Ranking Riot Fest Performances: Friday (Day 1)

In honor of my attending Riot Fest in Chicago, I am doing a mini-series where I rank each of the performances I saw.  While I’ve discussed Riot Fest significantly on my podcast, Groupie and Harmony, it is historically a punk festival, though it has branched out into other genres.  This year, the main stages (Cabaret Metro Stage and AAA Stage) are largely genre specific by day (Friday is pop punk based, Saturday is alternative/indie based, Sunday is metal based), the NOFX stage has punk acts with NOFX headlining each day, and the other two stages (Rise Stage and Radical Stage) are kind of a catch-all stage.

On Friday, Fall Out Boy was headlining, and featured notable acts such as The Offspring (performing Smash), Public Enemy, The Marley Brothers (performing a Bob Marley set), Sum 41, Cypress Hill, New Found Glory, and NOFX.  The acts I saw (in reverse order) were Fall Out Boy, Circle Jerks, Sum 41, Suicidal Tendencies, Hot Mulligan, State Champs, Spiritual Cramp, Poison the Well, Home Front, Polaris, The Exploited, and Action/Adventure.  * indicates that I didn’t see their entire set due to a conflicting set.

I want to preface this list by emphasizing that there were no bad sets that I saw.  Even the 12^th ranked set that I saw was still one that I enjoyed and am glad that I saw.

 

1:  Sum 41

6:05-7:05, Cabaret Metro Stage

In one of the stops on their final tour, Sum 41 absolutely killed it.  The music was incredible and, if it wasn’t totally spot on, had no noticeable flaws or hiccups.  I also don’t think I have ever seen a non-headliner at a festival get the entire crowd as engaged as they did (though I imagine most in the crowd were looking forward to seeing them, so it’s not like it was the early band I’m discussing next that did this).

 

2:  Polaris

1:20-1:50, AAA Stage

I might be biased since I love metalcore, and someone who isn’t a fan of the genre would probably not have had the same reaction I did.  That said, it was an absolutely exceptional set musically that blew me away so early in the day.  On top of that, they totally won over a sizeable crowd that was there to see them, which you don’t usually see at festivals.

 

3:  Fall Out Boy

8:15-10:00, Cabaret Metro Stage

They certainly put on quite a show in terms of the theatrics; while it’s not surprising to see a massive act have this level of theatrics, it still is a bit surprising at a festival that is big but not as big as Coachella or Lollapalooza, for instance.  That said, their performance was not overshadowed by everything else.  They did some songs from each of their albums, which this crowd from their hometown Chicago clearly loved.

 

4:  Circle Jerks

7:00-8:00, NOFX World

They largely focused on the music and didn’t take a lot of time in between songs, which is something that was nice since most of their songs are so short, and when there was a break, you could hear The Offspring in the background.  Some would find the conversations in between a little awkward, but vocalist Keith Morris had a gem about The Offspring: “Thank you for not running over to see The Offspring.  It’s not like we don’t like them…actually there’s about a dozen reasons why we don’t”.

 

5:  Action/Adventure

12:10-12:40, AAA Stage

As the first act on the main stages, I got the vibe that most people there were glad they saw Chicago’s own Action/Adventure.  They put on a fun, enticing, and musically sound live show while clearly playing what they want when they want, which their fans clearly love.  They also acknowledged a 5-year-old who was seeing her first show, which was a special moment.

 

6:  Spiritual Cramp*

2:50-3:20, Radical Stage

I’m sure some would hate the fact that they come across as brash assholes (something they referenced), but I thought it worked with the music, which is clearly influenced by a mix of hardcore punk/post-punk.  Their performance incorporated modern punk while also appeared to be taking a page out of the classic punk acts, whom I have always had an affinity for (which is why I chose Circle Jerks over The Offspring).

 

7:  Suicidal Tendencies

4:45-5:25, Rise Stage

This set was about what I expected from Suicidal Tendencies in some ways.  The songs were chaotic and fun to watch, the monologs in between got a bit repetitive but were about what I’d expect, and they didn’t play “Institutionalized” (I’d imagine many were expecting they would, but they’ve always marched to the beat of their own drum).  I got the vibe that they thought they had a longer set, which stinks for them, especially since they were having a blast.

 

8:  The Exploited*

1-1:30, NOFX World

The show was about what you would expect if you know The Exploited; fast songs that were performed well, older punks with mohawks in the crowd, and vocalist Wattie Buchan criticizing some fans who apparently made a prior Chicago show not great.  The only downside was that the quality of mics and heavy accents (more the former though) made it tough to understand Buchan at points.

 

9:  Home Front*

1:50-2:10, Radical Stage

They put on a very good set.  While their music is more influenced by new wave, they take on more of a punk ethos and attitude, which isn’t shocking considering the origins of new wave stemming largely from early post-punk acts.  I greatly enjoyed their set; the only reason it’s so low is because there were so many amazing sets that it would have been difficult to top them even with a very good set.

 

10:  Hot Mulligan*

4:15-4:55, Cabaret Metro Stage

The music was very good, and they showed that they are great live performers.  Their antics in between songs (or their lack of any sort of enthusiasm) might put off some people, but I didn’t mind it.  There were a few times the sound went out abruptly for a second, which was really what I found offputting.

 

11:  State Champs

3:40-4:10, AAA Stage

While they put on a good show, there were points they seemed a little rattled due to some technical difficulties; there also appeared to be a lot of backing tracks doing more work on the vocals than live vocals.  That said, after it appeared that vocalist Derek DiScanio and guitarist Tyler Szalkowski improvised, the set improved significantly.

 

12:  Poison the Well

2:30-3, AAA Stage

Their set was by no means bad, and I thought was a good set.  The reason it’s lower than the others is because the crowd just didn’t seem into it and vocalist Jeffrey Moreira lost his voice around 20 minutes into the set.  That said, he was a trooper with the remainder of the set, and the instrumentals were amazing.

 

Have you seen any of these acts?  If so, what did you think of them?  Any acts you love out of these?  Let me know in the comments!