An early emo band from Seattle on the famous Sub Pop label. They broke up early and have reunited a couple of times. But this reunion is a big deal. But what makes them a big deal for us is that their drummer, William Goldsmith, and their bassist, Nate Mendel, are who Dave Grohl first recruited for Foo Fighters. Of course Goldsmith quit/was fired early leading the way to Taylor Hawkins. But Mendel is the most senior member of the Foos except for Dave. Not sure Mendel is joining for the reunion. It doesn’t look like it but it’s unclear who is playing bass for them. Regardless, their place in the influence of music is undeniable.
Riot Fest 22…are we gonna do this?
It’s looking more and more likely. At least a few days and a few aftershows perhaps. Saturday seems to be the easy no brainer with a lot of favorites. Friday and Sunday….when in Rome…
But in preparation, here’s a quick shot of some of the Saturday favorites. These need no introduction as we’ve seen them live in one place or the other that last few years. And these are what drive Saturday.
The Front Bottoms
Bad Religion
The Joy Formidable
Fear
GWAR
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.
Riot Fest 2021 Preview – Dinosaur Jr., Skating Polly, Joywave
Dinosaur Jr. – Friday and Saturday Aftershow
They were at one of our Coachellas but we didn’t get them enough attention. Really a pioneer of alternative music and on a heavy play rotation on HFS in the early 90s. You may hear some grunge but they are way more than that. An early signee of SST Records that included Black Flag, the Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, and Husker Du. Great company to keep. They deserve our attention just to pay homage. Plus their lead J Mascis is just cool. And their drummer gets drunk with KJ.
Skating Polly – Sunday
Riot Grrrl or Punk. Dunno. But they freaking rock. Step sisters from Oklahoma have never been so punk (plus little bro on drums). Their big break happened when the met Exene Cervenka from X and she became a fan and produced their second album. They fit that loud quiet loud (and then louder) sound that many of us like. And again, they freaking rock.
Joywave – Saturday
Alternate Electro Pop? That’s what it sounds like. An outlier at RiotFest but could be a great break from some of the harder acts. From upstate New York. They collaborate with a lot of others in typical electro fashion. You may be familiar with Big Data’s song Dangerous (a Coachella act of ours). They were on that.
Riot Fest 2021 Preview – Thrice, Anti-Flag, The Sounds
Thrice – Friday
Post-hard core. Melodic hard-core. Somewhere in there. From the OC and cite Bad Religion as one of their influences. They’ve recently released on Epitaph and their bassist was in Angels and Airwaves for a moment (but so were a few bassists…Tom doesn’t keep them around long). Looking at their c.v. they deserve our attention. I like them and am surprised I haven’t seen them before.
Anti-Flag – Friday
Good old punk from Pittsburgh. Been at it since the late 80s. Pretty political and it’s safe to say they didn’t vote from Trump. Giuffre would refuse to see them. You got to love a lead singer with the name Justin Sane. The last video is unrelated but I ran across it looking for Anti-Flag videos and just had to post it. Cyndi Lauper doing Black Flag!
The Sounds – Friday with Saturday aftershow
Could be super interesting. They’re Swedish. They’re indie. And if Wikipedia is correct their sound is somewhere around Blondie, Missing Persons, and The Cars. Why not? Check them out. They have an aftershow at Reggies on Saturday and an opener hasn’t been announced yet. Something to consider