Now that Aerosmith has retired, is Rob Zombie basically the new Steven Tyler? It’s the important questions that Riot Fest always makes you think about every year.
Honestly, I don’t have anything new to report about Riot Fest this year. If you’re reading this, I’m sure you have been to the iconic festival grounds before. It ended up falling on the hottest weekend of September. Not only did it rain again, I once again wondered the entire time why I put myself through the same thing every year. After three days of buying $5 dollar bottles of water, blowing black snot out of my nose because of the dust, and being bussed from a hotel that’s farther from the venue than my Chicago postal code apartment because of yet another last minute venue change, it makes me think of the other important question… am I getting too old for this?
Don’t get me wrong, I love going to Riot Fest, It’s the unofficial annual Sheehan cousins trip that I wouldn’t trade for the world. However, the physical pain of being there for three days is almost starting to outweigh the nostalgia trip I get each year from listening to bands I haven’t listened to since high school. And if not for the physical aspect of it, I can’t help but feel for the community around Douglas Park, where many of its residents are fed up with having to deal with Riot Fest in the first place. I couldn’t help but think of how destroyed the park is going to be for the next couple of months after seeing the mud pits that formed on day three. Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to them moving the fest to Bridgeport just for that aspect alone.
But like I said, If it’s not for the music, I love going for the experience. Each year I always end up meeting and talking to at least a couple of people ranging anywhere from artists, musicians, skateboarders, wrestlers, photographers, or just random people interested in my Polaroids. I usually spend my time stoned out of my mind wandering the outskirts of the fest trying to find something interesting than I do actually listening to the bands play. This year, Riot Fest provided bored stoners such as myself enough activities to participate in.
Where there used to be the smaller rebel stage is now “Riot Land,” an expanded version of their amusement park. I will say, the addition of wrestling and a carnival was a really cool experience. They brought back a lot of fan favorites such as the half pipe, the ferris wheel, and some of their carnival games.
In the middle of the newly minted “Riot Land” is a small village that they created for the weekend, however I honestly have a lot of mixed feelings about the little village that they created. In the village you will find The Riot Fest church is now indoors, but that now makes it feel uninviting for pedestrians to sit down and watch people get married. They added a lackluster museum, a general store so you can finally buy a bag of chips or some candy, a booth for Logan Arcade, and a couple of more vendors for food and props to take pictures with.
Overall, I really did like all of the new additions that they are developing for Riot Land, but I hope they keep building on it and refining it in the future to make it just a little bit better for those who aren’t looking to stand in the crowds all day.
As far as the bands went this year.. yeah, they were good. I’m glad I finally got to see Tierra Whack play live, even if she didn’t play my favorite song by her, Moovies. I couldn’t believe just how well Rob Zombie was moving up on stage and was shocked to learn that he is 60 years old already. Beach Bunny was amazing as always and I had a fun time seeing the Offspring. If it wasn’t for the heat beating me down at every show, I would probably have a lot more to say about the music, I think I only got into the pit for one band the entire weekend. But hey, that was my experience at Riot Fest this year, hot, sweaty, and sitting in the back all weekend. I hope you enjoy my album of Polaroids this year, I went through a lot to get them to you.