Riot Fest Chicago celebrating 20 years of bringing music to the masses

For 20 years, rock fans of all sub-genres have gathered at Riot Fest to unleash controlled mayhem. Over the last two decades, organisers have earned the respect of fans by getting some of the biggest names in rock history for the event, and this year was no different. However, being 20 years since its inception, most of the punk kids who were the first patrons of Riot Fest are now adults with their own kids. Naturally, this year leaned into a more family-friendly environment. Bands like Weezer, Green Day, and Blink 182 were the headliners on the weekend, with many other bands bringing in an equal amount of excitement. 

Plenty of fans brought their kids along to share the experience of seeing their favourite bands. At first, it felt surreal seeing tattooed and pierced adults pushing babies wearing protective headphones in strollers at a rock festival. It made sense though, a lot of these bands are older and their diehard fan base reflects that. Since it was more family-friendly, the festival grounds also needed a change in scenery. The carnival was still there with a Ferris wheel and rides, but the classic “freak show” attraction had been removed in place of a normal video game arcade. There was also a wedding chapel for those who wanted to get fake married. The festival brought a “Quick Stop” convenience store from the Clerks movie series to life to purchase snacks. Lastly, there was a Riot Fest history museum showcasing posters of past lineups, a shrine honouring John Stamos, and autographed gear from musicians. 

On the first day, the Rise Stage title was briefly changed to “Weird Al Yankovic’s Weird World Stage”. A traffic jam made things more hectic as patrons were trying to leave to see Blink 182 as others crammed in like sardines to see Weird Al. It caused mass hysteria and a struggle trying to see someone play their accordion. Nevertheless, Yankovic took centre stage and quickly played a polka medley of popular pop songs. Afterwards, he quickly disappeared for a wardrobe change with a video package playing an excerpt of his biographic movie, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. After the video clip, Weird Al returned dressed as Kurt Cobain to play his Nirvana parody “Smells Like Nirvana”. It will be the closest most of us will get to seeing Nirvana live, so we moshed in the band’s honour. Weird AL continued changing clothes while displaying video packages such as his history in appearing in animation series and interview parodies. Weird Al is truly a legend, doing this for 40 years, and a pioneer of going viral before the Internet existed. 

The Rebel Stage struggled with noticeable technical audio difficulties. It took the stage crew a long time to diagnose the issue leading to restless fans during Hanson’s set. It was made worse when the Hanson brothers themselves were visibly annoyed that they were behind schedule. Waiting 45 minutes to hear “MMMbop” really wasn’t worth it, but come on Hanson, give the crew a break. That led to Gym Class Heroes session to fall behind as well. What was more heartbreaking is to have Gym Class Heroes being the only hip-hop representation on the lineup. Riot Fest usually has solid rap artists like Wu-Tang, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, and so on, but having no such acts was a letdown. However, the best act at the Rebel Stage was GWAR.

At this point, GWAR is a welcomed mainstay at Riot Fest every year. They put on a hellacious performance with impressive stage production. This year was no different as they caught national attention for slicing the belly of a Trump figure, spraying blood on the poor souls in the front row. This is what GWAR does. They’ve made similar sacrifices to Obama, Hillary Clinton, Elon Musk and other political figures. If you can’t handle it, get out of GWAR’s way!

One big announcement Riot Fest had on the lineup was The Beach Boys. To be clear, this isn’t Brian Wilson’s Beach Boys but cousin Mike Love’s version. Though Love is an original member, he also isn’t the most well-liked member for his political endorsements, atrocious treatment of Brian Wilson and notorious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech. However, the hype for The Beach Boys appearance was about seeing the temporary drummer, John Stamos. For years, Riot Fest has prodded the actor to come attend the festival by making him statues, look-alike contests, and selling John Stamos masks. It was a full circle moment seeing the “Full House” star on stage. He thanked the Riot Fest family for keeping him humble and trolling him all these years, but he’s getting paid to perform, so he had the last laugh. The performances themselves were lacklustre as Mike Love mumbled his way through classic hits, “I Get Around,” and “Good Vibrations,” but girls erupted whenever Stamos took centre stage.

One of the best newcomers was Lambrini Girls. The duo of guitar/vocalist Phoebe Lunny and bassist Lilly Macieira immediately impressed with their stage presence. Lilly wasted no time jumping into the crowd, making everyone sit down to acknowledge the rules of mosh pits and helping any fallen fan from injury before hopping back on stage to perform “Bad Company,” “Big Dick Energy,” and “Cuntology 101”. They definitely gained some new fans with their music, but got everyone’s respect when Lilly wore a “Fuck Ice” shirt, giving a brief speech that US citizens need to fight against a fascist government.

Lastly, the band that brought the high energy was All Time Low. Crazy to think a band we’ve been listening to since junior high is dropping a new album next month. Being on tour for their latest album, Everyone’s Talking, All Time Low have been rocking out for almost 20 years. They did a great job giving fans a glimpse of what to look forward to on the new album with songs like “SuckerPunch” and “The Weather”. However, they knew to balance it with the nostalgic hits like “Dear Maria” and “Remembering Sunday,” taking us back to our youthful days and holding onto the dream. 

Riot Fest is always a great time. Every year, fans look forward to ending the summer with a bang, and the festival always delivers. The Riot Fest crew are always welcoming and helpful in every way. The lineup is usually a mix of punk rock or those who have made it to mainstream. This year was a celebration of the festival’s 20-year existence. While it didn’t feel as hectic as past years, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The bands and fans were more mature. The leaves room for new bands and fans to take over and shake up the scene.

Can’t wait to see what the next 20 years will bring.