Observations, Musings, and Lessons Learned mostly in the world of Punk, Ska, Alternative, Metal, and just plain Rock and Roll. Music with guitars…mostly
Frank Iero is the former guitarist for My Chemical Romance, and thus one of the poster children on 2000s emo. He’s been playing solo a lot, much of it since MCR broke up in 2013. The Future Violents are his latest iteration.
They play Sunday at Riot Fest.
The Starting Line are from Philly and formed in 1999. That’s three 1999s in a row. Did every emo band form in 1999 after hearing Enema of the State? It’s impressive their entire original lineup is still together.
They play Sunday at Riot Fest.
Dashboard Confessional are from South Florida and were formed in 1999 but only their singer/rhythm guitarist and bassists are original.
The play on Friday at Riot Fest, and if the schedule follows the poster they will be up against some of our heavyweights. Likely not gonna see them.
It’s emo week at CallBullChip for Riot Fest. So revisit any hidden angst still hiding out from high school. I’ll stop short of saying a lot of it sounds alike. But it is formulaic. A formula I like, by the way. Guitars and bass and drums and an edge. A formula rooted in a lot of my faves from Blink to The Descendents to all the way back to Buzzcocks.
Taking Back Sunday are from Long Island and have been around since 1999, but really blew up about 10-15 years ago. They’re one of a few bands that were also at RF 2017. We missed them then, probably will miss them again.
They play on Sunday at Riot Fest.
White Reaper are a garage punk band from Louisville. I like them but I can’t put my finger on their sound. The three clips below have all entirely different sounds. Which is awesome. One minute I’m hearing FIDLAR (or at least SWMRS), the next minute they sound like an Alt Nation band, and then a blistering guitar solo clicks in. See for yourself and tell me who they remind you of. My pick for future-favorite-you-never-heard-of-before-the-festival.
They’re on Sunday at Riot Fest.