A positively gorgeous Friday afternoon (9/16) greeted the masses for the first day of Riot Fest, as Douglas Park was once again transformed into a vibrant rock and roll playground full of carnival rides, eclectically beautiful people, and of course loads of bands that ran the full spectrum from new-school rap metal, to old-school punk, and a (debatably excessive) amount of emo bands. Indeed, if you happened to be a fan of that particular genre, then the world truly was your oyster on Day 1, but even if emo wasn’t your thing (which was the case for this reviewer), there were still plenty of other quality bands to checkout across Riot Fest’s 5 distinct stages.
And perhaps there was no better place to “rebel” from all the unabashed emo-ness radiating across Douglas Park Friday than the aptly titled “Rebel Stage”. Tucked/hidden away in the back SW corner of the fest, true to its name, the Rebel Stage often hosts generally more subversive acts, typically of the under-the-radar/up-and-coming variety, so, usually, a good place to discover new bands before everyone else does.
One such band was London’s Wargasm (not to be confused with the 80s thrash band of the same name), who hit the stage around 2:20 and delivered a pretty rousing 30-minute set in the toasty mid-afternoon sun. They were definitely flexing their Nu-Metal revivalist muscles, sounding like the new-school love child of Spineshank and Atari Teenage Riot (if you recognize both of those band names, you get an A+ for your old-school Nu-Metal acumen!), with maybe a splash of Die Antwood for good measure. Suffice it to say they were partying like it was 1999, for better or worse. Overall, while that sound/style has been done (arguably better) before, that type of music cannot help but ignite a crowd, so would have to say Wargasm delivered the goods on that front.
Up next was probably one of the most unique bands at Riot Fest Friday: Algiers. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, they sported a drastically different sound/flavor from Wargasm. Whereas Wargasm was unhinged/decadent, Algiers was much more restrained/disciplined/nuanced in its approach. They effectively conveyed a uniquely brooding tension in their music, which sported a decidedly noisy/jammy southern gothic soulful type of vibe. It felt pretty dense, but also very organic/real. Throw in some industrial undertones and a few sporadic punky up-tempo moments, and overall, you had a fairly compelling performance for a mid-afternoon set. Cool band.
Did you know that yoga and heavy metal actually go surprisingly well together? Well, if you were fortunate enough to catch the beginning of Bob Vylan’s set Friday, now you know! For that not privy, Bob Vylan has a rather unique way to warm up before his performances, by inviting the audience to join in on his self-described “meditation” exercises, which basically consist of him doing sun salutations/stretches/etc. while a ridiculously dirty/gnarly distorted metal-guitar riff grinds away in the background. With his drummer laying down a wicked mid/down-tempo beat, it all adds up to quite possibly the coolest/most amusing exercise routine this reviewer has ever had the pleasure to witness live (granted it is the only metal-warm-up exercise routine I’ve witnessed live, but, nonetheless).
But of course, there is much more to Bob Vylan than just his metal-yoga warm-up (awesome as it was). Hailing from the UK, this is a cat who is breathing new life/credibility into the often-maligned rap-metal genre thanks largely to his intelligent/topical/confrontational lyrics that attack everything from racism (“We Live Here”), politics (“Heard You Want Your Country Back” (which opened his set)), societal ills (“Take That”), and pop culture “Turn Off The Radio” in impressively righteous fashion. And he delivers it all with an impeccably hard-hitting, effortlessly rhythmic flow, which compliments the pervasive aggression of the music well, which is primarily metal in nature, but often with a propulsive punky/noisy dynamic that contributes an extra element of rawness to the mix. It all adds up to a pretty potent/invigorating concoction, especially in a live setting. It certainly didn’t hurt that Bob Vylan was game to jump into the crowd on more than one occasion, crowd surfing a few songs into his set, and then actually jumping into the moshpit and singing with fans for “Wicked & Bad”, which was a pretty awesome way to end his set. Oh, and did I mention dude is hilarious? His stage banter was on point, making taboo jokes about the Queen, the Kardashians, ripping on Elvis, America’s education system, etc.. Basically, Bob Vylan can do it all: he’s smart, funny, good at yoga, and most importantly, a very talented musician and a great live performer. He stole the show Friday.
So-Cal punk legends The Descendents were the recipients of some unwanted press recently, when one of the Capital stormer guys apparently rocked a Milo t-shirt at the January 6th hearings (much to the band’s chagrin/embarrassment). No doubt everything sucked for the Descendents upon hearing that news, so perhaps it was fitting they opened their early evening set at the Roots stage (which is one of the large headliner stages) with, well, “Everything Sux” of course! They then launched directly into “Hope” from their debut album Milo Goes to College, and from there proceeded to serve up an assortment of classics from across their storied discography. Cuts from their aforementioned classic debut were no doubt the most fun for this reviewer, but overall, it felt like the Decendents could do no wrong over the course of their hour long set Friday. A fine way to close out Day 1 of Riot Fest for yours truly before heading over to Thalia Hall for an epic nightcap with the Osees.
Day 1 Tidbits:
Best horror movie t-shirt spotted: Creepshow
Best random t-shirt sighting: Fishbone (#riotfest2021memories)
Bad Brains t-shirt compliments received: 2
Number of large Gremlin stuffed animals spotted: 1
Number of emos in attendance: 16,835
