Live review: Riot Fest – Day 2

Chicago, IL – 21 SEP 2024

Another day of Windy City Rioting complete with body slams and sunshine!

Following a successful Friday, it was time to head back to Douglas Park for the second day of the fest. As previously reported, the first day was everything I hoped for, plus many surprises. I had high hopes for Saturday as on paper, the lineup was beyond stellar for me personally. Just like Friday, there were moments where I had to make the difficult choice of skipping one band in favor of another. More on that below in the formal review. Not wanting to miss a moment, I ensured I arrived to Douglas Park early to take advantage of the staff entrance at the venue. 

My usual routine is to begin the day at the various vendors before the crowds arrive. As a vinyl junkie, I eagerly raid the Smartpunk Records and Fat Wreck Chords tents. NOFX offered up Chicago exclusive variants of many of their releases for this special event. As I was digging, I heard a very raw sounding punk band beginning to play.I immediately looked up and noticed the backdrop for the classic 80’s punk band Verboten from Evanston, Illinois. I had never even noticed their name on the lineup for this years edition of the fest. I had noticed that the band had released a 7” a few years back of recordings from 1983. I was not aware that the band was back in action. They had reunited and recorded a new album which has recently been released. I hope to catch them soon locally.

Following this early performance, I headed back to the NOFX WORLD stage where I was able to catch the second half of Urethane. I admit to not at all being familiar with this band but came to know that they feature pro skater Steve Caballero of such bands as The Faction. This band is true comfort food for fans of all things skate punk. Their vocalist is extremely melodic which sets them apart from many of their peers. I noticed they release their music on the Cyber Tracks label which is operated by El Hefe of NOFX. I will be adding this band to my vinyl want list!

Codefendents followed Urethane on the NOFX WORLD stage. This band is the brainchild of Sam King of Get Dead along with rapper Ceschi Ramos. It should be noted that Fat Mike appears on their recordings but not live. The band plays a mix of punk, hip hop and reggae, and call their genre Crime Wave. I truly don’t know what to call them, though they are extremely unique and are truly a vibe. I was looking forward to seeing them as they do not perform very often. Their song “Def Cons” has been stuck in my head since there album This Is Crime Wave was first released. They performed well, but it was too early in the day, and this setting didn’t really seem best for their style. Would love to catch them in a club sometime.

Next was one of the toughest schedule conflicts I had to face. Buzzcocks performed at the same time as The Dead Milkmen. Now I know many of you reading this might say, “Easy decision. No Pete Shelley, no Buzzcocks.” I had to give the nod to this new Steve Diggle fronted version of the band. I have never seen Buzzcocks. I have seen The Dead Milkmen once before in the 90’s. Had I seen both bands previously, I most likely would have seen the Milkmen, simply due to the absence of Shelley (who sadly passed away in 2018). None of us are getting younger so I had to take the opportunity to catch Buzzcocks while I can. Things were looking up right from the get go as the band tore into “What Do I Get?” There was a solid crowd who showed up for these legends. The set included staples such as “Promises” and “Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)” The only disappointment was the absence of “Orgasm Addict” from the set. I was elated to cross Buzzcocks off my “never seen live” list.

It was now time to head back to NOFX WORLD to catch The Dickies. The Dickies are one of those bands where even if you are not a fan, I recommend to at least see live once. They have perfected the art of captivating the stage and the crowd. Their set is always chock-full of hits you want to hear. I have never seen a bad Dickies show. They more than won over the crowd this afternoon. They played such classics as “Give It Back,” “Manny, Moe and Jack” and “Gigantor.” They even pulled out their version of the Black Sabbath classic, “Paranoid.”

The second conflict of the day was Canadian hardcore legends D.O.A. performing at the same time as wrestling federation NWA (now owned by Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins) over at the Riot Land section of Douglas Park. This was not an easy decision as we never know when bands are going to call it a day. I have previously seen D.O.A. which helped soften the blow of missing their set. I have been a wrestling fan longer than I have been into punk rock so the opportunity to see the newly revamped National Wrestling Alliance was a big deal. This was the federation that made wrestlers such as Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes a household name. Furthermore, it was a nice break from the back to back musical onslaught we had been facing all weekend. I got to witness about four full matches in front of an enthusiastic crowd. 

After my rasslin’ fix, I headed back over to the RISE STAGE to catch one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend, Sincere Engineer. It has been amazing to watch this band rise to stardom these past few years. Their 2023 LP Cheap Grills was one of those albums that still gets continuous play on my turntable. As expected, the crowd area was insanely packed for the local heroes. The band walked onto the stage to quite the ovation and kicked into “Anemia” off their most recent album. From their the band played a short but great set which spanned their short yet storied career. A top moment was pulling off yet another Riot Fest “Corndog” circle pit during the band’s performance of “Corn Dog Sonnet No. 7” from their debut album Rhombithian. Highlights of the set also included performances of “Fireplace” and one of their biggest hits “California King.” My only complaint was the lack of “Coming In Last” which has always been one of my favorite Sincere Engineer tracks. 

Next, I hightailed back to the NOFX STAGE to see the mighty Dillinger Four. I realized I have not seen this midwest powerhouse quartet in over 20 years! They were just as entertaining as I had remembered in a live setting. This band has always been a step ahead of others when it came to crowd interaction. Some might even say going to a D4 show is equal parts comedy and punk rock. As most know, this band has some interesting song titles. As such, I know their songs when I hear them but couldn’t tell you the title. The one song which seemed to bring the house down was “Doublewhiskeycokenoice” off their debut full-length Midwestern Songs of the Americas. It would be a welcome surprise to learn someday soon of the band working on new material.

The remainder of the evening consisted of three back to back sets on the NOFX WORLD stage. First up was staple Fat Wreck Chords band Lagwagon. These skate punk legends are no stranger to the Riot Fest stage. I was happy to see a more energetic crowd response for this amazing band. They played a couple years ago to a less enthusiastic audience on a larger stage earlier in the day. This setting and time slot suited them well. They mostly stuck to staple songs for their 45 minute set. Some highlights were “Razorburn,” “E Dagger” and “Making Friends.” The one song which probably resulted in the greatest crowd response was the performance of their cover of “Brown Eyed Girl.” The only observation during this set was the lack of power in frontman Joey Cape’s vocals. The voice seemed rather strained. Just like The Dickies, Lagwagon are a must-see band.

As the sun was beginning to set, the mighty Descendents took the stage. I am not even sure anything needs to be said about this set. There are few bands who consistently perform as flawlessly as this band. Bad Religion may be the only one who instantly comes to mind. Unlike many of their peers (ie – Circle Jerks), the Descendents are the energizers of punk rock. They play a ferocious set of back-to-back high energy and catchy punk rock. No need to highlight any of the songs as the majority of staples were performed. All the major hits from their reunion era were performed. I have seen the Descendents many times over the years. With the presence of ALL on the festival, this set seemed even that much more special. This set was the perfect warm up for the second night of the NOFX farewell to Chicago.

I was not sure what to expect from the second night of the NOFX three night stand. Friday night was full of hits and staple songs. As I had predicted, there was a combination of deep cuts as well as tracks from less popular albums (though that is fully subjective anyhow). As the opening reel played, the band along with almost 100 guests filled up the stage. The energy was so high you could cut it with a knife. After the usual introductory hi jinx , the band got the party started early with tracks such as “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock” and “Bob.” The controversial “72 Hookers” was next followed by a Fat Mike rant about how the band can’t be canceled since the end was near. That comment came up multiple times throughout the evening. NOFX went on to cover all eras of their vast catalog. Songs such as “Monosyllabic Girl” and “Leaving Jesusland” were hits with the crowd. Lesser well-known songs like “Herojuana” and “Instant Crassic” created some lulls in the set. Throughout the night Fat Mike would comment about such songs and still hype them up as being “ok” or “good” songs. The end of the set before the encore picked up the pace a bit with “Green Corn” from Ribbed as well as a repeat performance of “I Wanna Be an Alcoholic.” Guitarist El Hefe got to step into the spotlight on performances of their cover of the Rancid classic “Radio” as well as “Kill All The White Man.” While this night may not have been full of “go-to” live NOFX tracks, the performance more than made up for it in overall excitement and entertainment. NOFX have ALWAYS done things their way and that is to be applauded. I am extremely grateful for the band including Chicago and Riot Fest on their Farewell schedule.