Photos by Mary Sunde
Review by Brian Nielsen
One day in 2005 I went to see the Groodies at the Congress Theater. In and of itself that was nothing special for that time in my life, I had become pretty chummy with the band and regularly saw them once or twice a month. This show sticks out in my memory though, because it was a festival show and they were opening for the Misfits. Sure, the current incarnation of the Misfits at the time didn’t draw the attention and respect they reached in their prime, but it still felt like a pretty big deal. Holy crap, that was the first year of Riot Fest. It’s 21 goddamn years later they’re still doing this fest and somehow, this year I’m infiltrating the press tent and telling the public what I think about it. Who thought that was a good idea? Get ready to be disappointed.
On the subject of festivals, I remember being in my early 20s and almost passing out from heat exhaustion at Warped Tour. Funny enough, the main reason I dragged my ass out to the suburbs for Warped Tour that year was also to see the Groodies! Small world. Back to the heat exhaustion, I took this as a sign I might officially be too old for big outdoor all day festivals. I sure as shit was, but for some reason I keep forgetting and trying to prove myself wrong. I generally breathe a sigh of relief every year I decide not to go to Riot Fest. Crowds. Sun. Poorly serviced Port-a-pottys. Ever rising ticket costs. Festival pricing for food and merch. Running into people you never wanted to see again and having to pretend to be happy to see them. The disappointment of the one band you specifically came for only playing a 20 minute set, and you missed half of it because you didn’t know how long the expedition from the other end of the park was going to take. Despite knowing all that comes with outdoor all-day festivals, I can safely say I’ve been to at least five and a quarter instances of the 21 Riot Fests that have occurred, but no more than ten and a half instances. That means I’ve seen far too many bands to care about any of them anymore but I’m gonna try to pretend I do. Day one, go!
Teen Mortgage. One of the many bands this year that was new to me, Mary has photographed them before and made sure we didn’t miss them. The band told you exactly who they were before they hit a single chord by screaming Fuck Donald Trump. Off to a good start if you ask me. I’m always curious to see how two-piece bands pull off a full sound. Teen Mortgage manages to pull it off. When the drums are half the band, you have to hit the right balance. You want to be busy enough to absorb the extra attention you get when there’s only one other guy on stage, but not so busy that the foundation of the songs gets muddy or lost.
The guitar had a sick octave distortion to occupy the space typically filled by two guitars and a bass. He didn’t rely on it for every part of every song though, He bypassed the effect at the times a dedicated bassist would back off to let the soft parts of songs be soft and feel like a punch in the face when coming back for the next loud part. On the other end of the spectrum, there was a generous but tasteful use of a whammy effect, bending notes far beyond what natural sounds a guitar can make, and completely making up for the lack of a second guitar player. Their songs are high octane punk bangers, simple at their core with a lot of nuance sprinkled on top. Delightfully gritty with hooks that are going to stick in your head.
I didn’t actually watch JMSN but their music was distinctly audible while I made a stop at the press tent. Style wise, it was not something I would have expected to hear at Riot Fest but it made enough of an impression on me to look it up afterwards. I would have not guessed JSMN was the creative output of a single artist, and definitely thought I was hearing more than one singer. JMSN’s style is just enough out of my wheelhouse I couldn’t think of how to classify it. The internet describes it as a cinematic take on alternative R&B. I won’t argue with that. The vocal range has a wide register from lows to highs, and spanning several styles of singing. If I had to pick an adjective for the vocals as a whole soulful is the first word that comes to mind. The songs have great texture and arrangements. JMSN is a writer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and operates completely on his own independent label. I have mad respect for that. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons with some music that isn’t loud and angry, check out this modern versatile incarnation of classic R&B.
I went and gave my attention to Fleshwater as soon as I was back on the park grounds. Fleshwater is one of the handful of bands that I wouldn’t consider a mainstream success yet, but has managed to make it onto my radar. I feel more and more out of touch every year with the ever decreasing number of band names on the Riot Fest line up that I am actually familiar with. Thanks for making me feel like I’m still with it, Fleshwater is dreamy, atmospheric, melodic rock featuring dreamy female lead vocals that still gets heavy as fuck and I am so here for it. Hard hitting drums. Pounding bass. Guitar parts ranging from huge cleans with lush reverbs and delay to driving rock chord progressions, fantastic 90’s alternative riffs that give way to heavy abrasion letting you know they have hardcore roots. So many guitars too! I was nerding out over the collection of classic 90’s and 2000’s guitar amps. I was delighted by the songs where the band decided two guitars just aren’t enough and had lead vocalist Marisa dawn a third leaving no faces unmelted. I’m so glad I got to catch their set, I can’t wait for them to come through Chicago again.
Bratmobile is a band I absolutely should have had long familiarity with but someone I was completely unaware of their existence until now. Early pioneers of the feminist punk Riot Grrrl movement, Bratmobile’s contribution to punk is a piece of history that should be taught in all formal education. The band can be traced back to formation in Olympia, Washington in 1991. I felt truly privileged to see them continue to deliver a blend of surf rock influenced garage-punk 35 years later. The signature smearing vocals are the perfect embodiment of their sarcastic biting and disaffected lyrics and tone. Now that I know how infrequently the band still performs, I consider myself lucky to see this one, thanks Riot Fest for a commitment to bringing bands like this back to the stage after years of hiatus.
So maybe I wasn’t actually there for it, but I have it on very good authority that hometown heroes, Rise Against, brought their a-game this year. I recall seeing what I remember as their debut show at the Fireside Bowl. The year was 1999 and everyone was excited to see what Dan Precision from 88 Fingers Louie’s new project was going to sound like. Tim McIlrath hadn’t even been recruited into the band yet. I honestly can’t remember what they sounded like without him. It’s a trip to think about the breakout success they would go on to hold. A quick aside, I am legally obligated to lecture any Rise Against fan who isn’t familiar with the side-project Tim had in the early years of RA. If this is you, you need to stop what you’re doing and go listen to The Killing Tree right now. Go. I’ll wait. This is not negotiable. Pick back up here after you do your homework. If any of the members of TKT are reading this, when’s the fucking reunion?. Riot Fest 2027? Please?
Anyways, my dumb ass stepped out of the Festival for a bit and I was sure I’d make it back in time for Rise Against. I don’t follow them as closely as I used to, but I was excited for this year. I know I’ve caught pieces of their sets at Riot fest more recently than this, but the last time I bought tickets and watched a whole set was apparently back in 2011 when Bad Religion did that thing they always do and go on tour opening up for a band that couldn’t possibly have come to exist without Bad Religion’s legacy and influence. I’m kicking myself now, because 4 of their 11 songs were off The Sufferer & The Witness, an album I have deep history with. Prior to this album, RA shared a rehearsal space with a band called Holy Roman Empire, featuring my favorite vocalist of all time. I wasn’t following RA that closely at the time but I found out she recorded backup vocals for the album. Credit where credit is due, those backup vocals are the reason I bought the album, but I would still consider it a masterpiece even if she wasn’t on it. Not only did my confidante rub it in how good the performance I missed was, she sent me all her cell phone recordings from it so I could confirm that every element of a most-see show was there, but I got it view the evidence in a format that can’t do it justice in the slightest.
After missing Rise Against entirely, I got back just in time to not reach the Rebel stage in time to see The Pixies. But I got to be serenaded by an excellent compilation of forgotten favorites while walking to the main gate and searching the park for friends I had abandoned earlier. Silver linings I guess. “Wave of Mutilation” is still stuck in my head at the writing of this article.
How old is Iggy Pop? What is holding his physical form together after the life he’s lived? Is it a privilege to still be doing something so well after so long, or does it become a curse at some point? Well, whatever deal he had to make with whatever supernatural deity it was that granted him the power to carry to keep this up, I’m glad he made it. With the number of opportunities I’ve had to see him before this, it would have served me right to wake up to Facebook some day finding out I missed all my chances and I wasn’t going to get any more. This being the case, I was carrying a conflicted heart. I just saw Gwar earlier this year. I’ve seen Gwar, at least a half a dozen times if not twice that. There was not going to be anything going on at the Radical stage during the end of Iggy’s set that I hadn’t seen before. But it’s fucking Gwar, if I can see some of Iggy and some of Gwar, I’m gonna fuckin’ see both.
Iggy came out of the gates with so many hits and so little filler, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was that I was going to miss the end of his set and I still got to hear “Raw Power”, “Gimmie Danger”, “The Passenger, Lust for Life”, and “I Wanna Be Your Dog”. The accomplices I was with had never seen Gwar before, so we were ready to head over there at this point, satisfied with the gift we’d been given. I said we could start walking over there, but if he starts “Search and Destroy”, we’re parking again until it’s over. Sure enough, we parked for one more song.
I felt like a thief, a bandit. Leaving early with all those songs sucked up by my ear-holes, I got away with something I didn’t earn. What was left that could have topped that? “1969”. “1969” was left, Brian you dummy. You missed “1969”. But you got to see Gwar eviscerate a larger than life Donald Trump puppet again instead.
Do you like mother fuckin’ space? What about intergalactic space warriors??? Have you heard the siren song of the makers of mankind? The Scumdogs of the Universe were a group of violent cosmic thugs content to continue in their ways until they were banished to Earth, a punishment cast upon them by the Master. Their fate was to live out their days on an irrelevant muddy rock of no value, called Earth. Eons ago, when apes were the highest life form on the planet, the members of Gwar, um, well. There was some cross species pollination and next the apes gave birth to the human race. You’re welcome.
Now, in this, the year 2026, Gwar has discovered their beloved Tyrannosaurus Rex has fallen into the bad habits of Earth. Leaven no choice, Gwar must let nothing stand in their way as they hunt down Gor Gor, the T-Rex, to administer the ultimate act of Tough Love. One of the many obstacles in their path, this fateful night at the Festival or Riots, Donald Trump crossed paths and he did try to impede them from completing their quest. Thankful that fucking blowhard is no match for the mighty power of Gwar, and his blood rained upon many a festival goer that night. What Riot Fest is complete without cosmic aliens disemboweling a world leader on stage?
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