Riot Fest 2014 - Chicago, IL

   It's a difficult thing, deciding where to begin when describing the hedonistic debaucheries that occur during the three day epic event that was Chicago's leg of the 10th Anniversary Edition of Riot Fest... A multitude of bands to appease the pallets of many a rocker, carnival rides, an extensive amount of different styles of food, plenty of beer, the occasional zombie, and of course the mini-golf course!! As every Patti Smith fan needs to keep their short game sharp, making sure not miss a sunday afternoon on the city links...

  Though there were an excessive amount of great sets to see, I can only recount the highlights from each day... This is mainly a writeup, but  a more extensive photographic diary of event is available, so please check out our Facebook Album and like us there, as well as follow us in Instagram!!

  It all began quite sketchy, with the cloudy morning's ominous weather coming to fruition at varying levels throughout the day... Which initially was no big deal, as the rainfall itself never got too horrifically bad, but the consistency paired with the attendance of thousands of treading feet led to extremely muddy and wet conditions on the ground... Once one came to terms that their footwear and any long leg-wear were essentially collateral damage for attending this fantastic event (Aside from the potentially hundreds of dollars spent just to attend,) the joy began to flow heavily all around...

  A (seemingly) serious rollover accident delayed our arrival, so seeing a quick glimpse of GWAR in passing to watch the last few tracks in Circa Survive's set was better than nothing... At that point my mind was still feeling a certain kinda way from trying to cope with the muddy environment, so fully enjoying any music was still a sizable task... In route to Senses Fail I came to terms with the weather and was ready to fully engulf myself in their set, and that I did!! While they jammed out Let It Enfold You in its' entirety, I took a trip down memory lane, remembering not only old Senses Fail performances, but old times with good friends!! I'm sure many people taking delight in the second half of their twenties can relate to enjoying old Drive-Thru bands, as they truly acted as a catalyst for a generation of music lovers... After Senses Fail, we made our way to see NOFX, which probably had about the same amount of influence on the pop-punk scene as all those old Drive-Thru bands combined, as they themselves acted as a catalyst for those bands to form!! A steady stream of muddy distortion (excuse the pun) flowed from the speakers as they poured out their driving riffs to thousands of rowdy fans... Their set closed as the darkness fully kicked in, setting the stage for The Offspring to ignite the still lull in rainy night air... They came out in full force, rockin' Smash from cover to cover, followed by a slew of hit singles, only fittingly separated by "Intermission," a fitting cameo from Ixnay On The Hombre... Having rocked to my heart's content, I caught the beginning of Jane's Addiction's set as well as a quick glimpse of Slayer on the way out... I had never been an enormous fan of Slayer, but no logical person could deny the talent behind the wall of sound that emerges from a Slayer performance... Day one had come to an end, and assuming everyone else was covered in mud from the knees down also, I had higher hopes for the following day's weather... Even though the weather had was a downer, the day was still filled with magnificent musical highlights!!

  Going into day two I had higher hopes for the weather, as the rain had stopped and the sun was showing itself sparingly, that was until I put on the soggy mud bricks that had once been my shoes... The day began with an entrance line that was ALL KINDS of fucked up!! We waited almost an hour before something occurred which left the entirety of the line scrambling towards the entrance in a mad dash... We barely got the entrance in time to march through the muddy mess that was Humboldt Park and catch the end of (what sounded to be) an amazing Anti-Flag set... Still somewhat disappointed from the entrance fiasco, we meandered over to the RX Bandit's set, another band stemming from the good ol' Drive-Thru days... Though they've experienced some rocky times during the bands history, they're all still extremely talented and put on a damn good show together... After RX, we journeyed over to the "All Rise" microbrewery tent and picked up a couple suds to pass the time in between sets... The ground still had a decent amount of wet, sticky mud, but the sun was still shining fairly often, keeping spirits relatively high... After throwin' back a few beers we were on our way to see the highly anticipated reunion of Anthony Green performing as the frontman for Saosin... Anthony introduced the band as "Saosin from 10 years ago" and they immediately got into the title track from their debut album Translating The Name... Their performance was extremely on point, hardly missing a step at all, even throwing a new song into the set!! After Saosin we caught the tail end of Die Antwoord's set... I enjoy their experimental/jungle/hip-hop style on a "listening" level, but their live set was, for lack of a better term, unengaging... Following Die Antwoord, we made our way to The Afghan Whigs, where I was extremely impressed with the straight-forward rock sound that accompanied the driving vocals!! After them, Wu-Tang Clan (Excluding Method Man... For those who attended but didn't know, that wasn't even the entire Clan...) was scheduled to perform, which, at a relatively rock based event, was a welcome change... Come to find out, I was not alone with that sentiment, as Wu-Tang garnered a MASSIVE crowd, making it almost impossible to make it out in time to catch any of Dashboard Confessional's set... Not for a lack of trying, we did manage to catch the final few tracks they played, but during this time we did miss The Get Up Kids, something I truly wish could have been avoided... Then came The Used, another one of the performances I held to a higher standard going into the event, as they hold a special place in my past... Then came the disappointment... Not to discredit The Used, as I'm glad to see their success, and wish them much more - But their entire show is definitely not what it used to be... They've traded in their gritty, raw, intensity for a pretty light show and props, which seems to have earned them a new generation of "teeny-bopper" fans, who would rather selfie a Vine of their crowd surfing than sing lyrics... Although I was somewhat let down, redemption was a short wait away, as Taking Back Sunday was to perform immediately following The Used - And they simply tore shit down... It had everything you could want in a good TBS show: An array of material from old to new, plenty of mic swinging, and some decent sized pits... An extremely pleasant way to end the second day of Riot Fest!!

     After waking up to a beautifully sunny day and enjoying some chicken masala with garlic naan, I strapped on my mud clogs and we made our way back to the park to enjoy the final day of festivities... First on the list was Motion City Soundtrack, another band that evokes a great deal of nostalgia from me, as I first met them over a decade ago when they opened for Rufio with Northstar and Over It... Also, they're from Minnesota, so I gotta make sure to show the hometown boys some love!! They're performance and energy were both fantastic and I'm glad to hear they've just completed recording their 6th studio album!! Once Motion City was over, it was time for Chicago's very own ShowYouSuck, a Chicago based emcee who all but got Riot Fest shut ALL THE WAY the fuck down... He DEMANDED his listener's attention simply so he could scream his playfully intelligent rhetoric in their face and watch them  enjoy every moment of it... Also, the pit for this emcee had as much intensity and tenacity as any of his rock band comrade's pits - A beautiful sight to see at a Hip-Hop performance!! To calm things down a little, we meandered next door to take in Dropkick Murphys from afar while enjoying some nachos and beer... Shortly after, the executive decision was made that while at the fair, one should ride rides as well, so we did!! Fittingly, as any carnival ride should, I exited the ride feeling nauseous and dry heaving, so everything was up to par... I also indulged in trying to win a stuffed animal, which I failed at - Shit's rigged anyway... After riding rides and playing games we patiently waited for Social D to begin, but were bombarded by Patti Smith repeatedly unnecessarily shouting the "N-Word" to the masses of Chicago... When she finally ended her fucked up political rant, it allowed for Social Distortion to begin performing, but their sound was extremely bogged down and they sounded like shit because of it... After fewer than a handful of less than extravagant songs, we cut ties with their performance and headed over to establish some decent realty for the New Found Glory show... They've recently seen a change in their lineup, as their previous rhythm guitarist has been charged with crimes that hold potentially 30 years worth of sentencing, if tried and found guilty... Also a very sad thing because there are VERY few bands that have been together this long with (up until this spring) the original five members... All personal issues aside though, they still put on a hell of a show, running through a fair amount of their catalog and jamming hard through the entirety of it!! Proving why they were, and still are, the best band to emerge from the recently dubbed "Drive-Thru" era... Basically hoarse, their set concluded and we made our way over to watch The Cure jam for a while... They jammed out their tracks in excellent fashion amidst a bright light show, just as they have for many years prior... One thing I did notice is that their overall pace had picked up, their sound had evolved into something a little tighter and more driving... A small change in their overall performance when looked at over the span of their career, but they still perform well and deliver an  entertaining show!! Though Riot Fest had been a great experience, hearing a band more on the metal/core side of things was another welcomed change as it just suits my musical tastes slightly better, so we were off to watch Bring Me The Horizon... It had been many years since I'd last seen them perform with Every Time I Die, but they seem to have only tightened up their live performance, and added an extraordinary "light show" to accompany their set as well!! The final half hour was spent watching Weezer, as I had never seen them before... It turned out to be a nice gentle sendoff from the show... Their set was musically on point, but they kept things generally low-key, which I feel matched the feel of the crowd as we donated our final ounces of energy in our exhausted clapping and shouting from fatigued lungs...
     Then, with a short amount of guitar buzz and the faint pop of mic's being turned off, the reality that our three day staycation to Riot Fest had finally come to its' bittersweet end... Though my feet, back, arms, legs and voice were all types of torn up from the previous days of jammin' out, there was still sorrow in my heart that it had to all come to an end... It had its' highs as well as its' lows, but all in all it was an overwhelmingly positive experience despite mother nature's attempts to ensure otherwise... A truly outstanding experience that will never be forgotten!!