RIOT ON FREMONT

No sophomore slump to be found here, folks. Riot On Fremont Street ascended upon downtown Las Vegas once again, only this time bigger, badder, and radder. After some last-minute issues with the previous venue, Container Park welcomed the fest with open arms. New Belgium Brewing were also key to the success of the event. An all ages punk festival in Container Park, with great food, great drinks, and decent weather? What more could you ask for?

Cyn asked Chris to take us back to the beginning, and him and Ryan J gave us a quick rundown.

Chris: It started with…there was already a festival-type gathering…

Ryan: A party.

Chris: It was a party (Jugendfest) that was always happening (during Punk Rock Bowling). The, unfortunately, the organizer (Rev. Dave) for that passed away (in 2024) and so they asked if I was willing to pick up the mantle and I said “Yeah, sure. I think we can make something cool.” We wanted to have some kind of gathering for people that didn’t want to go to the main festival or had club show tickets. A place for them to still come to get some food, get some drinks, hang out with their friends and it was successful! We had ten bands last year with a club show/pre-show. It was an acoustic thing and it was a lot of fun. We wanted to continue doing it and when Punk Rock Bowling canceled we said “Alright, well, let’s make a bigger festival.”

Day one featured Mason Zero, The Out There, All Waffle Trick, One Square Mile, Celebrity Stalker, The X Flowers, and closed out with Billy Bats and The Made Men from Atlanta, GA who have waited patiently since last year’s festival when the lineup was full.

Day two of the main festival had a packed lineup as well. It started off with a great set from The School of Rock NW Las Vegas campus kids, er, rock stars followed by The Kieths, Couch Surf, Motion Detected, Sex Motel, TV Tragedy, with local legends Suburban Resistance closing out the main festival.

The party continued after the main fest ended with a nightly club show at Fat Cat inside the Downtown Grand, which has since closed, unfortunately. The first night included local favorites Vavoom!, Krovak from Phoenix, and Plastic Mystic from Denver. It was a perfect blend of different energies. Night two opened with the unique and local Satanic Bluegrass band, The Darkest Holler. Christina Jean & The Howlers and The Rocketz graced us with their presence from SoCal. The final night of club shows was brought to you by Dammit Jim from Denver, Atypical Heroes from SLC, and closing out the fest was All Waffle Trick also from Denver. Ska nights are always good nights.

When asked about the process in choosing who gets to play, Roxy Gunn said it was hard saying no to all these great bands. She said “I think going through band submissions as a band is also difficult because we know what it’s like to get the no e-mail like ‘Sorry, not this year’ and it sucks. So to be the person going ‘Sorry, not this year’, I’m like I don’t wanna do this. I don’t want to tell these bands that they can’t play because it’s not because they’re not good. It’s because you know, XYZ whatever the reason is.”

Vegas definitely showed up to represent. The Out There, The X Flowers, Vavoom!, School of Rock NW Las Vegas campus, Motion Detected, Suburban Resistance, and the Darkest Holler did this city proud.

Concerning next year, the conversation has already started with Container Park. Container Park said they had a blast and it was fun to them, Chris says. “The event was an overall success and Container Park is excited about doing this again next year. From the bottom of our hearts, we can’t thank Container Park and New Belgium Brewing enough for helping make this happen.”

The members of Crimson Riot – Roxy, Chris and Ryan – would like to personally thank all the bands who submitted to play the festival, everyone who came to show love and support, Container Park, and New Belgium Brewing.

Given our experience and the experience of others, the future seems bright for Riot On Fremont. Thanks, Chris!

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