RIOT FEST DAY TWO – The Tragedy and Triumph

Tragedy unfortunately struck us the second day at riot fest with some serious tummy issues and even worse, a broken camera. Our photographer Alex and I ended up having to leave the festival on a quest to attempt to resolve the problem, only to be told at the camera repair shop that we were well, shit out of luck for lack of a better term.

So although we weren’t able to get pictures we were able to enjoy the festival and all that it has to offer, including a thorough tour of every port a potty there was available. The coolest thing about this festival to me was that there was more to do than just see the musical acts. There were carnival rides, haunted houses, a recreation of the Clerks store, burlesque performances by Striporama, wrestling from the NWA, and even a circus act by Hellzapoppin!

There were also so many food options it was crazy, everything from footlong corndogs, to noodles, to even edibles being sold at the festival. (Side note: I was not prepared for how lax weed laws were in Chicago!) There was no possible way to be bored at this festival which made it that much better.

Urethane
So luckily before we realized our camera problem, we were able to catch the amazing sound of San Diego band, Urethane. We were lucky to catch them playing their newest single “Dog Years” and plenty of songs off of their 2021 album “Chasing Horizons”. Our photographer, Alex, is a huge fan and I definitely caught him singing to almost every song but mostly to one titled “Gravity”. Urethane was also gracious enough to stop by for an interview with us which we’ll be posting as soon as we are able so stay tuned kids! This is dear readers, is where tragedy struck is with our camera and we ended up having to leave the festival for a few hours so we missed about every band in-between Urethane and Dillinger Four.

Dillinger Four
Dillinger Four, a Minneapolis based and Fat Wreck Chords band, performed an awesome show featuring songs from all four of their albums. Dillinger Four makes me want to reach out into my closet and attempt to ride the skateboard that I put away so long ago probably only to break my wrist again. Alex rates this mosh pit 8/10.

Beach Bunny
Chicago natives and TikTok sensations with their song “Prom Queen” we have the ever adorable and every catchy, Beach Bunny. They definitely had my vote for the cutest stage set up with a huge glowing heart behind them. Truthfully other than their viral song I haven’t really given them a listen before this and oh boy am I glad I did. Songs like “Vertigo” and “Cloud 9” really showcase their dreamy indie rock sound.

Descendents

You know them, you love them, the Descendents kicked ass again at Riot Fest on Saturday. Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, Stephen Eggerton, and the boy himself Dr. Milo Aukerman blew us all away with another set filled with all the songs you love. I personally ugly cry everytime I hear the first chords of “Silly Girl” and “Nothing With You”, what can I say? I’m a sap and proud! It’s such a treat for myself to be able to see these guys twice in one year, once at Punk Rock Bowling and now again here at Riot Fest.

The boys gave it their all with every song and the crowd returned the energy with singing along and a pit in the middle. Songs like “Clean Sheets”, “Myage” and “Suburban Home” caused a ruckus within the crowd that was nothing less than welcomed. I love seeing these guys tear it up because you can always tell that they’re just having fun. I know we all had quite a scare with Milo’s heart attack last year while they were in Barcelona, but so far he shows no signs of slowing down! We love you guys and can’t wait to see what the future brings with the Descendents!

NOFX
NOFX took to the stage every single night alongside the headliners as a nice way to let people see them before they finally retire for good. We decided this was the night to see them and as usual, NOFX did not disappoint. They played in this one set almost all the songs I was looking forward to hearing including “Seeing Double at The Triple Rock” nice and early in the set. It was only up from there as they also played an Adolescents cover “Amoeba”, their own “What’s the Matter With Parents Today” and “The Separation of Church and Skate”. I thought it was going to end on that banger before they came back up for a 4 song encore including “Shut Up Already” and “Kill All the White Man”. This festival made it so a lot of choices had to be made with who you wanted to see, but with NOFX playing every night, it was no choice at all. You had to see them at least once.

PHOTO CREDIT: All photo content by Alex Sanchez for ZRockR Magazine (c) 2024- All Rights Reserved

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