Riot Fest marked its 20th anniversary this weekend (9/19–9/21) at Douglass Park in Chicago, a milestone for the independent festival founded in 2005 by Mike “Riot Mike” Petryshyn and the late great Sean McKeough.
The pair were known in Chicago’s punk and alt-rock circles for booking legacy rock and punk acts alongside rising alternative bands and for keeping the operation independent even as it grew.
Rare for festivals these years, the event has always rocked, was typically diverse in many ways, and usually made attendees ask "why doesn't this happen in more places around the country?"
Over its double decades, Riot Fest has booked headliners rooted around our old pal the electric guitar. We're talking The Replacements (2013); The Cure (2014); the Original Misfits reunion with Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, and Doyle (2016); Jawbreaker (2017); Nine Inch Nails (2021); and this year’s top-liners Blink-182, Green Day, and Weezer.
Mixed in with those headliners, however, were lots of rock and punk bands who rarely get love in big time festivals. This year those include Shonen Knife, Agnostic Front, GWAR, Agent Orange, Buzzcocks, The Damned and Bad Religion. Bravo to Riot Fest for continuing to support those fantastic outfits.
Here's some highlights from this year's weekend in Douglass Park.
Jack White joined IDLES for "Never Fight a Man With a Perm"
How do we know Jack White loves Riot Fest? He stuck around after his scorching Saturday set to jam on Sunday (9/21) with the intense band from Bristol on "Never Fight a Man With a Perm."
The guitar hero gleefully traded riffs with IDLES' axemen, Mark Bowen and Lee Kiernan, as Joe Talbot roared over the top to the delight of the 50k in attendance.
“Chicago, you know this kind of rock and roll can only be made in the Midwest,” White told his crowd on Saturday. But on the Sabbath he let his guitar do the talking.
Bono's son, the singer of Inhaler impressed
Is it hard to be the son of an enormous rock star? Of course. But look around, even if you're a late night talk show host who gets to introduce bands every night, life can be tough too. Just strap it on, belt it out, and give thanks for every day you're above ground.
Inhaler did that last night (9/21), fronted Elijah Hewson on vox and guitar, Robert Keating on bass, Josh Jenkinson on guitar and keyboards, and Ryan McMahon on drums.
The group built their following in Ireland with early singles before releasing their debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This, which reached #1 on both the Irish Albums Chart and the UK Albums Chart in 2021. Their followup, Cuts & Bruises, peaked at #2 on the Irish Albums Chart and #2 on the UK Albums Chart in 2023.
This year they dropped their third album, Open Wide, on 2/7 through Polydor Records. Produced by Kid Harpoon, known for his work with Harry Styles and Florence + The Machine, with the single “Your House.” It debuted at #1 on the Irish Albums Chart and #2 on the UK Albums Chart. And when you hear that strong, faintly familiar voice, it's not surprising why the kids are eating it up.
Inhaler have three more gigs in the US before heading back across the pond. Grab your tix on their website.
Blink-182 was joined by Matt Skiba and later Stephen Egerton
Friday night (9/19) Blink reunited with their former guitarist for the second time since 2020. You may remember in February the group brought him out at the Hollywood Palladium for "Bored To Death."
Let's just say they did it again one more time in Chicago, but this time Matt did it while wearing a Cubs hat - which is exactly something you should do if you were born in the city and grew up in McHenry, Illinois.
If that wasn't cool enough, late in the set they brought out Stephen Egerton of the Descendents (and ALL) to cover their banger, "Hope." Let's hope we see him more with the group because it was beautiful.
Blink now heads to the South for a handful of shows for their Missionary Impossible Tour before coming home to the west coast with a pair of shows near Coachella and then When We Were Young in Vegas. Tickets available on their website.
Shonen Knife played first set in the US since 2019
The all-female Japanese trio Shonen Knife returned to the US for the first time since 2019 to remind the kids what The Ramones would have sounded like if they were women born in Japan in the 1980s.
Naoko Yamano on guitar, her sister Atsuko on bass, and Risa Kawano on drums, kicked off their incredibly sweet and upbeat Everybody Happy U.S. Tour at Riot Fest.
"We're so excited to bring our music to fans across North America and celebrate together with delicious sake," Naoko said recently. "Shonen Knife is about fun, friendship, and happiness, and we can't wait to share that with everyone."
Grab your tickets via Shonen Knife's website.
Everybody Happy Tour remaining dates
Sep 23 - Hamden, CT - Space Ballroom
Sep 24 - NYC - Littlefield
Sep 26 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
Sep 27 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
Sep 28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Preserving Underground
Sep 30 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe
Oct 02 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
Oct 03 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Blind Pig
Oct 04 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme
Oct 05 - Indianapolis, IN - Hi-Fi
Oct 07 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar
Oct 09 - Denver, CO - HQ
Oct 10 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
Oct 11 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
Oct 13 - Phoenix, AZ - Rebel
Oct 14 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
Oct 16 - Los Angeles, CA - Roxy Theatre
Oct 17 - Fresno, CA - Fulton 55
Oct 18 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz
Oct 19 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
Oct 21 - Novato, CA - Hopmonk
Oct 22 - Sacramento, CA - Harlow's
Oct 24 - Portland, OR - Star Theater
Oct 25 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
Oct 26 - Tacoma, WA - Spanish Ballroom
Riot Fest's Twitter account was incredible
While it's not easy representing a corporation on Twitter, it's probably a little easier when your trying to mirror the vibe or a rock and punk festival in the heart of Chicago. Bravo to whoever the team was behind these tweets:
Tickets for upcoming Riot Fest shows are available here.
