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Riot Fest 2013: The Best of the Fest
from: boxxmagazine.com
Words by Selena Fragassi, Kaitlen Exum and Gillian McGhee; photos by Jordan Young
Riot Fest 2013 has now come and gone--and with it, the 2013 festival season. During the weekend, we saw a John Stamos bust made of butter, waited 45 minutes for mac 'n' cheese and found handy uses for plastic on a rain-soaked Day Three. Yet none of it compares to the amazing performances we witnessed and wanted to write home about. Here, in a nutshell, is the best of the fest.
FRIDAY
Friday's performances were clearly about messages. Although we had hoped to hear those of high-charged emcee Dessa to start off the day, lovely Chicago traffic stalled us. Message One: Leave home three hours early next time. We did, however, hear the soul baring of alterna slam poet Saul Williams as we entered the park, and later got the message to always party hard from our Male Boxx of the day Andrew W.K. But perhaps the biggest message of the day came from Gwar who used props like crucifix-whipped bleeding assholes and a bruised and bloody Queen of England and the Royal Baby to show their stance on religion and politics. Those up front wore that message for the rest of the day, looking like bleeding hearts for one of our favorites: JOAN JETT.
The teen angst hasn't left JOAN JETT. At 54, the leader of the BLACKHEARTS skulked over her mic and rallied her guitar like she was still a beleaguered Runaway--and teased the crowd with a little "Cherry Bomb" lest they forget it. Dressed in a mix of leather and Chucks, Jett showed little metamorphosis from her rebel punk days--coupled with a set list that included several punchy new songs from her upcoming album Unvarnished (her first in seven years) that proved her songwriting chops haven't waned, either. New tracks like "TMI," "Any Weather" and "Fragile" follow Jett's formula for Ramones-style appetizers that waste no time getting to the punch line and getting out.
Included amongst the freshmen were moneymakers like "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," her cover of "Crimson and Clover," "Bad Reputation" and "Do You Wanna Touch Me," all delivered with sassiness and sprite energy that turned them into dance numbers, too--if not only for those in the sizable crowd sweating off their Gwar-bloodied torsos and fist pumping stuffed dogs won at the carnival. Jett's stage was positioned directly across from the electric lights of the Ferris Wheel, which gave a cotton candy haze of a show on the Boardwalk. The feeling wasn't lost on the singer as she ruminated about being in Long Beach during the time of Hurricane Sandy and dedicated her song "Make It Back Out" to the spirit of rebuilding. After, Jett introduced her special guest for the night, Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, who helped her perform the new song they wrote together, "Soulmates to Strangers." It was a rarely intimate moment that made a convincing prelude to the gems Jett stashed away on Unvarnished and those yet to come. â€" S.F.
Male Boxx of the Day: Master of party ceremonies Andrew W.K. got the riot started early on Day One with songs that were about partying, sweating and oh yeah, partying. Before the California kid even took the stage, a dubbed announcement sounding oddly like Bill Cosby pumped out a message to the anxious crowd that signaled for them to get their hats on: "Hello everybody, it's time to party." With an ear-to-ear grin that never left his face, W.K. appeared to host the house romp, dressed in his signature stained white uniform that looked like perhaps he was just wrestling in a mud pit to see who would buy the beer for this rager. The things we love about Andrew W.K.: His motivational speeches that make us think he invented the word YOLO, his over abundant guitar supply (we counted 5) that turned this into a near metalocalypse, his Jerry Lee Lewis skills on the keys and his love for women, including giving us the song "She is Beautiful," likely directed at his gorgeous Houserobics wife Cherie Lily with him on stage. Although the band was celebrating its 10th anniversary of The Wolf, most of the night's material was derived from debut I Get Wet, which, let's be real, has the best songs anyway. Before he ended, W.K. left us with one final important message: to always party. "If you party all day, the entire day is nighttime." Mind. Blown. â€" S.F.
SATURDAY
Fronted by Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, charming Canadian indie band Stars were an incongruous but excellent addition to this year's lineup (to the delight of both themselves and the crowd, Stars finally had the perfect opportunity to play their 2007 song, "Take Me to the Riot"). As they stood before a modest but approving crowd, Campbell acknowledged that, while Riot Festgoers might not be their target demographic, the difference between the baleful wail of punk music and the bittersweet whispers of a band like Stars isn't all that vast: "I don't care what type of person you just broke up with," Campbell announced. "Your ex is a fucking asshole." It was a sentiment conveyed repeatedly throughout the weekend, but never as sweetly and melodiously as when sung in harmony by Campbell and Millan. -- K.E.
It's a punk festival so you'd have to expect some political posturing over the course of the weekend. While Guided By Voices lamented living in a prick world, for seminal L.A. band X, cruelty to women was their wrong to right. Frontman John Doe informed, "Those four monsters in India got the death penalty for what they did to that woman," about the recent gang rape of a young woman from New Delhi. "Keep that in mind as we play this song." The band then careened into one of their biggest and most controversial hits, "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene," from their debut album, 1980's Los Angeles. The song profiles a character who takes an imaginary drug that lets him have sex only once every 24 hours and the wretched behavior that ensues.
It was a cornerstone of what X brings to the table, a sharp-witted duo of harmonizing poets (Doe and versatile frontwoman Exene Cervenka) whose in-your-face op-eds are sharply coerced by screeching guitars. Although the rockabilly/cow punk/surf rock band's last material was 1993's Hey Zeus! (a number of compilations and live albums have been produced since), the quartet proved to be still as relevant and necessary today as a critical thinking machine in a post-torturous world; Cervenka's "Defend New Orleans" shirt exemplified as much. While some songs like "Los Angeles" and "The New World" fit X into the scenester world of '80s West Coast punk, others turned inward, like "White Girl," "In This House I Call Home," and "True Love," the latter of which compares romance to devil's play. Call it what they want, some force brought Doe and Cervenka back together in the last decade--and thank god (or the devil) for that. â€" S.F.
We say this with all due respect--Devotchka would make an amazing wedding band. Hear us out. They are: a. original (no covers here) and b. romantic as hell. The stunning quartet might also have a career in Spanish telenovelas or Robert Rodriguez films, although they have already gone the sound-tracking route with the Little Miss Sunshine album that made them famous. The Denver-based band is not only musically versatile but also artfully philanthropic, revisiting lost forms of gypsy punk, Eastern European klezmer and dark wood cabaret that makes you sometimes feel like you're in World Market's wine section and, other times, traipsing through the cobble streets of Romania with Anne Rice. There's a lot to digest with the band's prolific six albums, all of which seem to charismatically take off from the last with a new way to look at instrumental-based music. A colorful palette of that material was on display in this afternoon set, singer Nick Urata's serenading warble interloping with acoustic guitars, Theremins, percussion and horns that fought for the center of attention. That right, though, was reserved for master player Jeanie Schroder who rotated from upright bass to sousaphone, the towering instruments a physical example for what she brings to the eclectic band who has us itching to dig out our passport. â€" S.F.
The Interrupters rocked the Rebel Stage on Saturday evening and drew a sizable crowd despite being scheduled at the same time as punk legends Flag. The SoCal punks kicked off their set with the high-energy track "Liberty" to get the crowd going. Frontwoman Aimee Allen owned the stage, running from side to side and rocked the mic with her deep, raspy vocals. Notably, the rest of the band wore matching attire consisting of a white shirt, black tie and black pants--it was as if the Rude Boy icon had been brought to life. The Interrupters' set consisted of mostly ska-punk jams with characteristic upstroke strumming patterns; there were even a few people getting their skank on in the pit. The Interrupters delivered a fun, tight set and it was clear they were having as much fun as the crowd--and that made it even sweeter. --G.M.
Blondie had us momentarily confused. Was this a séance, Wiccan ceremony, perhaps an uncut seen from a Rob Zombie film? When the band first came on the stage, incense-rich choir music filled the speakers and frontwoman Debbie Harry was dressed in a sorcerer's robe and dunce cap that made her look more like a damning warlock then the stunning bombshell we have come to expect. It was an entrance alright. Soon, though, the Dungeons and Dragons were left behind for the discotheque as Harry and eternal partner, guitarist Chris Stein, realigned the set with dance tracks from their combined ten albums (the latest, Ghosts of Download, will be released in November). Although the new material was little more than interludes to get to the hits, when those did enter the picture, they came in with a bang. "Heart of Glass," "One Way or Another," and a set-ending "Call Me" were met with banshee screaming and pogoing, reminding many of just what a pop band could actually be and verifying just how influential the 40-year veterans remain today. Bands like Metric, La Roux and Marina and the Diamonds no doubt grew up listening to Parallel Lines and watching Harry's cues for how to be a stalwart frontwoman. Rest assured, she's still got it, even perfecting the Beastie Boys on a cover of "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." Maybe next time she can just enter the stage as herself--that's convincing enough. â€" S.F.
Male Boxx of the Day: When you want a true punk fest, you call on Rancid to make an impression, which is exactly what the oi band did to close out Saturday night (yes, Blink-182 played after but we'll choose to forget that since Mark Hoppus could just as well be the founder of the Baby-Sitters Club compared to these legends). Time has done little to wane Tim Armstrong's hellion vocals or vitality in constructing a memorable performance that makes you feel like you've seen something both marquee and underground--like a show no one could get tickets for but also no one knew about. Stallion songs like "Time Bomb" and "Last One to Die" were pulse racing and yet controlled, Grand Theft Auto steered by Nascar. It's good to see that in the league of bands like Green Day and The Offspring who, along with Rancid, helped re-usher interest in punk music, that one group is still doing it right. â€" S.F.
SUNDAY
Chicago-based marching band/performance art troupe Environmental Encroachment entirely filled the small Rebel Stage on Saturday, both physically (with at least a dozen band members) and in terms of spectacle. To give you just a taste of the performance, there were: women in tutus, a man in a feathered mask, multiple people dressed in non-matching marching band uniforms, a faux Stanley Cup, a juggler in a luchador mask, an entire sousaphone section and lots of people in bunny ears. The bandleader Bob Kolovich went pantless, instead opting for a Blackhawks towel worn as a loincloth. Fortunately, the show was better than that description might suggest. With their brass-heavy carnival meets marching band sound, Environmental Encroachment suggested a less dark, less polished World/Inferno Friendship Society-lite vibe. Vocals were unimpressive, but the majority of the music was instrumental and, at heart, fun. Bonkers, but fun. -- K.E.
While some things change, some stay the same. Nothing could be closer to the truth for Gainesville alterna punk outfit Against Me! who were one of the early favorites on the final day of Riot Fest. Frontwoman Laura Jane Grace has left us in awe after bravely opening up to her fans and the public at large about her struggle with gender dysphoria and her current transition to living as a woman in the past year (she was born Tom Gabel). Seeing the crowd rally around her, screaming the words to her songs and cheering her on from start to finish has been nothing but amazing to watch. Yet while other bands would fall apart with such drastic circumstances, the "Teenage Anarchist" quartet was as unfaltering as ever, even as two new members (drummer Atom Willard and bassist Inge Johansson) were brought to the fold just months ago. As they spun circles around their Springsteen meets Social D hits like "Thrash Unreal" and "Don't Lose Touch," Grace's long hair swirling over the microphone, there was an intimacy put forth that you don't often see in a festival setting. This is a band, after all, that grew up in four-walled punk clubs and have yet kept the same humility and connection with the people who pay to see them. "Some days you wake up and play a show with The Replacements," Grace said, still marveling at their fortuitous luck to even be standing on the same stage yet still possibly unaware of how much they belonged to be there. â€" S.F.
Here comes the rain again. And again. And again. It was a cold and wet one on Sunday, but thankfully the beachy jams of Best Coast brought us a little ray of sunshine. "I'm wearing a maternity top and I don't give a fuck," singer Bethany Cosentino declared of her apparent rain gear (a loose flannel top paired with thigh highs and a baseball cap) as she introduced her band to the sea of umbrellas standing before her. Joined by her constant comrade Bobb Bruno and two other blokes on guitar and drums (Ali Koehler sadly is no longer with the band), Best Coast did what they do best: offer punch drunk love songs about breakups and makeups. From the sad serenade "Goodbye" to the rom com "Crazy for You" and new boo "I Wanna Know," it was a set of Jane Austen memoirs set to fire by languid lo-fi psychotherapy. Even so, it was the happiest place in this mud-soaked park. â€" S.F.
The Pixies have been on a reunion kick for a few years now so the buzz surrounding their appearance was not as fever pitched as it was (rightfully so) for the much-anticipated return of The Replacements. However, what was shiny and new and exciting was in fact the replacement of Pixies bassist Kim Deal for Kim Shattuck. Don't get us wrong: we LOVE us some Kim Deal but are just as happy to see her back in action with The Breeders, her departure from her Surfer Rosa band mates teasing us that in fact there might be new material from the sisters Deal coming our way soon after they wrap their own anniversary tour. But back to Kim Shattuck. We loved her in The Muffs and we kinda dig her even more in the Pixies as she gleefully piped and chirped alongside Frank Black on favorites like "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Wave of Mutilation," "Debaser" and "Where is My Mind," bringing back a haze of the '90s empire that baptized so many high priestesses of alterna rock. Let's hope the Kims' switcheroo is a sign of the second coming. â€" S.F.
Male Boxx of the Day: For as much suspense as AFI puts into telling stories (frontman Davey Havok continually offered two-line plot points about an interesting trip to an Orange County music shop between songs), the macabre punks' long-awaited return to the stage was just as thrilling for a voracious crowd of fans who hung onto his every word--sung or spoken, or mid-air. The ever-showman, Havok started stunts from the first song of the set, "The Leaving Song Part 2," fly jumping from each side of the stage and emerging tall against a fitting sideshow backdrop. Although his mic cut out at one point, it was on full blast when he was engulfed inside a hoarding crowd that took over vocal duties. The set was anchored with a net of fan favorites ("Girls Not Grey" among the highlights) and a handpicked selection of what's to come on October's Burials release. Among the new songs played was voodoo doll-stabbing rager "I Hope You Suffer," which also makes us hope the wrongdoer is taking cover somewhere. It was only a brief emotional outburst though as Havok next led the band (and crowd) in a karaoke cover of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven," the real version of which we heard just weeks ago at Lollapalooza, reminding us just how incredible festival season 2013 has been. That's a wrap ... 'til next year. â€" S.F.
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