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

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Aftershow Ideas

100% the aftershows have been some of the best times at Lolla and RiotFest.  But this year there isn’t anything that jumps out from the official aftershow schedule.  There is one that is a little interesting on Friday and another unofficial aftershow on Saturday.  Read the options and let me know what you think.

Friday

Motion City Soundtrack at the Concord.  Motion City Soundtrack are a pop punk/emo band straight away.  Which means guitars and melodies.  They play earlier on Friday at Riot Fest.  Why should we see them?  They’re good.  They’re at the Concord which is the site of the famous Kyle-sadface-with-key photo at the Violent Femmes.  Why shouldn’t we?  We probably want to stay to the end of Smashing Pumpkins on Friday which may make it tough to get to the Concord, however they probably won’t start until midnight.  BTW, the Concord is about 2 miles directly down Milwaukee Ave from our Airbnb.  Tickets are $34.

Saturday

This one needs some explaining.  Every year for the past 5 or so years there has been a “Pop Punk Pizza Party” on the Saturday of Riot Fest.  A couple of local bands play plus one surprise band shows up.  The surprise is a lower tier Riot Fest band that they can’t market because of conflicts with Riot Fest.  But it’s popular band. What it has going for it?  Saturday with Run The Jewels doesn’t seem to be a night we’d stay late.  Admission is only $24 and includes a free slice of pizza and a bunch of hot sauce samples.  And it’s about a mile from our Airbnb right down Milwaukee Ave.  It seems like we might already be roaming for pizza at that time anyway.

Here’s the website: https://dice.fm/event/qm3mx-pop-punk-pizza-party-with-super-secret-band-18th-sep-chop-shop-chicago-tickets?pid=bb159b4e&_branch_match_id=963526725337063478

And cut and paste from the site:

Welcome to Pop Punk Pizza Party VI - The People's Pizza Party! We're back with a vengeance at Chop Shop for a bigger, better, spicier rager to celebrate all things Soothsayer. Pizza? Check. Pop punk? Check. High fives? Always. Partying for a good cause? You betcha. This year we'll be donating all ticket proceeds to The People's Pizza Party, an incredible direct action group formed by some of the best people Chicago's punk scene has to offer, who provide food and supplies to the houseless community. After we pay the bands and delivery guy, of course. Each ticket will include a full slice of pizza (vegetarian, vegan, and carnivore options) and unlimited hot sauce tasting. Additional slices will be made available for purchase after 10pm, with all proceeds continuing to benefit the amazing work of People's Pizza Party. Come happy, come hungry, and come to party.
  • SUPER SECRET BAND
  • SECRET BAND
  • MAX STERN (FULL BAND)
  • THE BURST AND BLOOM

Anyway, what are your thoughts?  Friday or Saturday or both or neither?

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Who are your Top 10 (or 30) acts to see at Riot Fest?

As we near the schedule announcement I get nervous a couple of my MUST SEE acts will conflict with each other.  Yes, 2019’s Descendents up against Rancid remains unforgivable.  So I ranked all of the acts in order of my preference.  And it’s fluid.  Some may move based on what I’m listening to.  Some may move as I discover new music.  Some may move based on time and stage – seeing a lower ranked band up close (except for our friends GWAR) is better than a top band far away (remember Blink?). 

Below is my top 30.  My top three are bands I’ve never seen before (NOFX kinda).  And the next three are just killer live. Why top 30?  It feels like we see about 15 bands over three days.  So any of the top 30 are a great weekend.  Plus with the cancelations, my top 30 is already down to a top 27.  What’s missing?  A few top line acts didn’t make it – Run The Jewels, Machine Gun Kelly, Slipknot, Coheed and Cambia, Lupe Fiasco.  Also a whole slew of pop punk.  And a few favorites that just got pushed down the list: Sublime and Dirty Heads.   But they’re all good (except MGK).  Seriously we could go 50 to 60 deep on this list and have an amazing weekend.

Who are your Top Ten?

My top 30:

1 Devo
2 NOFX
3 Circle Jerks
4 Dropkick Murphys
5 Pixies
6 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
7 Rancid
8 Nine Inch Nails
9 The Smashing Pumpkins
10 The Lawrence Arms
11 Body Count
12 Living Colour
13 Faith No More
14 Les Savy Fav
15 K.Flay
16 Anti-Flag
17 Thrice
18 Dinosaur Jr.
19 Knuckle Puck
20 Meg Myers
21 Circa Survive
22 The Clockworks
23 GWAR
24 Radkey
25 Skating Polly
26 Fever 333
27 Motion City Soundtrack
28 Fishbone
29 Gogol Bordello
30 Hepcat

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Riot Fest 2021 Preview – The Clockworks, Meet Me At The Drive-In, Best Coast

Lost in the stir of losing Nine Inch Nails, Riot Fest also lost a Canadian band, White Lung.  Which sucks because they were likely one of those unknowns to turn into favorites.  But by losing them we gained The Clockworks, which slide right into that possible future favorites.  Too bad we couldn’t get both.

EDIT: Pixies and Skating Polly just dropped. This was written before this news. Since The Clockworks were touring with Pixies it’s very likely they will drop back off. More changes to the lineup are expected included some new adds. Stay posted.

The Clockworks – Sunday

As mentioned, a last minute replacement.  They’re Irish punks.  Remind me of a mix of old school Gang of Four meets The Idles with a bit of Slaves thrown in.  A great sound.  Super new. So new they don’t even have a Wikipedia page.   So new they don’t even have a proper album; just a run of singles.  And they are really good singles.  Oh, and they’re opening for Pixies on their latest tour so they have street cred. I hope they slot right into the small stage mid afternoon.

Meet Me @ the Altar – Friday

A pop punkish band created entirely over Youtube with it’s members living in different states.  Our generation created bands in garages.  Today they are created on the computer.   Possibly one of those lower poster line bands that are great to discover on the small stage.

Best Coast – Saturday

Indie duo from LA (singer and guitar and have a touring bassist and drummer).  Originally inspired by the Beatles and Beach Boys, but aren’t all bands?  I like their sound, a lot.

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Riot Fest 2021 Preview – GWAR

Only one preview this week. Mostly because it’s almost impossible to pair them with anyone. They stand alone in style and music for sure.

GWAR – Saturday

The story of GWAR is carved across the history of this barren and hopeless planet, but GWAR themselves are not of this world… their story begins in the deepest reaches of outer space. Long ago, the beings who would become the rock band GWAR were part of an elite fighting force, the Scumdogs of the Universe. For eons, they served as thralls to a supreme being known only as the Master. But one by one, each future member of the band earned a glaring reputation for being an intergalactic fuck-up. And so, they were banished, sent away on a fool’s errand to conquer an insignificant shitball floating in a dark corner of the universe; the planet Earth. Once here, GWAR shaped the face of the globe, destroying and rebuilding the natural world, and giving rise to all of human history. Aliens to some, gods and demons to others, our erstwhile Scumdogs fucked apes to create the human race, and this fateful unplanned pregnancy would prove to be truly disastrous!