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Post by manoverboard on Sept 20, 2021 21:47:24 GMT -5
That was a real fun weekend! Walked away becoming a new fan to a lot of bands I wasn't even planning on seeing. Sets I caught:
Thursday - Alkaline Trio and Morrissey (left after about 8 songs).
Friday - Circa Survive, Living Colour (from the back), Motion City Soundtrack (partial from back), Coheed & Cambria (that rain felt amazing!) and The Smashing Pumpkins (ahhh they played Quiet and Shame!)
Sunday - Alex G (meh), Health (my favorite discovery of the weekend, listened to them my whole flight home lol), KennyHoopla (partial from the back), Body Count, Thursday (4 songs), Simple Plan, The Ghost Inside and Slipknot.
Best set of the weekend: Slipknot Worst set of the weekend: KennyHoopla
So nobody in line for Metallica at the Metro tonight?
I was one of the last 10 people who got a ticket but I made it!!! Best $20 concert ticket I've ever gotten.
Seeing them friday at Louder Than Life in louisville. Will be my first time since Bonnaroo 2008 and my first festival (due to pandemic) since Louder Than Life 2019. Incredibly excited!
Due to family/work business, I was unable to arrive for Thursday/Friday, which bummed me out, but at least I made it happen at all. I went with my wife and and our almost-4 year old daughter - this was her first travel festival, and she saw Sunday. We'll get to that later. Saturday, I was solo. I arrive on scene in time for Big Freedia, first time and everything I expected and hoped to see in their set. Went back and to the left for the last couple onslaughts from GWAR, also first time. Unfortunately they ended about 15 minutes early. If only I was close enough to experience the excessive excrement expelled.
I walked back to the center pathway and Les Savy Fav was just taking the Roots stage. Admittedly, I had virtually no idea who or what they were, I had listened to about 3 songs in a Riot Fest playlist, decent enough sound. Boy, was I in for a surprise showing. Started out tame enough, Harrington messily applied dye/glitter to his beard. Played with mannequin head and messy wig. Then, as he was aggressively pulling more and more loops of mic cord, things were about to escalate quickly. Into the crowd he went, plopping on a couple laying on their blanket, assisting a man chug his beer, rub against several randos all the while clotheslining/potentially decapitating onlookers who don't see the cord coming. Back on stage to reset, with a bondage mask to sing out of temporarily. It went on from there. Including the table-grabbing gag, which I feel like it was planted, and the massive garbage bag gag, which was obviously planned. I proudly dubbed this guy as - PG.G. Allin to my wife in retelling her the scene. I preferred this version better and appreciated the lack of shit-eating and throwing. I live for this kind of set.
Afterwards, I made my way over to Hepcat to cross off ska from my Riot Fest bingo card. I actually did enjoy their albums, and they were a must-see simply because of legendary bit-part actor extraordinaire Alex Desert was in the band. Righteous!
Best Coast on the main stage was fine, they're a band who doesn't really play much of the songs I actually enjoy from their catalog, but it's cool. What wasn't cool was the weather, as I spent most of the time in the crowd feeling bad for the band being scorched by the sun's heavy heat.
Got back to Roots for another set with magnetic performer(s) - Gogol Bordello, also first time. They start hard and do not disappoint. Crowd was ready and the pit crews were full of ravaging bulls, breaking the ground and officially made it a dust bowl. Once it became too much, I took the chance to go cross of Mighty Mighty Bosstones off my list as well. Dicky and the gang were in sharp form, especially enjoyed the guy who was basically just there to dance on stage, sweating in his tucked-in plaid shirt. Props to him, great way to stay in shape. Then made the long trek to the hole-in-the-wall known as Rebel Stage for the Bollweevils, 90s Chicago punk band that got back together. And I definitely felt like I walked in on a reunion, everyone on stage clearly reliving and reminiscing their glory days. It was cute.
At this point of running around, I was starving and thirsty. The one water refill station was surprisingly fluid, easy to get through. But holy shit were the vendor lines infinite. I wanted to catch Vic Mensa, but the lines took too long - literally 40 minutes - shoulda planned ahead! I ate while Rancid played, crossed them off my list. Then crossed half the earth, traversing all obstacles in return to the Rebel stage. Seriously, why is this stage so difficult to arrive at? Is it purposefully secluded? Reminded me of the Yellow stage from Day For Night, behind the building docks.
And the fact Andrew W.K. was headlining there made more confusing. But it also made for a more intimate set. I loved his band members, the crowd was down to clown around. First time seeing him, but I heard he was putting on a more subdued 'darker' persona than his usual party self. Guess the pandemic took a hit on his mental state. Left half-way to close-out with Run the Jewels, 3rd time. They've come a long way from seeing them in a downtown alleyway playing to a hundred people in 2013.
The only other critique I had about the map set-up was having the Rise (emo/popunk) stage so close to the entrance and in the center of everything. My least favorite genre, and I have to pass by it everytime I wanted to do something/go somewhere... Well, I eventually came around to understanding on Sunday... (more on that later.)
Due to being one of those 'awesome parents' as the Riot Fest FAQs dubbed us (free for kids under five!) I was somewhat limited in mobility and wanting to see all the bands I could. But again, grateful for what I did catch. My wife being a huge HEALTH fan, we had to be there for them, 3rd time. Our kiddo even grooved with the noisy industrial tones. Cool that it was their first show since before pandemic, but apparently they were having technical difficulties towards the end. Famiglietti was visibly upset about it. My wife has a huge crush on him... (more on that later.)
After playing around with the fam, Body Count arrived. I was ready. My daughter slept through them. Too tame for her! Perfect timing considering Ice-T's 'problematic' comments, right!? Even funnier when he brought his daughter out on stage. Still, their set went hard - "I play a cop on TV but FUCK THEM." the mosh pit battles were entertaining.
Went for water and food again, another long slog. Got back to the main stage just in time for DEVO - a huge attraction for Riot Fest to get me, and they did not disappoint. Even pits formed for them! Tons of fun.
This would be the 4th time with F.Lips, and Coyne just had to bum everybody out opening with a discussion about Oklahoma's COVID outbreak and announcing they would not be dropping any balls into the crowd, including himself. Made leaving early easy. Colors were still pretty.
Onto the finale of the day - My daughter really wanted to ride the ferris wheel. Figured it would be a fine finish for our festivities. The line was long, and directly behind the crowd for the Rise stage. "I did not consider this when I agreed" - my wife. In waiting though, New Found Glory began to wear me down. My four year old daughter was actually enjoying their set. She wanted me to dance with her, and constantly swing her around in circles, surrounded by the colorful rides and carnival games. I then understood why the pop/punk acts were in this spot - because it fit the playful atmosphere. Then NFG played "LET IT GO" from FROZEN, and my daughter was sold.
It ended kind of bittersweetly. We were 6 people away from getting on the ride, when it abruptly stopped, and people were climbing off - claims that it was wobbling. The attendant even admitted it may be too unsafe to ride. My wife talked to another mom who got off, and decided to cancel our attempt. Many others in line complained, and got into it with staff about whether they should continue running it or not. We jetted. What saved the night for my wife was at one point she recognized John Famiglietti of HEALTH walking by and geeked out. Complimented their amazing set, and he was visibly surprised and appreciative that she noticed. Hopefully it made him feel better about the tech problems.
We didn't bother with the Slipknot / MGK feud. Nine Inch Nails was supposed to be our headliner. It really sucked that most of the original acts I was highly interested in - NIN, Pixies, FNM, Bungle, then Fucked Up the day-of - had disappeared from the lineup over the last few weeks. But again, I'm grateful I could go at all and see what I saw. And we made it up to our daughter by taking her to the Navy Pier ferris wheel the next morning. Definitely not as cool. Ah well, probably going to be a long time before we get a chance to return.
