TVD Live Shots: Riot Fest, 9/15

12:45PM: Riot Fest is back in Chicago for its 18th year and the lineup is stacked, as has come to be expected from the three-day (primarily) punk and metal festival. This fest in particular has a knack for convincing bands to reunite, convincing bands to play albums in full, and convincing bands who seldomly tour to dust off their instruments for a romp.

1:02PM: Nashville and Third Man Records’ Olivia Jean gets things going on a perfectly sunny Friday in Douglass Park. The look is rockabilly goth and the sound is garage rock.

1:41PM: When I was younger, my love of Elliott Smith led me to discover a slew of Portland, Oregon bands, one of whom was Quasi. So it’s awesome to see Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss recording music and touring together again.

2:18PM: George Clinton is 82 years young and still funkin’ touring! Parliament Funkadelic are tearing the roof off the sucker, wasting no time playing the hits.

2:44PM: I’m a sucker for political lyrics, especially if you happen to be a British band, so Yard Act is an early highlight. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

3:39PM: Kim Gordon saunters around the stage while her young, talented band rips. She’s in no rush; she’s in command.

4:37PM: While I listen to The Interrupters cover Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” I wander around the grounds, checking out the Logan Square Arcade tent and Riot Mall. The arcade has some pretty sweet games, including several Foo Fighters pinball machines, and the mall has a lot of vendors selling hemp edibles to teenagers. I catch some skateboarders on the halfpipe before making my way to the Rise Stage for my most anticipated set of the day.

5:45PM: Pardon this brief soap box but I just have to say that Ani DiFranco does not get nearly enough recognition for her music and activism. She’s always been well ahead of the curve, so I suppose it’ll take some time for people to catch up. But everyone at her set sure understands what I’m talking about. She sounds incredible with a full band behind her, belting out refreshed arrangements of anthems that are now 25+ years old and just as potent and relevant as ever.

6:02PM: First album in full of the weekend that I’m ecstatic for: The Breeders’ 1993 classic, Last Splash. It is not disappointing one bit.

7:17PM: No surprise that there’s a massive crowd for Turnstile, who’ve had a wild upwards trajectory since the release of their awesome 2021 album, Glow On. It’s a “crossover hit,” as critics like to say, so the Baltimore hardcore band has gone from playing clubs to arenas in a short amount of time. And they can hold their own, that’s a fact.

8:17PM: Foo Fighters know how to put on a show…is an incredibly obvious statement. But I find myself muttering it every time I’ve seen them. It’s bittersweet to see them without Taylor Hawkins, but Josh Freese is a worthy replacement. He’s got power behind those sticks!

OLIVIA JEAN