Day Two Riot Fest Review. Alternative Rock Rules Saturday With Newcomers and Veterans.

Sep 24, 2024 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

Day Two of Riot Fest 2024 was a who’s-who of alternative rock from start to finish, from an undercard of stunning newcomers to veterans of the scene who still delivered.

First up was Princess Goes, an experimental trio fronted by Michael C. Hall of Dexter fame, whose impressive vocals and emotional range onstage was a perfect counterpoint to the bombast of drummer Peter Yanowitz and keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen. The early afternoon sunlight did nothing to take away from the brooding atmosphere of Princess’ set, and punchy tunes like “Angela Peacock” were a strong contrast to the sweeping, epic closer “Beija.” Princess Goes are one of the best bands in the current alternative landscape – a rare treat for early afternoon!

Punk-pop godfathers the Buzzcocks delivered a strong set that highlighted all the hits like “What Do I Get” and “Ever Fallen in Love,” followed by a set by the first two female fronted acts who stand at at the forefront of indie and alternative music today: Sir Chloe. Frontwoman Dana Foote has grown into an icon in the band’s relatively brief lifespan, and as their current tour for 2023’s I Am the Dog comes to a close, Foote has grown into a force to be reckoned with. Her casually affected vocal style explodes without warning into crooning, sometimes raging, anthemic choruses like in the winding “Salivate,” and Foote was clearly having a blast stalking the stage as she led the band through “Animal,” “Company,” and set closer “Too Close.” One of the most mesmerizing indie rock bands of the moment, and if things continue the way they are for Sir Chloe, we’ll see them bumped up the card in the coming years.

Swedish rockers The Hives remain one of the only bands standing from the early 2000s boom of garage rockers, and their live show proves why: nothing but electric energy from start to finish for these guys, and vocalist Pelle Almquist remains one of the most entertaining frontmen in all of rock as the band tore through “Main Offender” and “Walk Idiot Walk,” among others. While a strange choice for a set in broad daylight, California trio Health delivered a noisy set of atmospheric tunes that fell somewhere in the middle of shoegaze, industrial, and ambient rock, making good on the steamroller that is 2023’s Rat Wars.

Chicago’s Sincere Engineer delivered a fun set of raucous, punky pop, and the dead heat of the day—surely one of the hottest Riot days on record—began to abate before the upbeat singalongs of Spoon, who have only continued to rise in popularity over their last few albums. Radio favorites like “Do You” and “Cherry Bomb” went over well, and the moodier “My Babe” was known to all the die-hards who had gathered between the AAA stage and Metro stage for both Spoon and one of the weekend’s most anticipated sets—St. Vincent.

There are certain artists who exist unto themselves, defying easy classification or genre and forging a path that forces their audience to simply come along the ride. Guitarist/vocalist/musical auteur Annie Clark (St. Vincent herself) isn’t just one thing, a fact that fans of her music have known for a long time—she’s an constantly moving, engaging band leader, a quirky guitarist whose rhythmic and lead stylings sometimes call Prince to mind, another example of someone who, like Clark, full occupied his music—onstage, Clark is fully inside her songs, and the visually dynamic stage set with its shifting backdrops was an understated but appealing backdrop for Clark’s manic energy as she led her five-piece band (including guitarist Jason Faulkner) through “Digital Witness,” the timely “Fear the Future,” and numerous cuts from new album All Born Screaming, including the searing, set-ending title track.

Once a best-kept secret for indie rock fans everywhere, St. Vincent has moved into the upper echelons of artists who won’t be contained, and whose best days—despite an already flawless discography and a sizzling live show—are surely ahead of them. One of the best Riot Fest sets in recent memory, bar none.