September 14, 2014 Riot Fest and Sunshine...Glorious Sunshine (Concert # 35)

I missed Riot Fest yesterday but I had a blast DJing my friends Justin and Carrie's wedding last night. So after a few hours of sleep I am back in Humboldt Park enjoying a beautiful day and waiting for some music. I noticed right away that the stage props on the Roots Stage belong to Social Distortion who play later tonight.

The Menzingers kicked off my day with a solid set of punk songs. They were very popular with those who arrived early.

My first mohawk of the day...all is right with the world.

Chrissy read that this band, Survay Says! are fans of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. That was enough for us to check them out.

I am really glad we did because they were a lot of fun. Besides the mic issues early in their set, they cranked through a bunch of punk and ska songs that had people dancing throughout their set.

Love me a good horn section...

...and a friendly pit of skank dancing kids.

The band had some entertaining dance moves of their own.

I loved the mix of people enjoying the music.

When I first saw this I thought about those who grew up under Ronald Reagan's influence and how they destroyed America, then I realized it is also the name of a punk band. I am pretty sure the band agrees with my first thought.

A beautiful day for some punk music...

...which was provided by old timers...

...and youngsters Team Spirit...

...this old punk chick enjoyed both bands.

Posters of some of the previous Riot Fests we have attended.

Evidence of just how muddy this park was on Friday.

The Whigs rocked Sunday afternoon from the Rise Stage.

Then I finally saw a long time favorite of mine, The Hold Steady.

We stopped by the Revolt stage to check out Tiny Moving Parts...

....that's where I saw this t-shirt. Then we checked out Naked Raygun but the crowd was huge and the sound was fading in and out where we were standing so we headed over to see Lucero...

 ...and stopped for a little homo erotic wrestling...what the hell it never hurt anyone.

Not sure this is a wrestling move but what do I know...

...I know good music and this band definitely plays good music.

Singer Ben Nichols waiting out a fight in front of the stage...He joked about a fight happening during their one slow song.

Please bring more horn sections back into rock 'n' roll.

He wasn't use to performing this early and needed a little whiskey to feel right.

Christy showing off her practical punk style in a still muddy park. We watched the Dropkick Murphys from way in the back. Their set was pretty lackluster and the sound was terrible.

Hometown band, The Blue Meanies. They play a hardcore version of ska music. That's how I decided to describe the band.

We hung out for most of their set, it's been about 20 years since we've seen them play live.

The female background singers added color to the stage.

All the drink booths had amusing signs about tipping the servers. Besides this one, my other favorite was "It puts the tip in the basket or else it gets the hose."

The sound on the Roots stage was pretty bad all day long...surprise it was bad for Social Distortion too. I was kind of pissed because several of my favorite bands played on that stage today. So we grabbed a spot up close at the Riot stage for one of my all time favorite bands...The Cure. Since The Cure were the only band all weekend to have 2-1/4 hours of stage time. I figured we would check them out for an hour or so then catch Weezer on the way out...

...sorry Weezer, I still love you but The Cure were smoking hot tonight. 

We sang and danced along to an amazing set by Robert Smith and the band. The famously mopey singer laughed at messing up the lyrics then danced and jokingly just sang la la la as the crowd sang the chorus to Close To Me. What a great way to end Riot Fest for us. A beautiful night in the city of Chicago with Cure songs playing for all to enjoy.

September 12, 2014 Riotfest and Rain (Concert #34)

Finally...Riotfest is here. New location, amazing lineup and Chicago's shitty weather even more shitty than I even imagined it could be...barely 50 degrees and it started raining right after we entered the northern half of Humboldt Park. So what, I'm here to have a good time. The first act we saw was !Vamos! on the Radical Stage. They had a heavy rocking melodic sound, good way to start our day.

The next band we saw was Plague Vendor...

...the band sounded good playing Cali punk but I loved the lead singer, Brandon Blaine....

...he was entertaining and made everyone remember their short set. I said the same thing about The Orwells lead singer the first time I saw them. 

Some people were just meant to front a punk band, this kid is one of them.

The best rain poncho I've ever seen.

This is Baby Baby. Another very good young band with entertaining stage presence. I really liked their songs. After seeing the youngsters play, we headed over to the Roots Stage to see some old timers play...Stiff Little Fingers. This Irish punk band started out in Belfast in 1977. The put the younger bands in their place by showing them how the original punk bands to it. I really liked their songs, admittedly I have heard of them but wasn't a big fan...until today. We were too far back to get a good picture. These guys definitely drew the biggest crowd so far today.

I love the punk cheerleader look.

A few shots walking over to the Rock Stage.

Christy dressed for the weather and ready to party.

Riotfest has the best crowds out of all the festivals I've been to....it doesn't matter if you are a hardcore punk, a fashion punk, young or old punk, everyone gets along...I love that inclusive atmosphere for punk music. I know some people question each other's taste in what is or is not punk...but there really seems to be a positive vibe that this festival exists among the people attending.

Yes we are two old punks.

 After watching a little bit of Henry Rollins moderating a punk panel that included Greg Graffin of Bad Religion and the girls from Pussy Riot, we stopped for dinner at Big Fork.

We wanted to get up close for Gogol Bordello so we caught a few songs by Failure then we stayed here and listened to NOFX from the nearby Roots Stage.

An impressive and varied list of bands on this stage today.

There were no more pictures taken due to the steady falling of temperatures and rain for the rest of the night. It really did not stop anyone around us from having a great time. NOFX were fun as usual. Then one of the best live acts I've seen, Gogol Bordello put on an amazing set but way too short at 45 minutes. It was pouring during their set and the park was becoming a giant mud pit...speaking of pits...the mosh pit was several feet in front of us...anyone who fell was covered in mud...I couldn't help myself...I jumped in several times but was too old to stay in for more than a song or two...I never fell but was covered in mud anyway...I loved it. Moshing to the fast songs, singing along with everyone arm in arm during the verses...by the end of Gogol Bordello everyone was chanting "one more song" but festivals keep tight schedules. If someone told me I can only go to one last concert, it would be Gogol Bordello. If you love music, you should check out this band. We listened to the Offspring, grabbed some food and watched Jane's Addiction. I can't say I am a fan, unlike the fans around me, I only know the hit songs...but I was really enjoying their set. Chrissy not so much, so we headed over to the Rock Stage to see local favorites, Rise Against. I am always interested in listening to politically charged punk music, so this was a good way to end our day. Now get me to a warm car and dry clothes. I won't be at Riotfest tomorrow because I am DJing a friend's wedding, but Chrissy will be here...I am so proud of her...and jealous.