2024 Riot Fest Day Three (NOFX, Fun and Rain)
NOFX - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
If you haven’t read about day one and day two, go back and read those first. Day one was marked by heat, day two by dust and for day three we had rain. The morning started with an announcement that the doors would be pushed back by an hour due to the rain, but we were already in line and getting wet. While my first thought may have been negative, it ended up contributing to day three being the best day of the weekend. It solved the problems of both the heat and the dust, and also made the mosh pits into glorious mud.
Doom Scroll
We had planned this to be the hardcore day, with bands like Sunami and GEL on the roster, but we got there early and decided to check out Doom Scroll. They are a folk punk band, which was immediately apparent when one of the members was playing the washboard. I’d only seen a few folk punk bands in the past, and although it’s not my preferred sub-genre, they were surprisingly good.
Cobra Skulls were up next, and I specifically wanted to check them out because of their club show the next night with one of my all time favorite bands (Direct Hit!). I figured that if I liked Cobra Skulls, I would be more motivated to also go to the club show (it didn’t happen, I was just too wiped out from the weekend). They were good, but this was the point where it started pouring rain, and after two songs I had to make my way to shelter and wait it out. After 20 minutes or so, the rain turned to more of a drizzle, and I headed out again.
Nekrogoblikon is a death metal band, and I had seen photos of the signer in his goblin get-up, and decided that their set was worth checking out (at least if I could easily walk into the VIP area and get a good spot, which worked out well). It was an entertaining set, with a lot of energy, and both the band and the crowd embraced the rain. The goblin costume was realistic and matched their sound, not my genre, but I enjoyed it. And then it was on to the more serious hardcore, Sunami and GEL.
The rain was subsiding, but the result was a huge pit of mud directly in front of Sunami’s stage. For the first time of the weekend, I stepped out of the VIP area and to the edge of the pit. The mud looked like a lot of fun, and it was. Sunami killed it, and the mosh pit was the biggest I had seen so far. People were throwing mud, slipping in the mud, but mostly they were moshing in a circle and trying not to fall.
As soon as Sunami finished, we head to the stage right next door for GEL. Another mud pit, and while we were waiting for GEL to take the stage we got a mud wrestling show (just fans enjoying the moment). GEL got the audience moving, and it was a whirlwind of mud and flailing arms. Both GEL and Sunami were playing Detroit soon after, and the chances I would go to those shows went way up after seeing them this weekend.
Fans in the pit for Strung Out, helping to unload mulch over the mud.
After GEL, I headed back to the NOFX World stage for Strung Out and quite possibly a third straight day of getting a rail spot early and holding it. The dust was gone now that it had rained, and the pit was completely mud the same as at the other stages, but they had a solution. During the set, while Strung Out was playing and the pit was going, they pulled up a small vehicle filled with mulch and let the crowd unload it into pit (and into the air and onto the stage). It was pretty crazy for a while with the mulch everywhere, but when it all settled the mud was gone and the ground was firm again. Strung Out continued to play.
I’d just seen The Vandals the prior weekend (Punk In The Park, Orlando Fl) and this was basically the same set, although they did add N.I.M.B.Y. I was hoping for “Power Mustache”, but it’s hard to complain with such a great band like The Vandals. They opened with “Take It Back” and ended with The Simpletones “I Have A Date” which had Warren doing all sorts of solos, running back and forth across the stage, and stepping out onto the amplifier stacks. 15 songs of pure bliss, but the night was just getting started.
Laura Jane Grace and Catbite were up next. I’ll be honest that I was not prepared for how good this set was going to be. Other than NOFX day 2, this is my pick for the best set of the entire 2024 Riot Fest. Luckily I was at the front in preparation for NOFX, and from the start I was mesmerized. Of course this was all Operation Ivy covers, so everyone knew the songs. They played them well, and loud, and with a ton of energy. It was a non-stop onslaught of 23 classic songs, with the only song noticeably missing being “Junkies Running Dry”. “Bombshell”, “Hoboken”, “Knowledge”, and “Missionary” were the highlights, but they absolutely killed it.
Pennywise took the stage next. Laura Jane Grace and Catbite were a hard act to follow, but this was Pennywise and it was finally getting dark. As with most of the bands, there was talk of how this would be the last time they got to play with NOFX, and they even did an impromptu version of “Bob”. There were also covers of “Gimme Gimme Gimme” by Black Flag, “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King, and Fat Mike came out and sang Bad Religion’s “Do What You Want”. But they also did a dozen originals that included “Fight Till You Die”, “Fuck Authority”, and “My Own Country”. They ended with Bro Hymn, and as usual called about 100 people up onto the stage to sing it with them. This could have been the end of the festival, and it would have been absolutely awesome. But there was more.
NOFX, with Joey Shithead of D.O.A.
Finally, NOFX was up next. This was another of the top sets of the weekend (along with NOFX day 2, and Laura Jane Grace). The rain had stopped (there was only a slight mist), there was no dust, and it was even a little chilly. For the third consecutive night, they had a sign language interpreter set up in front of the stage, and a small group of fans that needed her sitting between her and the stage. Karina Denike (keyboards and vocals) was one of the first out, to set up her keyboards with her trademark pride flag draped over it. The minimalist NOFX banner was raised, and we could a see a crowd in the back doing a toast (apparently with shots of something) to get ready for the show.
They went back to their go-to opening, and came out dancing to Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. When they started in to the first song, “Soul Doubt”, the crowd went into an absolutely frenzy. There were a ton of my favorites in this set that included “Pharmacist’s Daughter”, “It’s My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite”, “Liza and Louise”, “Johnny Appleseed”, and “Linoleum” (for the second time of the weekend). At one point Mike noticed Joey Shithead from D.O.A. standing side stage and watching the set, and brought him out for a shout out as to his influence on the band.
Before the last song, El Hefe said “I hope you have all taken a piss, as the next song is very long ”. I didn’t relish the task of holding my phone up for 18 minutes, but this was the last NOFX song I may ever see live and I wanted to capture it. One of the members of Gwar came out during the end of the song (“The Decline”, of course) and played an extra guitar. They all hugged each other and gave Chicago a proper and heartfelt goodbye.
There were tears in my eyes as it ended, as I feel like I have been on a lifelong journey with these guys (Mike and I are the same age, and I’ve been a fan since their beginning). Mike walked along the barricade for what seemed like an hour, talking to people, thumb wrestling fans, and taking photos. Eventually he was gone, and everything was clearing out, so we headed home. There is still L.A., so who knows, there could still be one more NOFX show in my future.
