When we got there, this band was playing as we walked in. We kinda hung out a bit listening to this band in the background. All I could think was how cool the band was. Their guitar player could play some pretty sick solos and the band really just rocked. After a couple of songs, I realized that I actually knew one of their songs. I believe the song is called "Los Angeles." I recognized it from the game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 which I played a lot as a kid.
Anyways, I really enjoyed what I heard and will probably check out more of their stuff in the near future.
Devil Wears Prada:
I've heard a lot about Devil Wears Prada and how they're basically the band to listen to as far as Metalcore goes. We watched them for a little bit. It was kind of cool but it did get pretty repetitive after awhile. One of my issues with Devil Wears Prada is that all of their songs are on high intensity all of the time. Constant screaming, constant mashing on crash symbols. It was similar to the issues that I have with Screamo bands. We went back to see if we could catch the end of X's set but they had finished. Oh well...
Environmental Encroachment:
It was actually before Devil Wears Prada that we caught Environmental Encroachment but, who's keeping track? Anyways, Environmental Encroachment certainly grabs someone's attention. They had about twenty people on stage between saxophonists, trombone players, trumpet players, and a juggler dressed up as a jester. Their music was very ska. It's kind of hard to classify it as ska though since it was completely horn driven. After a couple of songs, the novelty wore off and we got on our way. For a few hours I was scratching my head trying to fully realize what I had just watched.
The Sidekicks:
We happened upon The Sidekicks while heading towards Dinosaur Jr. My verdict on the The Sidekicks is that their upbeat stuff is really good. I was pretty impressed. Later in the set, they started to play slower songs which were pretty boring and uninspired. It sounded like Weezer but with the boring and overdone mood of Nickelback. Basically, stay away from the slow stuff and listen to the upbeat stuff. It's really good.
Dinosaur Jr.:
I thought that they were okay. I'll put out there that I don't listen to their music but I really just found their show boring. Maybe they seemed extra boring compared to the more exciting acts of the weekend but they certainly could not keep my attention. I found myself looking at the back of some guy's shirt that had a bunch of bands listed on it for some festival. The only band I recognized were the Sidekicks: a band I had just heard for the first time twenty minutes ago.
Pennywise:
If you ever get the chance to see Pennywise, do not pass it up. Pennywise really brought their best to Riot Fest this year. They were high energy, filled with angst, and shared their political and social beliefs like an old school punk band ought to. I don't really listen to Pennywise but that was quite a show that they put on. If they were at a fest, I would definitely see them again.
Flag:
So, first things first, who is this band? I'm hearing that they are Black Flag reunited. Well, they sure as hell played a bunch of Black Flag songs so maybe Black Flag changed their name for some odd reason. Well, it turns out there's a rather odd situation surrounding the whole thing. Black Flag had various members over the years and it turns out that there are two bands that exist out there now with old members of Black Flag and play Black Flag songs. One of them is called, appropriately, Black Flag, and the other just calls themselves Flag. Is one better than the other? I'm not sure. Though I feel like whether you get a chance to see Black Flag or Flag, you're gonna get a hell of a show. You can check out an article about it here
Flag really brought their A game despite their age (I'm starting to sense a pattern here). They machine gunned out one song after another with an atom bomb of energy. The crowd really got into it. I got into it. And I'm not even a hardcore Black Flag (or Flag) fan. It was a good show. Great energy. Another punk rock classic.
Rancid:
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| Rancid at Humboldt Park 9/14/2013 |
The whole show was high energy and really just blew me way. Rancid was definitely my favorite show of the night. Even though I had to back away from being in the front on the account of being to tired to handle the pushing and too short to breathe. Not even kidding. That's how packed it was in the front. It was a lot of fun though and I hope that Rancid comes back to Chicago soon.
Violent Femmes:
I caught a little bit of the Violent Femmes upon lumbering to the drinking fountain (I told you I was tired!) However, I happened to catch all of the Violent Femmes classics. "Blister in the Sun," "Gone Daddy Gone," and "Add it Up." They all sounded great. I would definitely see them at a festival again.
blink-182:
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| blink-182 at Humboldt Park 9/14/2013 |
blink-182 is a really fun band to see live. Even though blink-182 did not include as much toilet humor and obnoxiousness as they normally do, it was still a killer show. They sounded pretty good and brought a high level of energy to the stage. They fit quite a few songs from the Neighborhoods album this time around which I was glad had happened. Unlike Switchfoot, I really enjoy blink-182's new stuff along with their older stuff.
At this point in the day, I was dead tired. Though, the blink-182 pit was about the best pit I have ever seen. At one point it was really elongated. So long that I could full on sprint at someone on the far side. Unfortunately for me, the guy I was sprinting at didn't want any part of it and sidestepped out of the way and I proceeded to fall to the ground. Then a host of people helped me up. How about that?
So, even though I really felt too tired to go into a pit, blink-182 and the killer pit that formed still got me in there. Kudos to that concert experience for persuading me to participate despite being tired. I would certainly love to be in a blink-182 pit again. In fact, I would love to see blink-182 again at a festival. However, I would probably settle for seeing them somewhere else. It would be unlikely that I would miss a blink show in Chicago again after that impressive performance.
Day 2 of Riotfest was about the best festival experience I had ever had. It was saddening when it was over, even though I was dead tired.
The next day I was actually pretty ill and exausted from Day 2 so I opted out of going to Day 3 as did a couple of my friends.
You better bet your ass that I'm gonna get a three day pass for Riot Fest next year! It's punk rock paradise! I'm gonna be looking for that pre-sale like a Hyena stalking its prey and then laugh maniacally when I purchase it. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Until next year, as Tim Armstrong would say, "See ya in the pit."
Rancid Image: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153274996405599&set=a.10153274972920599.1073741852.154880285598&type=3&theater
blink-182 Image: http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/blink182-8.jpg
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