The 2023 music festival season in Chicago has finally come to a close for the year with last weekend’s Riot Fest in Douglass Park.
Since 2005, the festival has been hosting punk, rock, alternative, metal and hip-hop artists in the heart of the city. This year’s lineup was no different, stacked with headliners like the Foo Fighters, The Postal Service and The Cure. The festival also featured smaller acts that you should look out for.
Anyway, here’s the wrap on Riot Fest.
https://youtu.be/JLHu9irjnAo?si=sqyCYa1LDah5S3nt
Origami Angel
Although this Washington, D.C.-based duo is categorized as pop-punk, Origami Angel avoids the pitfalls of the genre’s whiny self-pitying lyricism through the power of friendship. Vocalist and guitarist Ryland Heagy and drummer Pat Doherty’s close relationship shines through the music and is bolstered by a loving community of die-hard fans (called the Gami Gang).
Lyrics from their debut album “Somewhere City” perfectly illustrate why the band is so easy to love. “Doctor Whomst” imagines someone redeemed by love: “I think I'm starting to like myself / I think I'm right where I need to be / To be the best version of myself / To be the version that I want you to see.” “24 Hr Drive Thru” details the lengths Heagy and Doherty would go to in order to cheer you up — even if it’s something as simple as fast food.
Their sound and subject matter might be a little juvenile and have one too many references to Pokémon. To me, it’s like a trip back to high school, only it’s a little less lonely this time.
https://youtu.be/2ZGRzdywXqs?si=G44Eq2Bb0o1DDV6n
Say Anything
Unlike Origami Angel, Say Anything is textbook pop-punk whininess. I still dig it!
The band is two years away from celebrating the 20th anniversary of its debut LP, “... Is a Real Boy,” which features classic hits like “Alive With the Glory of Love,” “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” and “A Walk Through Hell.” Man, what a great album.
https://youtu.be/P2KnD7sfpoA?si=xKqAz6JHMln0iloF
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is a band that needs no introduction. Originally started as a solo project by Nirvana's drummer Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters have evolved into one of the biggest bands in modern rock today.
They’re still touring despite the loss of their beloved drummer, Taylor Hawkins. How tragic is it that Grohl was a drummer who lost a singer and now a singer who lost his drummer? I’m still thinking about then-sixteen-year-old Steve Hawkins’ heartbreaking performance of “My Hero” as a tribute to his father nearly a year ago. I hope their new drummer Josh Freese hits the drums with as much passion and love as that kid did.
https://youtu.be/HIrKSqb4H4A?si=xZ-HhHdL_mprnYQQ
Death Grips
Vocalist MC Ride, with his lean tattooed body and intense stare, makes up the violent beating heart of the experimental hip-hop group Death Grips. Then, add the distorted productions of drummer Zach Hill and keyboardist Andy Morin which make the act even more difficult to pin down. Their critically acclaimed mixtape “Exmilitary” isn’t even on Spotify, but it’s worth a listen. (Seriously, “Takyon” may be the only pre-workout supplement you need.)
https://youtu.be/4gnntMvMgx4?si=PE6W-x4yy_zLqHmI
PUP
Nobody is doing punk rock like PUP.
Named Topanga, then angrily changed due to a Disney Channel reboot, Toronto-based band PUP (aka Pathetic Use of Potential) is keeping the mosh pit alive and rowdy with their ferocious and unwieldy music. Their first two albums (“PUP” and “The Dream Is Over”) are landmarks for 2010s punk music. Nobody had played with as much urgency or anger since The Clash or Dead Kennedys in the ‘70s.
Plus, I’m sure their stunning narrative musicvideos starring a pre-Stranger Things Finn Wolfhard permanently changed my brain chemistry for the better.
https://youtu.be/z97qLNXeAMQ?si=92T3R1LyzePXmVcF
100 gecs
Remember that quiet, greasy-haired kid in school who was addicted to playing Clash of Clans on their Samsung iPhone and a little too into dubstep music? Yeah, that’s how I imagine 100 gecs duo Dylan Brady and Laura Les looked when they met each other at a rodeo in high school. The band’s fans are infamous for being chronically online, but maybe that’s the caveat of being the leading voice in hyperpop. Their newest album “10,000 gecs” took a left turn from their critically acclaimed debut “1,000 gecs” by incorporating more rock elements — and it’s surprisingly catchy.
https://youtu.be/3iV_1ESMHaI?si=z_a6waEvcMgYZQx-
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie played through their fourth studio album “Transatlanticism” to honor its 20th anniversary. Cute, but when I think of Death Cab for Cutie, I think of hits from their peak albums like “I Will Follow You into the Dark” and “Cath…”
The band is sticking around Chicago for another weekend, so if you wanted to see those performed, you’ll get your chance on Sept. 23.
https://youtu.be/0wrsZog8qXg?si=yJALBHCxE21vK-a_
The Postal Service
Like Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service did a playthrough to honor the 20th anniversary of one of their albums, but this one is their hit release “Give Up.” I only know one song off the album, “Such Great Heights,” but that’s the only one anybody needs to know. Lyrics like “I am thinking it’s a sign / That the freckles in our eyes / Are mirror images / And when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned” might make this the cutest love song of 2003.
https://youtu.be/89NjEeHku8o?si=aUH3-G0kVNT-e_Uq
Flogging Molly
Everybody in the tri-campus should already know who Flogging Molly is. Ok, so they aren’t the ones who play “Shipping Up To Boston” every game day. That’s the Dropkick Murphys. Still, Flogging Molly has that undeniable Fighting Irish spirit. Even after 25 years, this Celtic folk-punk band has still got it — transcending genre, the transatlantic and the test of time.
https://youtu.be/PZwQeZh6rP0?si=cj1y7kUQ86G4IL7c
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! is not really the type of band that should be headlining at an alternative music festival. Their releases are almost entirely ambient post-rock. Imagine the soundtrack to Friday Night Lights: lots of echoey guitar meant to stir up emotion. A fan favorite track with 9.7 million streams is “Storm,” which features 22 minutes of wordless music that somehow crescendoes the entire time.
Why they’re playing at Riot Fest? I have no idea. The music is like something you would hear on a haunted vinyl thrifted from a consignment store. The band’s elusive and mysterious vibe needs to match which is probably why they have zero music videos.
https://youtu.be/UmFFTkjs-O0?si=vWysFGhaFv3Ejwmn
The Cure
The Cure is the kind of stuff that would play on my dad’s 80s radio station in the car. Hits like “Just Like Heaven,” “Friday I’m in Love” and “Boys Don’t Cry” are exactly the types of bops that put The Cure on the metaphorical alt-rock map. I can’t believe lead singer Robert Smith is still donning crazy hair and guyliner to tour at age 64.
