Riot Fest 2024 has finally arrived after a precarious deliberation on whether the festival would return to Chicago. Located in Douglass Park, the festival is filled to the brim with food, carnival games, shopping, events, and, most importantly, music. The artists were just as ecstatic as the fans, if not more, and the energy was palpable. The festival is crawling with thousands of punk rock and metal devotees looking to let loose and, for lack of better words, release their inhibitions. This is the place to do just that.​​ While the eccentric style and fashion of fans are noted, the music is emphasized above all else.

The Chisel

English punk rock band The Chisel was set to take Rise stage at Riot Fest at 2:15 p.m. As fans waited idly by, it became clear the band was not coming anytime soon. With their new album, What A Fucking Nightmare, released in February of 2024, fans were eager to see them perform. Unfortunately, The Chisel posted on Instagram the day of their Riot Fest set that the rest of their North American tour would be canceled without further explanation. 

All

Though they are a smaller band, All was able to attract a decent-sized crowd over at the NOFX stage. With the sun blazing down, they came onto the stage ready to go and full of stamina. It was clear that the band loves to perform and loves to be in front of an audience. They were playful with the fans, who were keenly headbanging to the music. With just a 30-minute performance time, the band squeezed every last minute out of their set. They jumped from song to song without losing a beat or a breath. 

State Champs

State Champs, fondly known in this punk world as the new generation of punk, put on a high-energy and fun show. Lead singer Derek DiScanio came out on stage in full Chicago Bulls gear, ready to have a ball. 

DiScanio immediately took hold of the audience with his charisma and charm. As frontmen go, DiScansio was born to be on the stage. It was clear he was incredibly comfortable in front of hundreds of fans. 

During their set, they played their newly released single “Silver Cloud,” which was released just last month in August of 2024. They closed the show with a song from their 2013 album The Finer Things, “Elated,” which got a big reaction from the crowd. 

Their music takes elements from early 2000s punk rock and makes it their own. DiScansio’s voice has a twang of someone you would hear featured in a movie montage. His voice creates imagery and an incredibly entertaining concert. 

While having a lot of fun on stage, their music remained tight and put together. 

Face to Face

Over at the NOFX stage, Face to Face came out ready to rock. Emerging in the 90s, these vetted performers were relaxed, laid back, and full of self-determination. They were the first band of Riot Fest to be contracted for a 60-minute set this year. They took great advantage of that opportunity and played song after song after song with little to no breaks.

The songs morphed in and out of each other, creating a dynamic and nonstop, high-energy performance.  About 30 minutes in, lead singer Trever Keith was winded and ready to take a breather. 

One of the few times the band did stop to talk, they had the audience flip off a helicopter that had been following Keith around all day. The band took great joy in seeing a full audience with their middle fingers held to the sky. 

Their fans are deeply dedicated to them and their music. Danny Thompson on drums was unstoppable. He was running that stage one hit of his stick at a time. Though starting with the band in 2008, Thompson had control of the stage, and without him, the show would have been very different. 

Suicidal Tendencies

California-based band Suicidal Tendencies is known for its traditionally hardcore punk music and mentality.​​ That is exactly what they brought to Riot Fest this year. 

The band started with “You Can’t Bring Me Down” off their 1990 album Lights…Camera…Revolution. From there, the tone was set. The mosh pit opened up, and fans were going berserk. The energy was intense, and it endured for their full 60-minute set.

 After a couple of songs, lead singer and founder Mike Muir proclaimed that their show isn’t just music, it’s the church, and the whole audience began chanting their name, “ST! ST! ST!”. The band has a cult following, and they were clearly in attendance at Riot Fest. 

Muir then introduced the next song by telling a story about skateboarding, and “Possessed to Skate”(1987) instantly began to ensue. The crowd went wild. It was chaotic, lively, and lawless, everything you would want and expect from Riot Fest. 

Each member of the band is so technically skilled in their perspective instrument; the sound was shining through the thousands of anarchic fans. The ages of each band member appeared to range from mid-20s to 50s, making the band stand out against others.

Although ST has been performing since the 80s, they have welcomed 20-year-old Tye Trujillo as their bassist, and he brought the house down during his solo. They ended the show with their 1999 hit “Cyco Vision,” which left fans hysterical. 

Sum 41

Performed at the peak of dusk, with the sun going down, Sum 41 took the stage. The crowd filled out, and everyone was eager to get the show started. Tensions were rising as fans got antsy in anticipation of the arrival of the band. 

Finally, with the spark of light, the band had arrived. The first song of the night was “Motivation,” which got the crowd into a mosh pit with no hesitation. 

Lead singer and frontman Deryck Whibley, per usual, delivered crisp and clear vocals. The energy was palpable, and the audience kept their energy high throughout the entire set. 

Towards the start of the set, Whibley reminded the crowd, “Make sure you look out for each other. No one gets hurt.” That sentiment fell perfectly in line with everything that Riot Fest stands for. Have fun, let loose, and look out for each other. The band cherishes their fans, and no matter how far back you are from the stage, they make sure everyone is heard and understood. 

The production that was put on included complex light shows, smoke, fire, giant balls and balloons alongside the band jumping all over the stage. Sum 41 had no problem keeping their energy up throughout their hour-long set. 

Towards the middle of their set, they played the title track from their 2007 album, Underclass Hero. That was directly followed by the song “Landmines” off their 2024 album Heaven :x: Hell. 

The band then announced that that would be the last album they ever release, which, of course, got many boos from the audience. 

With the end of Sum 41 forced upon the fans, the band decided to take it up a notch and play one of their punk-metal songs, “We’re All To Blame,” in which Whibley told the audience to get angry and get tough. Followed by “Walking Disaster,” which starts slow and gets louder, the audience is having the time of their lives.​​ 

Afterward, the band began on an unexpected cover of “We Will Rock You” by Queen while highlighting guitarist Tom Thacker. They closed the show down with two of their biggest 2000s hits, “In Too Deep” and “Fat Lip,” off their 2001 All Killer, No Filler album. 

During the second to last song, Whibley had the lights turned off, cut the fire, cut the production, and just sang. He said, “You, me, and the music. That’s what it’s all about.”

This performance was dynamic in all ways imaginable. The audience was unstoppable, as was the band. It was a show for the books, to be sure. 

Public Enemy

Duo Flavor Flav and Chuck D, formally known as Public Enemy, took the stage at Riot Fest 2024. The two artists have been making music together since 1987, and they have been doing this for a long time.

They started the set with “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” off their 1988 album, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. This instantly got the crowd on their feet and excited. They also took the time to give a shoutout to Cypress Hill, who performed at the stage over from them a few minutes before their set took off. 

These hip-hop legends have been doing this for years and years, and yet they haven’t come anywhere close to being burnt out. They were jumping around the stage with energy that quickly translated to the audience. Everyone was having a good time. Public Enemy have mastered the art of combining the hip-hop genre with punk ideologies. 

Being given a longer set time, the duo played around 20 of their greatest hits. They played songs from “Rebel Without A Pause” to “Bring the Noise.” About halfway through their performance, they played their ever-so-popular “Black is Back,” which samples from AC/DC’s “Back In Black.” The audience was elated, pumping their fists in the air and nodding their heads. 

During one of the breaks in between songs, Chuck D shouted out to arts education. He explained that one of the reasons that Riot Fest and music in general are so important is to give way for young people to experience art education. They emphasized that “Our language is peace, love, and unity.”

 The duo is beloved and renowned in their own right. Their leftist-leaning ideologies about the government and its power are a sentiment that fans can relate to.  The performance was like a 90s time capsule. They ended their set with “Fight the Power,” off their 1990 album Fear Of A Black Planet. This song is their most popular, and it got a colossal reaction from the crowd. It was a perfect way to end a legendary set. 

Fall Out Boy

As night ensued all around, headliner Fall Out Boy took the stage for one of the final shows at Riot Fest day 1. The crowd was thick with sweat and anticipation. Fans piled in, shoulder to shoulder, to see the stage. The crowd was as far and wide as the eye could see, and it was, no doubt, the largest crowd of the night. 

As the music started to play, a screen started showing a video of lead singer Patrick Stump rising from a hospital bed and walking out onto the stage. Fireworks burst into the sky, and “Chicago Is So Two Years Ago” from their first album, Take This To Your Grave (2003), began to play. The crowd broke out into maniacal cheers. When the song ended, Stump told the crowd that the energy was so intense that he got emotional. The tone was determined for the rest of the performance. 

The set was a chronological journey through FOB’s discography, which included greatest hits and then some. They sang through every album they’ve made and even incorporated a cover or two. It was a special moment for the band as they are from Chicago themselves. They gave a big shout-out to the city towards the end of their performance when they sang “Sweet Home Chicago.” 

Each time a song began, the crowd would hear one note and scream and holler in celebration. At the beginning of their set, they played a video montage of a tour of theirs from 2005. The audience’s fondness for them was clear. 

“Sugar, We’re Going Down” started playing, and the crowd went wild. Everywhere you looked, fans were moshing and jumping and having an all-around blast. As much fun as the audience was having, the bassist and face of the band, Pete Wentz, seemed almost uninterested. At first, it felt as though he was just too concentrated on his playing, but as the show went on, he got more comfortable and let loose. Towards the end of the set, he was jumping off the drum kit and loving the audience. 

Mid-set, they played “Thnks Fr th Mmrs” off their 2007 album Infinity on High. The band loved this song and was having a great time on stage performing it. 

The production was fantastical. The pyro-technics were dazzling and versatile. Not only were there fireworks, but there were sparks and flames, and Wentz even had an attachment to shoot fire out of his bass. 

Towards the end of their performance, they played two songs from their 2013 album Save Rock and Roll, “The Phoenix” and “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”. This album produced the highest energy of the set. Lead vocalist Stump was visibility drained after those songs, but he persisted.  

They finished off the night with songs from American Beauty/American Psycho (2015), MANIA (2018), and So Much (for) Stardust (2023). They then performed two magic 8-ball songs, which is their particular way of choosing surprise songs for the audience. They finished the night out with “Centuries” from American Beauty/American Psycho and, last but certainly not least, “Saturday” from Take This To Your Grave. 

The band has been playing these songs for years now and are seasoned performers. This was an incredibly dynamic and compelling performance filled with the expected and the unexpected moments. Of the people in the crowd, many of them were in their 20s, and more than likely grew up with Fall Out Boy. It was a very special moment for many of the fans to get a performance incorporating all of their albums.

Setlist

1. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes (Intro snippet)
2. Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
3. Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
4. Sugar, We’re Goin Down
5. Dance, Dance
6. A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More “Touch Me”
7. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying (Do Your Part to Save the Scene and Stop Going to Shows)
8. This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
9. Thriller
10. Bang the Doldrums
11. Thnks fr th Mmrs
12. Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes
13. I Don’t Care
14. The Phoenix
15. My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
16. Uma Thurman
17. The Kids Aren’t Alright
18. The Last of the Real Ones
19. Sweet Home Chicago
20. What A Catch, Donnie
21. So Much (For) Stardust
22. Love From The Other Side
23. Fake Out
24. Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet
25. I Slept With Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
26. Centuries
27. Saturday

Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi