TVD Live: Riot Fest, 9/18

It’s the final day of Riot Fest Chicago 2022. Today’s lineup has to be the most stacked. I’m having a hard time deciding which bands I’ll catch and which I’ll have to skip. If I could have a time machine so I could go back and enjoy every set, I’d gladly share it with all of my friends in the same boat today.

Opening the Riot stage is Zola Jesus, whose mesmerizing dance moves paired with her flowing dress hypnotize the crowd while she effortlessly serenades everyone. It’s not an easy feat being the first act to play the main stage at a festival, but Zola Jesus really showed out.

Alice Glass runs on to the stage to a crowd full of screaming and dancing fans. The hyper pop pioneer stuns while she dances and expertly wraps her microphone cable around her body to the beat of the music.

Coolio, Pvris, Midtown, and Ice Cube are some notable acts of the evening. The sun is beating heavily on everyone, the dust clouds are swirling from the amount of people walking back and forth between the stages, and morale is high.

One of the biggest crowds of the weekend comes from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Frontwoman Karen O mentions that they don’t play very many shows, which explains why seemingly everyone at the fest is at this set. Playing a few new songs and a ton of fan favorites, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs command the crowd for the entire hour they are on the stage. No elaborate stage set ups, no choreographed sequences, just the band and their music.

Closing out the final day of Riot Fest is The Academy Is… reuniting and playing their first record Almost Here for the first time as a band since 2015. They even bring up the drummer and guitarist that they originated the band with nearly twenty years ago to play a song together again. I’m almost certain every person in attendance had a huge smile plastered across their face, including the band themselves. The close with the track “After The Last Midtown Show”—it’s bittersweet for the festival to end with the lyrics “the best days of our lives.”

Until next year!