In The Loop Magazine – Riot Fest 20th Anniversary

Riot Fest 20th Anniversary – Day 1 Review

Sep 20, 2025 admin_bitlc Features, Festivals, Music News, Reviews 0

By C. D.

Riot Fest returned to Douglass Park this weekend, and for the 2025 installment of the now legendary music fest, they really brought out some heavy hitters. Despite 2024’s stellar lineup, there was an undeniable cloud of controversy and confusion over Riot’s location, the addition of “Riot Land,” and the fest’s future as a whole. This year, the focus seems to have returned squarely to where it should be on all fronts: the music.

Friday showed the lineup’s muscle from the very start with the return of Shonen Knife, the Japanese indie-pop trio that carved out a unique niche for themselves back in the ‘90s and hit the stage like they’d never left, a paean to the timeless quality of their work. The Knife kicked off the most comical string of sets in Riot history.

Mac Sabbath delivering a set of crushing Black Sabbath covers as giant inflatable Big Macs flew about the crowd

and Puddles Pity Party brought Puddles the Clown’s crooning, hilariously deadpan style to a huge mid-day crowd, with Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” coda’ed with the outro to Metallica’s “One” as a set-closing highlight.

Two much-lauded and anticipated reunions landed on Day 1 as well, the first being Shudder to Think taking the Radical stage for their first Chicago show since their recent reformation. Of all the excellent bands establishing their own little piece of the indie and alt-rock world in the 1990s, Shudder to Think was arguably the most inventive, crafting songs that squarely landed killer hooks through bizarre, angular-sounding arrangements, and their return has been a longtime coming. (And good news—a new record is on the way!) “X-French T-Shirt” and “Hit Liquor” sounded just as stunning as they did back then, and if anything, the band’s set was all too short.

Senses Fail and Sparks delivered strong afternoon sets, and then it was time for the second reunion of the day: Rilo Kiley. Having broken up after releasing their most ambitious album to date (2007’s Under the Blacklight), Jenny Lewis and her bandmates sounded like they’d just been biding their time for this one. Wearing a pink babydoll dress, Lewis sounds as great as ever, and opener “The Execution of All Things” was a perfect introduction for those who might not know the band, and a jubilant “welcome back” for the faithful. The band’s hour-long set drew on all of their records, one again proving just how strong the band’s catalog is—and hopefully, this is the harbinger of more to come.

Local boys Alkaline Trio started the evening off with a reliably great set of tunes on the Riot stage, and Knocked Loose may have just gotten their wish for the biggest mosh pit Riot has ever seen, setting the stage for the main event.

What more can be said, at this point, of Blink-182, who now exist at a level of popularity most bands couldn’t even dream of? Since the return of vocalist/guitarist Tom Delonge in 2022, the band has been on a constant high, and their headlining set on Friday was nothing less than pop-punk triumph. Digging deep into their catalog and thrashing through gems like “Online Songs” and “Josie,” Blink ‘family member’ Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio later joined them for a killer version of “Bored to Death.” Thick with hits from start to finish, Blink proved yet again that, if you’re talented enough, you can meld locker-room humor with heartfelt love songs and poignant musings on life and death. (I mean, when you have Travis Barker behind you, let’s be honest – you can do anything.)