Riotfest 2008 @ Congress Theater, Chicago, IL 10/12/08 Show Review by James Hepplewhite
Riot Fest 2008 at the Congress Theater was an interesting occasion. TSOL dropped off the show recently and MUNICIPAL WASTE dropped off at 11 p.m. the night before, and to top it off, headliners ALL got their set cut short by a half hour because of the cops.
Sound issues were present throughout the evening, marring the superb sets of PAINT IT BLACK (Dr. Yemin looking disdainfully at two microphones, neither of them working), MUSTARD PLUG (I couldn't tell they were playing "Waiting Room" until the end of the first verse, it was so bad) and THE METHADONES (I refuse to believe Dan Schafer is that bad of a singer, through the PA, his voice sounded like he had a mouthful of marbles).
Despite the distractions, it was a great time filled with not just young crusties, but also older fans and ALL-believers. I missed SCOUT'S HONOR and STATIC RADIO NJ because of being unclear on when they were playing, but the sets I did catch were superlative, with one performance over and above them all: THE ERGS!. That New Jersey band played their final show in the city and everyone on the side stage (including most of STATIC RADIO, PAINT IT BLACK and TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET) were around signing along, not to mention a rapturous audience, especially for "Books About Miles Davis." They'll be missed. Speaking of TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET, that band's performance, after BLACK PRESIDENT (the less said, the better) was one where every song sounded exactly the same, but in the best way possible. It sounded exactly like THE RAMONES, but with more tattoos and more woahohohs.
To watch THE ERGS! set, though, I had to skip about half of THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES performance, which frankly, I thought would have been better. Maybe it's a function of how far removed I was from the stage, but the performers, with the exception of the gregarious Dicky Barrett, were nicely arranged in a semi circle, with the guitarists in front of microphones 10 or 15 feet removed from the edge of the stage. The songs were played well (wooooohooooo for "Old School Off the Bright" and "The Rascal King!") but I felt like something was missing nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I missed LEFTOVER CRACK's set on the main stage, though I heard from a number of embittered ALL fans that watched them that the group took another twenty minutes longer than they were supposed to and used the additional time to complain about how little they were getting paid. Classy. (There's nothing unfortunate about missing LEFTOVER CRACK - Ed.). THE CASUALTIES were THE CASUALTIES. I didn't like them when they were opening for BAD RELIGION, and I don't like them now, though I tolerated their set a little better now than three or four years ago.
ALL, got maybe 45 minutes in before the police shut the concert down (presumably for curfew) and most of it was spent adapting to the large stage. Unlike the other groups (BIG DRILL CAR excepted, that band seems like they were a moment in time that passed me by) who were used to speaking to or playing in front of large crowds, ALL seemed, perhaps understandably reticent.
Perhaps the best moment of the day was watching a discussion between Scott Heisel (Music Editor for Alternative Press) and Charlie Paulson from GOLDFINGER that started with Mr. Paulson telling Mr. Heisel that "You know your magazine is ruining music, right?" and continued for fifteen minutes with Scott patiently answering Mr. Paulson's questions then getting to an actual discussion about music. Personally, I don't think guy who wrote "Open Your Eyes," ripped off GORILLA BISCUITS for a new logo and whose band stopped their performance so a fan could eat a Twinkie from the drummer's ass has much of a leg to stand on about introducing authentic and heartfelt music to kids...
For whatever reason, the timing issues didn't bother me too much. I'm bummed that I didn't get to see as much of ALL as I would have liked, but the groups I did see performed well, to a crowd that seemed to appreciate them and it didn't feel too unnatural to see THE ERGS or TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET on a seriously big stage. I can imagine why for many fans going to the main stage they'd feel cheated, but for better or worse, my attention was elsewhere.
