2024 Riot Fest Day One (NOFX, Fun and Heat)
Eric Melvin of NOFX - All photos courtesy of Paul Holstein
When blind tickets went on sale for Riot Fest in February this year, it was scheduled for Douglass Park. I had it on good authority that NOFX would be headlining, so I bought a ticket and booked a room in downtown Chicago. I live near Detroit, so this would be a 5-hour drive, but it would be worth it to catch the last NOFX shows that I might see in my lifetime. NOFX are on their final tour which ends October 6, 2024 in Los Angeles and these were the only shows scheduled prior to LA. Add to that, that they would be bringing along the stellar line-up that generally supports them on that tour and this festival became essential. Since it’s NOFX, and their final tour, I opted for a 3-day deluxe pass, pre-sale ticket that came in at a staggering $956.59 (the most expensive single concert ticket that I’ve ever bought).
Fast forward to June, and Riot Fest is ready to release the full line-up along with a surprise announcement. A venue change, to SeatGeek stadium in Bridgeview. We were not deterred, and switched our hotel (at a savings) out of Chicago over to Bridgeview. That didn’t last long, as before the daily set times were announced, they were back to Douglass Park. We kept our hotel in Bridgeview, and decided to make the 10 mile drive each day (which in retrospect, worked out well with both the savings and being a bit further from the massive crowds each evening).
When the day of the festival arrived, we got up early and made the 5 hour drive with plans to be there in time to catch the first couple of bands on our list. Unlike other festivals, Riot Fest is a menu of options with 5 stages and many bands overlapping. We were hoping to start with The Exploited on the NOFX World stage at 1:00pm, and the time change between Detroit and Chicago as well as the separate VIP entrance saved us. We made it.
Wattie of The Exploited, autograph session.
The weather would be part of what made the weekend interesting, and this first day it was the heat and humidity. It reached over 90 degrees (unexpectedly), but that didn’t stop the fun. Wattie from The Exploited has been having health problems the last few years (including multiple heart attacks) with shows and tours being cancelled, so we were excited to see him take the stage and perform in good health with plenty of energy. I was missing their show in Detroit on Sunday night to be at Riot Fest, but this easily made up for it. Their set included some of the faster “Massacre” era songs like “Porno Slut," as well as the classics “Beat the Bastards," “Fuck the U.S.A.”, and “Let’s Star A War.” They didn’t play my favorite song “Maggie” or call for the fans to rush the stage like they did at Punk Rock Bowling, but it was a perfect start to the weekend festival. Wattie spent time after the set talking to fans, taking photos, and signing posters.
My day was supposed to continue with Homefront on the Radical stage, followed by The Chisel on the Rise stage right next door. One of Homefront’s most popular songs, "Nations," is sung by guest vocalist Cal Graham from The Chisel, so whenever they play at the same festival, we always hope for a guest appearance. I was missing a Homefront/The Chisel Detroit show to be at Riot Fest, where they had already announced that collaboration would happen, so I was hoping to see it here. It didn’t happen, but Homefront put on a great show regardless. As I was on the rail waiting for The Chisel to come on, I got the bad news that they had cancelled (both Riot Fest and the Detroit show, as well as the rest of their tour). It sounds like there is an entire story about the cancellation, but at this point it’s all rumor. By the time you are reading this, more information may have come out, so if you are a fan you should do a Google search.
Next up was Face to Face back on the NOFX World stage. They were the first band on the roster to be contracted for a full hour set, and they made good use of it with 16 songs that sounded fantastic. It may have just been where I was standing in the VIP area, but the sound on the NOFX World stage was really good. I was planning to cut the Face to Face set short to make sure that I didn’t miss another band on another stage, but they were mesmerizing, and I couldn’t break away. At one point in the set, a helicopter flew over (likely from a local news station), and they had the entire crowd turn around and flip them the bird!
Mike Muir of Suicidal Tendencies
When one door closes, another opens. With the hole in the schedule where The Chisel should have been, we ended up with Suicidal Tendencies. They put on a great show, including their own version of the “wall of death” that they called the “cyco wall” for the song “Cyco Vision.”. Mike Muir, as usual, came out into the audience at the end for a song. They didn’t play "Institutionalized,” which was a surprise, but it was a great set that did include “I Shot the Devil” and "Subliminal.”.
Next up was the long wait for a good spot to see NOFX. That meant getting to the front of the barricades by the NOFX World stage, and staking a spot while watching The Lawrence Arms and The Circle Jerks sets. They both killed it, but the anticipation was building for NOFX.
NOFX announced right away that they would be playing obscure songs throughout the weekend. The first song was on target being “Backstage Passport”, which is technically just the theme song to their video series from a few years back. The rest of the set, however, were an array of classics that included “Perfect Government,” “Linoleum,” “The Brews," “We Called It America,” and “Stickin’ In My Eye”. They played somewhat less than the 40 songs per night that were advertised for this tour (more like 20 – 25) but given their hour and a half limit, no one was complaining. NOFX always entertains with a few jokes and anecdotes, and tonight we got a great story about the time that Dave Lombardo told Mike that he could help himself to Slayer’s snacks. Apparently Kerry King was not happy that Mike was back stage stealing their snacks, and some controversy ensued. True or not, the story of the “Slayer Snacks” ended up continuing through all three shows.
Since we were in Chicago, it seemed fitting to get some late night Chicago style pizza, which was everything that they say it is. If you are in Chicago, definitely get the deep dish Chicago-style pizza. It hit the spot, and we were already talking about the bands that we hoped to see on day two.
