By Christopher David<\/p>\n
The final day of Riot Fest 2022 was a cross-section of just about everything that makes Riot Fest great (despite the curious absence of metal bands this year), starting off with the raucous indie pop of The Linda Lindas.\u00a0 The L.A. quartet\u2014none of whom are over eighteen years old\u2014have made a huge impact over the course of the last year, and judging from their set, they\u2019re not going anywhere any time soon. Calling to mind the poppier of the riot grrl and alt-rock bands of the \u201890s (the underrated Jale and Velocity Girl, to name some), only a group this skilled in the art of melody and energy could play a garage rocker about a cat (\u201cMonica\u201d) that nearly incites a mosh pit.<\/p>\n
In a fun parallel (and on the same stage, no less), Cali-punk veterans the Lunachicks offered more years in the game but just as much energy in an hour-long set that saw vocalist Theo Kogan arrive onstage in what can only be described as a neon-pink prom dress.\u00a0 Opening with \u201cBad Ass Bitch\u201d from 1999\u2019s Luxury Problem<\/em>, the \u2018chicks offered the first of many pleas on Sunday to vote in favor of women\u2019s and abortion rights in November, though the set had its lighter moments as well (\u201cThe Day Squid\u2019s Gerbil Died\u201d being one of the obvious highlights).<\/p>\n Jimmy Eat World are no strangers to Riot Fest, which is why it was something of a surprise to see half the field in eager attendance for the Mesa quartet, though a welcome one.\u00a0 The band\u2019s set was nothing short of an indie rock masterclass, and hearing alt-rock radio classics like \u201cA Praise Chorus,\u201d \u201cSweetness,\u201d \u201cThe Middle,\u201d and \u201cLucky Denver Mint\u201d alongside brand-new single \u201cSomething Loud\u201d (a very promising look at what may be coming down the line) was a true testament to the band\u2019s staying power.\u00a0 Vocalist Jim Adkins sounds as passionate as ever, and his heartfelt thanks to the massive crowd for supporting live music again was something everyone could agree on.<\/p>\n Sleater-Kinney have been around long enough to occupy that curious place in indie rock culture where newer fans might not release the extent to which the Portland trio were feminist, post-punk upstarts, which made the absence of deeper, punchier cuts (a quick dip into Dig Me Out<\/em> and nothing The Hot Rock<\/em>? At all?) A bit curious given that Riot Fest is\u2026well, Riot Fest.\u00a0 Nevertheless, guitarist\/vocalist Carrie Brownstein\u2014herself something of a cultural presence outside of the band\u2014and guitarist\/vocalist Corin Tucker threw everything they had at the afternoon crowd in a career-spanning setlist that featured an impassioned plea to write women\u2019s rights into the Constitution.\u00a0 While \u201cBury Our Friends\u201d and \u201cAll Hands on the Bad One\u201d were vigorous, crunchy stompers, the setlist offered some quieter moments as well, like set closer \u201cThe Center Won\u2019t Hold.\u201d<\/p>\n Fitting, perhaps, that the best set of the weekend was a part of Sunday\u2019s headliners.\u00a0 NY art-rock trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs\u2014something of a unicorn in the current touring world, as the band has largely eschewed full tours over the last few years, even before Covid\u2014hit the stage like a multi-colored atom bomb, starting off slow with new tune \u201cSpitting Off the Edge of the World\u201d (which featured Karen in a prismatic hat that was bigger than her) before moving into dance anthems \u201cHeads Will Roll\u201d and \u201cZero\u201d from 2009\u2019s It\u2019s Blitz<\/em>.\u00a0 Dedicating the ubiquitous MTV staple \u201cMaps\u201d to her husband, bandmates, and the crowd, Karen is an infectiously happy presence onstage, a one-woman celebration of flashy fashion and a spiritual successor to everything that made glam rock such a flashpoint moment in the 1970s.\u00a0 Even in quieter moments like \u201cWolf\u201d from the upcoming album Cool It Down<\/em>, the woman oozed sex, style, and all-around badassery like few others can, and the snaky, frenetic guitar riff of \u201cDate With the Night\u201d was just about the highest point one could have hoped to go out on for the three day festival.<\/p>\n In closing\u2026yeah, let\u2019s talk about the elephant in room.\u00a0 For the first time in many years, 2023 dates for Riot Fest did not appear on the Jumbotrons, which, combined with the overblown drama over the Fest\u2019s annual presence in Douglass Park, led many attendees to speculate that 2022 was the final act for Chicago\u2019s best music festival.\u00a0 Make no mistake, readers\u2014Riot Fest IS Chicago\u2019s best music festival.\u00a0 There are plenty of smaller, homegrown fests offering local talent and cultural exploration, and of course, there\u2019s Lollapalooza, which, despite its often stellar lineup, is the very definition of a corporate music festival and all things that Riot Fest has historically fought against becoming.\u00a0 One would imagine that this fight has been a tough one; as ticket prices inevitably rise all over the concert world and as the costs associated with touring bands, food vendors, security, and amenities continue to grow, the risk of losing something as special as Riot Fest remains a real threat.<\/p>\n Consider this: what other Midwestern festival covers such ground in terms of legacy acts, reunions, punk, metal, indie rock, hip hop, and everything in between?\u00a0 Simply put, there aren\u2019t any.\u00a0 Riot Fest has grown into what it is because it fills a musical need, despite naysayers who seem to recognize no distinction between a monolith like Lolla and a still largely DIY festival like Riot Fest.\u00a0 We need it, and we need it in Chicago proper\u2014not in the suburbs as some have suggested, and not in some pre-fab, soulless space dedicated to concerts and away from neighborhoods.\u00a0 Riot Fest is a neighborhood festival at heart.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope it stays that way going forward, and let\u2019s hope there IS a \u2018going forward.\u2019\u00a0 As Karen O sang in the final hours of 2022, \u2018what\u2019s the time, and what\u2019s the place?\u2019<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be waiting for the answer to that with baited breath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Christopher David The final day of Riot Fest 2022 was a cross-section of just about everything that makes Riot Fest great (despite the curious absence of metal bands this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}