OK Erin, GET IT TOGETHER. Time to write this damn recap! We did the most on this day so it’s gonna be a two-parter because this bitch is getting tired all over again just from reliving it! (In a good way!)

I will be honest here – I hadn’t really missed Riot Fest since we stopped going. We had gone all three days in 2014, 2015, and 2016. I sold our 2017 3-day passes in order to buy one ticket to see TAEYANG from BIGBANG instead, which was also in Chicago two weekends before Riot Fest and Henry was being Mr. ONE OR THE OTHER!!! And after that, I was so fully submersed in Korean everything that I wasn’t even paying attention to any of the lineups after that.

We did return for one day in 2023 though, because The Cure was headlining the final night and come on. You knew I was going to pony up for that one.

When this year’s lineup was released, I thought it was pretty cool and after we decided to buy the 3-day pass, I started to get more and more stoked for it as the summer went on. But wow, I did NOT expect to be THAT HAPPY to be there again after so long? I’m not kidding, even the 30 minutes we stood in line waiting for the gates to open, I was feeling giddier and giddier. The Riot Fest lady walking back and forth like a prison warden screaming (in a fun way!) about having our tickets ready and bags opened gave me an extra jolt of excitement. I can’t explain it other than to be totally annoying and just default to “IT’S A VIBE” and “IYKYK.”

You know how much I loved Warped Tour (I refuse to shell out for this rebranded money grab bullshit they’ve been doing lately – make it a full summer multi-city tour like the old days OR KISS MY ASS) and this is basically that x3 and on steroids.

Bro, even Henry likes it there!

You know, the world is on fire. Some shitty personal things were going on too. Plus, the every day burdens of being adults. This was our way of checking all that shit at the door and just HAVING FUN. And we absolutely did. It was amazing – we did not argue once. Henry was being the best side-kick ever, keeping track of the schedule, finding me no matter how close to the stage I had wandered (Miss “I Don’t Need to Be Close, I’m Going to Be OK with Standing Way Back”), suggesting different stages to check out when there weren’t any of my must-sees playing at that time. Not to be corny, but Riot Fest weekend really brought us back together when I don’t think we had even realized how much the stress of real life had put a wedge between us.

I guess like how some couples might go to couples spa or therapy, we go to a multi-day music festival that is tough on our middle-aged / senior bodies and somehow still come out smiling.

S T O K E D!

I didn’t get any of these because I don’t drink much at these things (I had like, a beer a day), but if I were to get one, it obviously would have been the Peach the Veil.

One of the best things about getting there when gates open is that it gives you a good hour to walk around, get your bearings, grab merch and peruse the Riot Fest Mall which always has cool AF vendors.

At one of the Riot Fest’s, this artist was also vending and we got a giant cat print for Chooch! It’s still hanging in his room and if he doesn’t take it to back to Philly on his next trip home, then I’m claiming it.

We ended up buying a cool Lost Boys print from an artist in Michigan and I wish I could remember his name — of course Henry already framed it so I can’t check the back. But anyway, this guy was so cool and friendly. We chatted with him for a good while and the reason I was even drawn to his tent was because he had a GIANT Secret of NIMH painting hanging up. I LOVE SECRET OF NIMH. Not enough to spend almost $2000 on that though. I wasn’t there for this part—Henry went back later to collect our purchases because he was nice enough to not only hold the Lost Boys print but also our Riot Fest poster in a tube so Henry bought a capybara print for Chooch as an extra thanks, and that’s when he asked about the price. The guy told him that it had a certificate of authenticity from Warner Bros because they apparently used it for something? I mean, Henry said this guy was totally blitzed at this point of the evening so imagine him slurring this story to Henry who is already hard of hearing and now has to struggle to hear over the All American Rejects playing on the nearby main stage, and now Henry is relaying this story back to me. Lots of missing pieces, methinks.

Then I got Henry to agree to pose for $8 pictures in this old-timey photo booth! Henry was so amenable that weekend.

….except that he did the bare minimum with posing, as usual. Always plating the same face card. Then we literally tumbled out of the doors afterward, it was such a tight squeeze.

Then Cardinals started playing on the mainstage so we made our way over. I always love the earlier bands because it’s the closest we’ll ever get to that stage, LOL. I had never heard of them before but they’re a Cork band with a very intense accordion player. I liked them, it was a nice way to ease ourselves into the weekend.

Immediately after them on the neighboring stage was Teen Mortgage – a punk rock duo from DC so right away, way more loud and in your face, immediately gave us the good old Free Palestine that is never said enough, IMO.  I was into it but we left during their set because Henry checked the band bios and said he thought I would like a band called Greet Death that was about to start on the smallest stage (the Radical Stage which ended up having some of my favorite bands of the weekend on it!).

We passed the John Stamos butter sculpture on the way there and paid our respects. There was this long-running joke where Riot Fest tried desperately every year to get John Stamos to come to Riot Fest. Riot Fest finally found a loop hole and booked the Beach Boys last year, because John Stamos has been their touring drummer, lol. When I say that I did have some underground FOMO at that, I mean that I was actually kicking myself for not buying the damn tickets when I had the fleeting desire to.

He did have a list of demands, though, and they were all met: he wanted festival founder “Riot Mike” to get a John Stamos tattoo, a Greece-themed pizza from a local pizza shop, and a lookalike contest to be held. All demands were met before he took the stage and they seemed pretty reasonable, all things considered.

OB-TO THE-SESSED with GREET DEATH. Henry really knows me best of all because he read that description and thought, “Yeah, she will like this.” And he did too! He actually said numerous times over the weekend that they were his favorite.

Oh, who are they? A shoegaze / indie rock band from Michigan, that’s who! Oh, this is going on the “driving to the haunted house” playlist FOR SURE.

From there, we ran back over to the smaller main stage just in time to catch some of Fleshwater – the singer was rocking a Wish-era Cure shirt that told me ALL I needed to know. (That means I LOVED THEM, duh.)

A really solid nu-gaze band from Boston, we love to see (hear) it. Henry said he didn’t like them very much but “wasn’t surprised” that I did, lol.

Violet Grohl was next on the main stage but Henry goes, and I thought it was so funny coming from him, “I don’t want to watch her. Nepo baby,” and suggested that we go over to the Rebel Stage for the first time that day to see Radio Free Alice, and that was the right choice.

But first Henry to do some HEAVY POINTING – you know I sent this picture straight to Chooch, who is the biggest STOP POINTING!!! advocate around. We have seen Henry nearly clothesline people with his arm because HE NEVER CHECKS THE SPACE AROUND HIM before aggressively throwing fingers.

I loved the nostalgic sound, like it was 2005 again. Australian indie rock, I guess? I heard that they are extremely pretentious and I can definitely see that! This is something that I enjoyed in a festival setting, getting warmed up for the day, an Aussie amuse bouche. But I don’t see myself going to see them on a headlining tour unless, like, Greet Death is the opener or smth.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? I know,  you didn’t watch the video, it’s fine!

Bro, 3OH!3 for the nostalgia, let’s gooooo.

I forgot they have that hand sign.

I DIDN’T KNOW JESS BOWEN FROM THE SUMMER SET PLAYS DRUMS FOR THEM! I was so excited to text Chooch because The Summer Set was his shit for a while and Jess was so cute with him when he met them as a kid at Warped Tour.

“She drums for everyone lol” was his response. Ugh, he’s so annoying.

Anyway, they’re always fun to watch but also it’s funny that our standards are so low that this stuff ever became popular, kind of you know what I’m saying? LOL.

OK let’s end here because that’s where I ended my “part 1” Instagram reel (as follows!!):

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(LOL at the 2 likes, what a shocker.)

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