Riot Fest 2022 (September 16-18, Chicago IL) Festival • Page 232

Not much to say that hasn't been said already, but I just Iove being outside surrounded by music and people who obviously get the same targeted ads I do. Glad I got the opportunity. I'm also grateful that I'm not a jeans and denim vest guy.

And for anyone who may have missed their booth, Garageland did some rad RiotFest posters for a few of the bands that played, and now have them up on their site. Snagged the Menzingers print.

 

Wow wow wow that Menz print i am ordering that

 

The Wonder Years and The Maine's aftershow were both really great as far as how the bands sounded. The Wonder Years' crowd reaction during Passing Through a Screen Door and Came Out Swinging was truly something to behold.

 

NIN had the best sound all weekend closely followed by TWY. NIN was unreal.

 

TWY was easily my favorite set of the weekend but I love that band so damn much so I think that's almost unfair for me to say haha. Save Face yesterday had a ton of energy too. The Maine had me smiling so much, that band is always fun to see live.
Really great weekend overall! No idea how me and my wife ended up walking like 10 miles around the city today though, lol. Gonna be feeling it tomorrow...

 

Wait TWY had an aftershow??

 

now that Im home and cozy again I want to do one of these recaps too

Good: NIN ripped, easily my most anticipated set and goddamn they did not disappoint. All the main stage headliners were on point for me and I'm glad I got to see each one. TWY, AOF, Movements, sounded very good too. The Jimmy Eat World crowd around me absolutely lit up for Big Casino, which was fun! I also came out of this weekend with an even bigger appreciation for Descendents and Bad Religion for how much they can pack into those hour slots. I forget the specific name of the vendor but on day 1 we got some real good Tacos, and the hotel was also near a Giordano's that sustained me the rest of the weekend.

Bad: Friday crowd was atrocious, it was so hard to move anywhere that day and trying to get a decent spot for MCR themselves? Good luck w that one. The Maine's aftershow was still good, but after barely eating much and being exhausted all day I was miserable as hell in the moment, and being packed like sardines in that place, plus venue staff being rude didn't help either. Transit was an absolute nightmare, Saturday and Sunday night especially on the pink line, and that's probably on me but I ended up back at the hotel much later than expected each night.

Overall I had a total blast, and Im glad I stuck it out for the weekend, but I think if it does happen next year the lineup will have to absolutely blow me away to consider coming back.

 

Just went to YYYs aftershow. Now is time to sleep for a whole day.

 

I assume the post meant "The Wonder Years' festival set – and the Maine's aftershow – were great...."

 

Oh no, I meant The Wonder Years' set at Riot and The Maine's aftershow haha

 

yeah I realized that after the fact - my bad. I was going to kick a hole in my wall if they had an aftershow and I missed it haha

 

My good and bad review is pretty similar to everyone else's....

Good

-Cell service was better this year than it has been in the past
-It was my first time doing deluxe & supposedly it was way worse than in year's past in lots of ways? I thought it went great. I understand everyone's complaints about the viewing areas changing, but I kind of liked being beside the soundboard. I'm also tall though, so there's that. I ended up watching Yellowcard's light person for half their set, & was mindblown watching him sync the lights to Sean's violin melodies
-I barely took any pics of the people I was with because I was so present & having so much fun
-Maybe it's me finally being more confident myself, but I feel the LGBTQ+ community presence is louder & prouder constantly here. I felt very represented, & not only respected but appreciated all weekend. So thanks, everyone

Bad

-MCR set was unsettling to watch. I'm so glad there weren't really bad injuries
-Security was pretty inconsistent... Sometimes they'd check my bag, sometimes they wouldn't. Which I guess could be a good thing to some people, but I'd rather wait a bit longer & feel safer knowing people have been thoroughly checked
-I feel like there's gotta be a better way to get everyone to exit the festival. It's never easy anywhere, but idk, seems like more could be done
-I think I've seen Taking Back Sunday 20 times, they were worse than they've ever been
-It was pretty surprising to see how many white people openly said the n word during Ice Cube's set

If anyone has ever considered going Deluxe, I wouldn't ever go GA again. I drink booze all day, but also being able to constantly get cold waters or a sugar free red bull with almost no line was a gamechanger. On top of snacks & viewing areas & a guaranteed shaded area to chill & be close enough for either Riot or Roots.

My fav sets

Cliffdiver (I cried, they were incredible)
Hot Mulligan
Alexisonfire
The Menzingers
Yellowcard
Thursday Full Collapse Aftershow
Coolio (only played 4 songs and ended way early, but it was so fucking fun)
Jimmy Eat World (I turned around & looked during Sweetness & got goosebumps at how many people were there singing)

Neither good nor bad, but I talked to as many locals as possible about their thoughts on the festival being in Douglass vs Humbolt vs anywhere else... and I got so many differing viewpoints. The only thing I know is that I love this festival, & I end up extending my trip longer to spend more time in Chicago every year

 

Interesting that the riot fest insta account just posted about two events at a venue in Milwaukee. I could definitely be wrong but I don't think they've ever promoted any events in Milwaukee. Granted it's just two dance party things so nothing serious, just curious if they're planning to get more involved up there as well.

 

Another great weekend in the books. Guess I'll do a little recap now that I'm not as exhausted as I was yesterday

Super fucking hot mostly the whole weekend, that sucked but I guess preferable to rain.

Thursday: Trio rocked at the Metro, was hoping for a few more deep cuts though.

Friday: Great start to the weekend bouncing around a bunch at the beginning of the day. Jeff sound issues were a bummer and kind of took me out of the set, crowd was also wild. TWY crushed and were better than I expected them to be. Trio playing the same set as they did at Metro was super lame, MCR was awesome but obviously the crowd was completely awful. I got pretty close and was on the side rail in front of the sound booth to watch Trio and then people wouldn't even let me walk backwards to get out of the crowd which I've never experienced. All in all was a great day though. I think I got food at the perfect time because I heard how bad the lines ended up getting. Got pretty fucked leaving the festival as did most people I guess.

Saturday: Less hot than Friday and a lot less sets I was trying to catch. Mannequin Pussy sounded great but I didn't stick around too long, No Trigger was fun too I was glad they closed with an oldie. TGUK was a little bit of a letdown, I don't love most of Four Minute Mile but they were still good and the songs after went off. Menz stole the day and possibly weekend as expected. TFB I couldn't get close before leaving for TSSF but they were also great. Split some time between YC and Misfits at the end of the night

Sunday: Hottest day of the weekend at the beginning and was completely brutal lol. Joey Valence was a fun way to start the day. LTJ was another contender for best set of the weekend, had such a good time during their set. JEW crowd was probably biggest I saw aside from MCR. Midtown was awesome, never thought I'd see them. Yeah Yeah Yeahs were really awesome and I should have watched more of their set instead of The Maine. After that just caught a little bit of everyone and then headed out to see Angel Du$t at Beat Kitchen which was awesome and then made it just in time for Jeff which was another contender for favorite set of the weekend. Closing with the ASOB cover into a Bosstones cover was the best possible weekend ender

Definitely agree about this being the most exhausting year, I think due to heat mostly and then Friday just bouncing around a bunch and the amount of people was a rough start.

Stoked for next year and I hope they can find a new location or figure out a way to please the residents of Douglass. Also hope it stays the same weekend

 

Wouldn't read too much into it. They don't do stuff up there very often, but they have before. Went to a "Riot Fest Presents" Bronx show up there at X-Ray Aracade earlier this Summer.

 

Ya to be clear I’m not suggesting they’re moving up there or that it would really mean anything, just not something I've noticed before

 

The weekend was a blast once again. I took off yesterday and did nothing all day but I've still been absolutely worthless at work today so:

Friday
It was definitely one of the most crowded days of Riot Fest I've seen, and the MCR crowd was definitely crazy, but I feel like that was all pretty much expected. Idk what really Riot could've done to prevent it (other than I guess handing out more water and things like that). I still had an absolute blast anyway.

The sound issues during Jeff were a bummer, and I ended up skipping Bleachers because I was getting nervous about my spot for My Chem. Don't regret it but I am sad about it. On the flip side, I was planning on skipping the Wonder Years for Descendents and TBS but had a change of heart and so glad I did, cus I had a blast. Not sure what my thought process was for wanting to skip them in the first place.

Went to the Maine's aftershow. It was a great time but my head was pounding and I was exhuasted.

Saturday
I got to attend a riot fest wedding for my friends wedding which was a super cool surprise (knew they were getting married, just not that they were doing it at riot fest first). Unfortunately I showed up a few minutes late to Mannequin Pussy and had to leave a little early for the wedding but had a great time seeing them while I could. The Menzingers -> The Front Bottoms -> the 2nd half of the Story So Far was a blast and one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

Did some wandering after that, caught a few songs from SDRE, and then split my time between Misfits and Yellowcard.

Sunday
Really unbearably hot, which I think was made worse by how exhausted I was (my riot week really started at MCR Detroit on Tues). But Mom Jeans. was a complete blast. Enjoyed listening to Less Than Jake just sitting in the back. Yeah Yeah Yeahs were really impressive from what I saw - didn't head over until after the Maine but probably caught 4 songs or so, and the 2 big hits so I was satisfied.

The Academy Is... was perfect. Could've used a couple more songs that we didn't get on the 2015 tour, but hard to be mad about an Almost Here heavy set. I am kind of bummed because it seems like they were going to do the Cobra Starship cover again that they did at the aftershow but Riot wouldn't let them. But it was an amazing end to the festival and definitely my favorite set besides MCR.

Capped the weekend off with Ska Dream which was a really fun way to end.


Had a really great time, and looking forward to next year. Choosing to stay optimistic that it'll work out, even if there are some big changes.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/MyChemical...yall_gerard_threw_shade_at_the_riotfest_show/

 

This started as a kill time and eat dinner set for me - I've been kind of out on them after not loving anything they've done since Talon and then how they handled the sexual assault allegations - but they sounded really good. Hard for me not to get a little excited hearing "The Beers" -> "Au Revoir" -> "Flashlight" back to back.

 

This was exactly me too. Don’t really care for them because of how they handled the allegations but I listened while getting food and they were good background eating music, and that back to back to back was solid.

 

There will be a 2023 riot fest for anyone not following that thread yet. This email just went out

 

Which thread do mean when you say "that thread"?

 

Riot Fest 2023 • forum.chorus.fm

 

ha, oh yea, i forget we switch to a new one each year, haha.

 

My gf lost her wallet and phone when we were at riot. They just emailed us and said they have her stuff. Will they mail are stuff to us. We live in florida so we can't just go get it. Has anyone had this happen before ?