A picture-perfect day with big blue skies and abundant sunshine greeted the masses who descended upon Douglas Park for the inaugural day of Riot Fest Friday. With a plethora of attractions ranging from carnival rides/games, a halfpipe, a boxing ring, and a free arcade (just to name a few), along with a stellar lineup of great bands on tap, Friday promised to be a truly entertaining experience for the thousands of beautiful/colorful/eclectic people in attendance.
And that it was. Here’s rundown of some of the many highlights from Day 1:
Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton
Over the years, Riot Fest has had a penchant for booking living legends in their twilight years that you might not necessarily associate with a punk-rock-centric festival. Merle Haggard (who performed in 2015) and Jerry Lee Lewis (who performed in 2018) come to mind, and those in attendance Friday were treated to P-Funk icon George Clinton, who took to the stage at the ripe age of 82 along with his supporting cast (which numbered a dozen or so) in Parliament-Funkadelic, who have been freeing minds and asses with their funktastic performances for literally over ½ a century now. And they proceeded to do just that by delivering a scorching performance under a toasty mid-day sun that featured all their classic hits like “Cosmic Slop” (which effectively kicked-off their set), “Flashlight”, “Atomic Dog”, and even peppered in a few covers like House of Pain’s “Jump Around” just for variety’s sake. Most of their show felt like a funky free-form jam session, with lots of wailing guitars and plenty of shout-along lines like “Shit! Goddam! Get off your ass and jam”! Needless to say, they were a lot of fun, and seeing a living legend the likes of George Clinton felt like a special treat. All-in-all, a pretty awesome way to start Riot Fest for this writer.
Code Orange
Around the corner at the Roots Stage was a band that felt like the very antithesis of all the funky good vibes that radiated from Parliament’s set: Code Orange. Indeed, while it might be a stretch to say Code Orange specializes in bad vibes, their music isn’t exactly sunny in nature, which made their pulverizing performance under the brightness of the mid-afternoon sun feel somewhat at odds. But whatever the case, Code Orange delivered an impressively crushing set that consistently whipped up a sizable mosh pit that only seemed to grow more intense with each passing song. Lead singer Jami Morgan, who came out sporting what appeared to be a dead-skin mask, put on a performance that lived up to his “I’m A Barbarian” t-shirt, and even did a little crowd-surfing during the band’s closing number “Forever” which served to put the proverbial exclamation point on what was a decidedly intense (and occasionally brutal) performance. Pretty rad.
The Breeders
You know that feeling towards the end of the day at a festival, when you’ve got a nice buzz going, the sun is starting to set, the weather is starting to cool off, and you’re just sort of basking in the beauty of it all, soaking in the vibe? Such was the case for this writer when The Breeders took to the stage, as their performance proved to be the perfect soundtrack for all those aforementioned serene vibes. Kim Deal and company were positively beaming, delivering their distinctly sweet brand of crunchy alt-rock while performing their classic album The Last Splash from front to back, without missing a beat. They added in a few of their newer songs to close things out, but suffice to say “Cannonball” was the obvious highlight, along with songs like “Invisible Man” and “Divine Hammer”, which helped remind this reviewer how great of an album Last Splash truly is. Overall, a sublimely chill and highly enjoyable performance from The Breeders. Good vibes indeed.
Turnstile
“Turnstile are kind of like the Bee-Gees of hardcore”. That was a quote overheard from a few rows behind me while waiting for the aforementioned band to take the stage. At first, that sounded a little ridiculous, but if you think about it a minute, it’s actually kind of a brilliant encapsulation of the band, and why they’ve really shot to superstardom over the past few years. Indeed, much in the same way many people don’t like disco, if you hear the Bee Gees, odds are they will get you moving. And if you don’t particularly like heavy music, if you hear Turnstile, odds are they will get you moving as well. The energy and rhythm in their music is downright danceable at times, heavy as it is, but they deliver it with a distinctly uplifting aura of positivity that is downright infectious. Not only that, but they inject a healthy sense of melody and dynamics into their sound that helps add an element of color/variety to their aggressively exuberant attack. And all that aggressively infectious exuberance was on full display Friday night, as the band delivered an emphatic set that pulled heavily from their most recent breakout album Glow On. Of course, there was all the expected moshing and crowd surfing you would expect from a Turnstile show, along with plenty of singing from the audience, most notably during “Blackout” which might have been the highlight of their set. Overall, the heart, soul, passion, energy, and intensity of their performance stole the show that night, at least in the eyes of this reviewer.
Foo Fighters
And that’s really saying something, considering the headliners that evening. The Foo Fighters are a band that obviously needs no introduction, have established themselves as one of the most popular and enduring acts of the past few decades. And while they’ve always had a distinctly accessible/polished sound on record, in a live setting, they sounded somewhat surprisingly raw and intense, delivering an emphatic performance that offered up something for everyone’s tastes. “All My Life” was a fantastic way to open their set and helped set the tone for the rest of their high-energy performance. All the standard hits were, of course, peppered in throughout the evening, but the band also threw in an impromptu medley of covers mindset that included “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Whip It”, and “March of the Pigs”, which was obviously at of fun. They arguably saved their best for last, closing their set with “Everlong” which served as the proverbial icing on the cake for a great day of performances from Day 1 of Riot Fest
Day 1 Tidbits:
Best porta potty nickname spotted (yes Riot Fest put nametags on some porta potties):
- Turdstile
- Honorable mention: The Last Splash
Number of bees that could have stung me but were cool about it: 11
