After an eventful and rainy end of night 1 day 2 of Riot Fest brought sunshine, skanking, and one of raps most popular groups.
The Bronx brought everything to a packed early crowd of punk fans. Bringing their sound of punk rock infused garage rock to a crowd that were fans and dying to see them, the band set a precedent for not only that day but the rest of the festival. Blazing through a set that included a wide catalog of songs including songs from their 2021 release “Bronx VI”, everyone was on top form band wise.
Showing why they are one of pop punks best out there, Four Year Strong brought waves of endless crowd surfers with them. Blasting through a set with smiles on their faces, the Riot crowd were more than happy for the band to return to Chicago after everything that has happened. With this being the first time most fans here have had the chance to hear songs from “Brain Pain” live, the crowd made sure to sing along as loud as possible to every new song and every hit.
Celebrating the 30 anniversary of “Scumdogs Of The Universe”, GWAR brought the blood and continued their Riot Fest tradition. Starting off by killing both Biden and a Taliban member the band fired on all cylinders as the both rocked and committed intergalactic crimes throughout their time with us. Covering the crowd, security and even media members in large amounts of both red and green blood and slime the band showed why they’ve been around for 30+ years and will be here another 30+.
One of the best surprises all weekend though took place during ska legends The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Making their return back after they released a new record this year the band was all smiles and happy to be there, which was the same way the fans felt watching them. Its hard to not want to move around and skank watching The Bosstones, just as Bosstones Ben Carr does the entire set. Sounded great and blazing through their set The Bosstones were a personal favorite set of mine for the festival and hopefully they return again.
Chicagos own Rise Against filled in what was one of the most anticipated slots for the weekend, one that was for Faith No More. After frontman Mike Patton dropped all 2021 dates due to mental health issues Rise Against, having just finished their own tour, stepped up to help fill the gap. Happy to be back at Riot singer and guitarist Tim McIlrath even dedicated the set to Patton and company.
Closing out the night was raps heavyweights Run The Jewels. With so much bass you could feet your insides rumble the two man rap duo blasted through most of their latest album “RTJ4” while also giving fans a few hits from the first 3 albums. Killer Mike and El-P showed a massive crowd why they are a force to be reckoned with in the game while also using their platform to speak about what matters to them.
