Riot Fest 2012 9/16/12 at Humboldt Park
Sunday was the final day of Riot Fest and once again Mother Nature provided absolutely perfect weather for an outdoor festival. You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend to have this festival take place. The final day’s festival had a stellar and diverse lineup of bands as well and once again there was [...]
Riot Fest 2012 late show 9/15/12 at Congress Theater
Those with any energy left after a wonderful day-long event at Humboldt Park had the option (if they were a three-day pass holder) of staying out late and catching a great four band bill at the Congress Theater headlined by NOFX. This bill put three bands who have been around since at least the 1980s [...]
Riot Fest 2012 9/15/12 at Humboldt Park
It’s amazing how much Riot Fest evolved from its first event eight years ago. When Riot Fest started it was simply a two-day punk rock festival at the Congress Theater that had some old bands reuniting, some in various or inferior forms (Dead Kennedy’s and “the Misfits”) and mixed it with a variety of newer [...]
Riot Fest 2011: Secret show with Marky Ramone
After the Weezer show let out (and the 7 Seconds show over at Bottom Lounge) there was just one event left for this year’s Riot Fest and it was the last of the secret shows. This show was being held at the AAA building in Wicker Park which was only a few minutes down the [...]
Riot Fest 2011: Weezer at Congress Theater 10/9/11
Sunday marked the last night of Riot Fest which was an action packed and exhausting week where memories are made and sometimes reunions both in bands and friends take place. This year the closing of Riot Fest saw a rather unorthodox show by Riot Fest standards by having Weezer headline the last night of Congress [...]
Riot Fest 2011: Descendents 10/8/11 at Congress Theater
Saturday was the longest day of Riot Fest as the show was an all day affair at the Congress Theater. More than a dozen bands took the stage that day so those who were ambitious could spend the entire day there starting shortly after lunch time. Those who were out late every night that week [...]
Riot Fest 2011: All at Bottom Lounge 10/6 and 10/7
As Riot Fest continued during the week, the shows were starting to split up between venues which sometimes made fans have to choose which show to see but this year it was a little friendlier and due to some later start times it was possible to catch multiple/partial shows on the same evenings. On Thursday [...]
Riot Fest 2011 day two: Social Distortion at Congress Theater 10/6/11
Riot Fest continued last night and kicked into high gear giving people a choice between going to Congress Theater and Bottom Lounge. They even had a shuttle bus going between the two venues at one point for people who wanted to head over to catch the other show. The show at the Congress Theater featured [...]
Riot Fest 2011 day one: X at Bottom Lounge 10/5/11
October in Chicago can only mean one thing (not including halloween): Riot Fest! Riot Fest is celebrating its sixth birthday this year and it started the festivities last night at the Bottom Lounge. This evening was a special one for old punk rock fans as the legendary Los Angeles punk/rock band, X, returned to the [...]
Naked Raygun – 7″ Series Volume Three
Two new songs in the trademark Naked Raygun style proving once again the band still has it in the songwriting department. Rating: Naked Raygun – 7″ Series Volume Three 7″ Riot Fest Records As we are about to embark on the fall of another year Naked Raygun deliver the third installment of their 7″ series. [...]
Riot Fest announce 2011 lineup!
The fall punk festival created to celebrate my birthday (OK well it wasn’t really created for that, it’s just a happy coincidence that it happens before my birthday every year) is gearing up for another huge string of shows here in our fine city. This year’s fest was already worth attending for the fact that [...]
Bootsy Collins 6/10/11 at Congress Theater
Friday night, Funk icon Bootsy Collins made his long, long-awaited return to the Windy City to play a show at the Congress Theater. Bootsy didn’t skimp on the production either as he brought a 13 piece band with him to bring the funk to the Congress.When the doors opened the line of eager fans was [...]
Dayglo Abortions and Verbal Abuse 6/4/11 at Cobra Lounge
Last night two legendary hardcore bands from the 1980s joined forces to play together at the Cobra Lounge. One of the bands hadn’t been here in well over two decades, if not longer despite the fact that they never stopped playing. Those bands were the Dayglo Abortions and Verbal Abuse. Chicago natives, Eske, took the [...]
The Dead Milkmen 4/30 at Congress Theater
Saturday night the Congress Theater was the host of the long-awaited return of the Dead Milkmen. This historical band ended their retirement recently and started playing and recording again after more than a decade of dormancy. They had a fan favorite playing right before them in the form of the Lawrence Arms. First up was [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Negative Approach, Zero Boys, Meatmen 10/10/10
Sunday night Riot Fest ended with a bang over at the Double Door. That sauna was the place to be if you wanted to end your punk rock staycation by seeing three legendary and influential hardcore bands reunite (in various forms of originality) for a wonderful trip back through time to the early 1980s. The [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Torche and Kylesa 10/10/10
As the week came to a close so was Riot Fest as the final shows of the week were taking place on Sunday. The show at the Metro was a Riot Fest first in that it was a show full of metal bands, and damn good ones at that. This was the first time Riot [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Articles of Faith 10/9/10 at AAA
After the day-long festivities at the Congress Theater a real treat was planned for the evening over at the AAA. For one of the “secret shows” of the evening, the worst kept secret thank to the band announcing it the night before was Articles of Faith doing a special performance at the AAA building. This [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Pennywise, Snapcase, Anti-Flag 10/9/10
Now that the weekend started, it was time to expand Riot Fest to start early in the day. There was a full array of bands taking turns entertaining the large crowd a the Congress Theater on Saturday First up, The Swellers. These Flint, MI natives played a short set of melodic pop-punk. They had a [...]
Riot Fest 2010: Corrosion of Conformity 10/8/10
One of the late options for Friday’s Riot Festivities included the long-awaited return of Corrosion of Conformity headlining an evening of bands at the Double Door. This wasn’t just any version of COC, this was the version, the original three members playing nothing from that period of time we’ll pretend never happened in the 1990s. [...]
Smoking Popes 10/1/10 at AAA
As fall rears its ugly head letting Chicagoland know that summer is over and hibernation season is approaching there is only one redeeming factor of it and that is Riot Fest. Much like last year, this year the festivities started a few days early with a “secret” show headlined by Smoking Popes. The show was [...]
New Articles of Faith video
Here’s something I never thought I would be writing about. Articles of Faith, a band who no one thought would be likely to get back together, just released a new video for “With a Vengeance” which is a song from their forthcoming album on Alternative Tentacles Records. If this is any indication of what the [...]
Riot Fest 2010 lineup announced
Riot Fest is always the highlight of my concert attending year and has been ever since the first one. Every year they seem to out-do themselves in terms of diversity and enormity and I honestly thought the marathon that was last year’s fest couldn’t be topped. I should have known better because this year’s lineup [...]
