partially make up. Plus his solo stuff from the nineties is amazing
  • Anti-Flag – kinda embarrassed I haven’t seen them before.
  • The HU – Mongolian Metal? Yes.
  • Patti Smith – won’t be the most dynamic set (see Die Antwoord) but her influence on music is undeniable. Need to kiss the ring.
  • Pkew Pkew Pkew – maybe I’m late, but just heard them for the first time in March.