The rapidly-rising pop punk trio Pinkshift stopped in Chicago for their headlining tour after releasing their debut album Love Me Forever. Accompanied by Jigsaw Youth and Yasmin Nur, the all-ages crowd at Cobra Lounge packed the house and left with an unforgettable night of female-fronted music. Wichita, Kansas native singer/songwriter Yasmin Nur opened the night […]
The rapidly-rising pop punk trio Pinkshift stopped in Chicago for their headlining tour after releasing their debut album Love Me Forever. Accompanied by Jigsaw Youth and Yasmin Nur, the all-ages crowd at Cobra Lounge packed the house and left with an unforgettable night of female-fronted music.
Wichita, Kansas native singer/songwriter Yasmin Nur opened the night with her band and brought along all the dreamy-yet-dark indie rock vibes you can ever ask for.
Jigsaw Youth quickly became one of my favorite bands after seeing them at Cobra Lounge in 2021 with Destroy Boys. The sludge-grunge queens of New York brought the same howling energy as they did last year and introduced the new single “Skin.”
Pinkshift released their debut album Love Me Forever on October 21, 2022 through Hopeless Records. The empowering and emotional album boasts several stellar hits including “i’m not crying you’re crying,” “nothing (in my head)” and “BURN THE WITCH.”
The new wave of pop punk is here and this album deserves to be a part of it!
The final day of Riot Fest 2022. What a journey it has been! Do you ever get that post-concert blues? Because I sure was feeling it after Riot Fest. Check out our photo gallery of Save Face, Mom Jeans. and long-time favorites Less Than Jake. Mom Jeans. is an indie rock/emo band from California. Time […]
The final day of Riot Fest 2022. What a journey it has been! Do you ever get that post-concert blues? Because I sure was feeling it after Riot Fest. Check out our photo gallery of Save Face, Mom Jeans. and long-time favorites Less Than Jake.
Mom Jeans. is an indie rock/emo band from California. Time to get your sad on!
Another first for me was seeing Save Face and I’m so glad I did. The red jumpsuit-wearing post-hardcore/emo band released their debut album Merci with Epitaph Records in July 2018.
If you’re a ska fan then you are well familiar with Less Than Jake. They formed in 1992 and been making waves ever since. Check them out in the full gallery below, along with some neat shots of their toilet paper shooter (yes, you read that correctly)!
Don’t forget to check out Riot Fest day one coverage and day two!
Continuing with our Riot Fest 2022 coverage with a few bands from day two! In case you missed it, click here to see my day one recap. We’re starting off with the hardcore punk band War on Women. This female-fronted band delves heavily into political and feminist issues. Shawna Potter is the very definition of […]
Continuing with our Riot Fest 2022 coverage with a few bands from day two! In case you missed it, click here to see my day one recap.
We’re starting off with the hardcore punk band War on Women. This female-fronted band delves heavily into political and feminist issues. Shawna Potter is the very definition of fierce; definitely see this band live if you get the chance…and, head’s up they will be touring with fellow hardcore punk band Cancer Bats this fall for an East Coast U.S. tour.
Next are The Front Bottoms, an emo/indie rock band from New Jersey. They released their third installment of their popular Grandma EP series titled Theresa on September 2, 2022.
Long-time emo band Sunny Day Real Estate made a stop at Riot Fest for their fourth reunion tour. Their 1994 debut studio album Diary has been considered one of the defining albums of the Midwest emo genre.
Check out the full gallery below and Part One of day two here!
Did you miss Riot Fest this year? Or want to relive those last days of summer seeing your favorite bands? Good news! Fellow Dying Scene contributor Meredith Goldberg and I have all the photos you’ll need of the three-day music festival held in Chicago from September 16-18th, 2022. We are recapping some of the bands […]
Did you miss Riot Fest this year? Or want to relive those last days of summer seeing your favorite bands? Good news! Fellow Dying Scene contributor Meredith Goldberg and I have all the photos you’ll need of the three-day music festival held in Chicago from September 16-18th, 2022.
We are recapping some of the bands from day one here with the live premiere of supergroup L.S. Dunes, one of my personal favorites Destroy Boys, along with Foxy Shazam, Bob Vylan, Boston Manor and Pale Waves.
The day kicked off with UK pop punk/synth pop band Pale Waves who released their third studio album Unwanted about a month prior. They were the first of several bands that travelled to the fest from the UK. Pretty cool!
Boston Manor is next coming from (you guessed it) the UK (Blackpool, England to be exact). This pop punk/post-hardcore band was featured on Punk Goes Pop Vol. 7 in 2017 for their rendition of Twenty One Pilots’ “Heathens”.
One of the beautiful things about music festivals is discovering new bands you may have never otherwise heard of. The two-piece English band Bob Vylan is exactly that; I never knew I needed them in my life until I saw them at Riot Fest. This gritty-abrasive rap punk duo blew me away with their energy and unapologetic outcries against government oppression and xenophobia. The pair is vocalist Bobby Vylan and drummer Bobbie Vylan, together becoming Bob Vylan!
Glam rock stars Foxy Shazam dominated the fest with their dazzling performance (and attire) and quickly became a crowd favorite. There was so much happening on stage, one minute you see keyboardist Schuyler White jumping into the crowd WITH his keyboard, and the next there’s guitarist Devon Williams balancing his guitar in the air with his mouth. Absolute insanity.
Next up is a band I’ve been digging for the last year. I first saw Destroy Boys in December 2021 at the Cobra Lounge in Chicago and was excited to see they were on the line up for Riot Fest this year. Definitely listen to “Locker Room Bully” and “Crybaby” when you get the chance.
Finally, we have L.S. Dunes! They are the post-hardcore supergroup fronted by Circa Survive and Saosin vocalist Anthony Green, with My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero, Coheed and Cambria guitarist Travis Stever, and Thursday bassist Tim Payne and drummer Tucker Rule. They made their live debut at Riot Fest with heavy riffs and aggressive energy, certainly living up to the hype we were all hoping for. Be sure to check out their album Past Liveswhen it drops on November 11, 2022.
Check out the rest of the photos below and stay tuned for day two!
Laura Jane Grace is best known for her punk rock band Against Me! and being one of the first well-known punk rock musicians to publicly come out as transgender. Grace released her powerful folk punk debut solo album Stay Alive in October 2020 through Polyvinyl Record Co. and her second solo EP At War with the Silverfish in September […]
Laura Jane Grace is best known for her punk rock band Against Me! and being one of the first well-known punk rock musicians to publicly come out as transgender. Grace released her powerful folk punk debut solo album Stay Alive in October 2020 through Polyvinyl Record Co. and her second solo EP At War with the Silverfish in September 2021. She kicked off her solo Canadian tour in September, but not without stopping at The Raccoon Motel in Davenport, Iowa first.
The name of the music venue alone was enough for me to make the trek from Chicago…but Grace playing there, too? Count me in.
The sold-out show included two openers, the first being Everlasting Light, a black metal band with piercing vocals native to the Quad Cities.
Next up was Planning for Burial, a musical project from Thom Wasluck based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His solo act featured killer distortions with sounds that span across shoegaze, doom, and post-metal.
Grace was soon welcomed to the stage with roaring applause. Armed with her acoustic guitar, Grace’s outspoken songs and powerful voice completely captivated the entire room, along with her melodic yet raw sound. Check out more photos below!
