By all means, a rain storm can be a death sentence to a successful outdoor music festival. Someone is going to get electrocuted or people will have an asinine mud fight. Neither were the case here, thankfully. After Against Me, the rain reigned on with force. My friend and I contemplated standing in the portapotties and talking through the thin walls to stay dry, but that was a crapper of an idea. Things warmed up shortly after with The Suicidal Tendencies shooting onto the stage mid-rain and to zig-zag across the podium like rabid hyenas fist-pumping the air. After their set I rushed over to see AFI. These post-goths have evolved in a variety of ways through their career and always bring a live set like it’s their last. Lead singer Davey Havoc thrust himself into the crowd, making their raised hands his platform to sing from. That takes some gusto with all the handsy, squealing fans. After these Cali lads, I only caught a glimpse of Boston’s Pixies before dashing across the Riot fields to reach the Broadways. These guys were the forming ground for Lawrence Arms. They existed briefly, but made some essential anti-capitalist beats. They’re highly unlikely to bring this one-off show back together, so I was highly pleased to catch them.
To wrap up the fest I indulged on one more Cajun Hoagie from a Chicago food truck and made my way to the Mats. (That’s what the kids (of the eighties) call the Replacements.) I’ll be honest, I wasn’t familiar with these drunken poets before they were announced as the main headliners. So many people from multi-generations were gushing like teenage anarchists for them that I figured they’re worth seeing. And as it turned out, the Replacements were badass. Yeah, I think those kids just might make it yet. Their set covered all the territory that thousands of singing-along fans were hoping for. It ended the whole weekend on an extremely high note. Riot Fest brought their finest teams to the field, leaving everyone throbbingly fulfilled.
