Riot Fest Day 3 – Alt Rock Vets Shine: Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney, Jawbox & More (FESTIVAL RECAP)

Crystal clear blue skies and a scorching sun greeted the masses for the third and final day of Riot Fest at Douglas Park Sunday afternoon (September 18th). After two action-packed days of the festival, which was characterized by a very emo-centric Friday and a very punk-rock-focused Saturday, the pressure was on Day 3 to live up to the awesomeness that transpired across Douglas Park the prior two days. But with a stacked lineup that included the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Ice Cube, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney, and even Coolio (yes, Coolio!), Day 3 promised to certainly be no slouch in its own right.

In a span of fewer than two years, The Linda Lindas went from being a modest teenage girl band performing at the LA Public Library for a crowd of maybe 10ish people, to performing on the main stage at Riot Fest for a crowd of 1000s. Talk about living the dream! And in the case of The Linda Lindas, it’s all very well deserved. One listen to their righteous breakthrough hit “Racist, Sexist Boy” is probably the clearest evidence of that (which totally ripped live), but over the course of their half-hour set, they sounded fairly versatile and engaging for such a young band. They had a couple of songs about their cats, a song encouraging us to vote (which is particularly endearing considering they’re not quite old enough to do that themselves yet), etc. Throw in a couple of covers of The Go-Gos and Bikini Kill, and all-in-all you had a perfect early afternoon set to kick off a stellar Day 3 of Riot Festivities. Cheers to The Linda Lindas. The sky is clearly the limit for them, so exciting to see how far they can go.

Following up The Lindas Lindas at the Roots Stage were 90s alternative-rock underground heroes Jawbox, who was one of those bands that never really seemed to get their due for whatever reason. Granted the competition was steep in the alt-rock world during the mid-90s, and Jawbox’s post-hardcore flavored approach to that sound probably didn’t have a lot of mainstream appeal, but whatever the case, despite releasing a lot of solid albums (and a borderline great one with 1994’s For Your Own Special Sweetheart), Jawbox generally flew under a lot of people’s radar in the 90s. All that said, it was nice to see them on the main stage at Riot Fest, although their performance admittedly felt a little too pedestrian at times. Selections from the aforementioned album helped on that front, as “Motorist” and of course “Savory” (which closed their set) seemed to resonate with the crowd a bit more than their other offerings. Overall, it was a solid/serviceable set under an increasingly blazing mid-afternoon sun.

People forget, but there was a time when Coolio was like, quite possibly the most popular rapper on the planet circa 1994-1995. From the classic hip-hop summer anthem “Fantastic Voyage” to “Gangsta’s Paradise”, Coolio was practically everywhere in the mid-90s. Fast-forward nearly three decades later, and to say it was a trip seeing him perform at the 4:00 slot at Riot Fest in 2022 would be a bit of an understatement. But you know what? Dude still has it. And he brought with him a full band to boot, including a saxophonist who was killing it during his performance of “C U When U Get There” (another song you may have forgotten about). Overall, his performance was heavily nostalgic for this reviewer, and pretty fun to boot. Long live Coolio!

After paying $20 for some borderline good nachos (#inflationstrikesagain), it was time for everyone’s favorite indie-rock darlings Sleater-Kinney to hit the Riot Stage shortly after 6:00. As the unrelenting sunshine that scorched Douglas Park Sunday was finally starting to set, a refreshing aura seemed to take over, which complimented Sleater-Kinney’s set quite nicely. In fact, that aura probably had more to do with the band’s sounds washing over the crowd than the sun setting (although this reviewer was really glad to see that searing sun finally go away), and frankly, it was nice to experience some feminine energy after all the testosterone that characterized days one and two of the fest. 

Sleater-Kinney also proved to be the perfect warm-up for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who took to the adjacent Roots stage a little after 7:00. Karen O came out in one of her patented exotic outfits, that included a colorful umbrella-type hat that she ditched a few songs in, before proceeding to spew out some water for old time’s sake (which is kind of the unofficial signal at a Yeah Yeah Yeahs show that it’s officially on).

It may not be 2003 anymore (as evidenced by their unfortunately sparse selections from Fever to Tell) but regardless of what year it is, Karen O is a captivating performer, to say the least. Between her water spewing antics, quirky vocal ticks, intriguing mannerisms, her suggestive microphone tricks, suffice to say she’s fun to watch, but more importantly, she’s super distinctive, talented, and kind of a living legend (checkout the Meet Me in the Bathroom documentary).  “Maps” was naturally the highlight, which came towards the end of their set, as well as their only other selection from Fever to Tell, “Date with the Night” (which closed their set). All in all their other material sounded good live (if a little too sedate at times), but their more dancey selections like “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” definitely garnered some of the most enthusiastic reactions from the crowd. It’s crazy to think that it’s been basically two decades now since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs first burst onto the scene. Regardless, they’ve still got it live, as evidenced by their pretty great performance Sunday night.

Speaking of legendary bands that have been around a long time, it was Nine Inch Nails who were tasked with delivering the final performance of Riot Fest 2022. Indeed, you would be hard-pressed to pick a better closer, especially considering all the great bands on display over the past three days, and suffice to say that Nine Inch Nails delivered the goods on that front. Opening with the brooding “Somewhat Damaged” helped build up tension for “Wish”, which immediately followed and rightfully kicked-up the intensity to levels that only a select few bands are truly capable of.

From there, Trent Reznor and company did a good job of alternating between more brooding/heady material like “Sanctified”, “Piggy”, and “Even Deeper” with more cathartic ragers like “March of the Pigs”, “Gave Up”, and of course “Head Like a Hole” throughout the night, which had the affect of both building tension between songs, and keeping the audience on our collective toes. Of course, concert staples like “Closer” and “The Hand That Feeds” are always fun live, but for this reviewer anyway, relatively newer selections like “Copy of A” and “God Break Down the Door” felt a little more interesting/compelling for various reasons (seeing Trent rock a saxophone for the latter song couldn’t help but be interesting). It’s these denser/more experimental type songs that kind of feel like what the future of NIN might sound like, which is exciting to think about.

Whatever the case, some things never change, and that includes Nine Inch Nails’ ability to deliver a distinctly awesome and powerful live performance. They closed the night, and effectively the festival at large, with “Hurt”, which is always a compelling listening experience, but felt even more affecting live. The end of Riot Fest is always a little bittersweet, so perhaps the somber vibes of “Hurt” were a fitting way to close out what was truly a memorable Riot Fest 2022.

Day 3 Tidbits:

Best music t-shirt spotted: Little Richard

Best horror movie t-shirt spotted: American Psycho

Number of people that wore black in the blistering sun, and regretted it: 11,909

Number of legit goths that wore black in the blistering sun and didn’t regret it because the unpleasantness of extra sweat/sunburn/heat pales in comparison to the rampant pain and suffering that is pervasive on this cruel and pathetic world floating in the bleak eternal darkness of an empty and uncaring universe: 13

Cumulative 3-day festival steps total for yours truly: 54,719

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