Riot Fest 2015 is coming up fast on the Windy City. This weekend, the last major Midwestern music festival of the year takes over the Near South grounds of Douglas Park. While an eensy teensy lawsuit threatened to shut down the celebration, all has been resolved, and we are 48 hours and counting until we pack up our passion for music, inhibitions (#musicfestival!), umbrellas (this is Chicago) and of course, hidden vodka in what previously was a kid-friendly DIY juice box, and get on with it.
Here’s the thing about Riot Fest – the name is fitting for the show. Lollapalooza has the lockdown on the huge clingers (cite: Paul McCartney, Metallic), plus, let’s be honest, a very solid EDM scene (I’m pretty sure more attendees are under 21 than are over); North Coast fills our need for a music festival with a strong hip-hop presence; and Pitchfork is for the indie-eclectic-pretentious crowd. Enter: Riot Fest.
The line-up is filled with bands that will without a doubt make you reflect on the lost youth of your college days. (Yep, The Movielife, Mest and Everytime I Die are playing.) But those bands who’s names make you look back on the good ol’ days are intermixed with true namesakes in the music industry you may not know but should, like Death. (Check the documentary.) The icing on all of this cake is headliners on headliners on headliners.
Friday – Motorhead, followed by Faith No More, followed by No Doubt.
Saturday – Billy Idol, followed by Iggy Pop, followed by System of a Down.
Sunday – Snoop Dogg, followed by The Prodigy, followed by Modest Mouse.
Now find your place in front of one of three stages, and plant yourself there for the night. Peeing is for those who give in anyway.
