All Words and Photos: Emily Sisson
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My Chemical Romance Could not have given audience members a more cathartic experience than their Sep 16th show at Douglass Park. If you were someone with good taste who attended Friday’s show, you highly anticipated this performance. My Chemical Romance hadn’t been touring or making music since 2013 (Around 9 years ago). After only playing a few small reunions I much like other fans convinced myself that I would never have the opportunity to witness them perform. Until Now. I tell you no lie when I say I felt and witnessed, spirits flying out of the bodies of 30,000 people. Heck, I was one of them. The second “Na Na Na ” played the crowd had no choice but to become one another. Especially seeing as no one had any room to move. People at the front barricade were no doubt feeling pulled closely to the band metaphorically and also literally pushed by the audience. Gerrard saying “1,2,3 Step back please” became a redundant transition noise between every song as everyone tried their best to help one another attend the concert safely. It’s hard to explain the mixture between the care and compassion of Gerard and the message from organizers about how important it was to keep the show going…but only on safe terms. We needed to keep our cool if we wanted to see the rest of the show. Two sides to why we need to care for each other. I felt connecting moments throughout the show sharing a sense of wonder with others. “Helena” a song about a suicidal death, tells us what it truly feels like to be lost. We’re all glad they were able to play “Helena” unlike those poor folks at the Oklahoma show. “We’re My Chemical Romance, we have a mailing list” Gerard cheeky added “ at the merch table. All we have are some stickers to sell… we don’t have anything else. Just some stickers. And some free compact disk demos. That’s what we have. We’re working on it though.” You could hear the crowd snickering.
Fans of the band have long before developed such a love and relation to all the band mates. A joke like that was so casual, as the crowd agreed among their friends it was like he was having a thousand one-on-one conversations. “Teenagers’ ‘ began to play and the crowd was back to another nostalgic note of cherished adolescent cries for help. To once and always find contentment with the way things are in life while listening to their track. To delight in one’s misery so to say. Those in the middle of the action were thankful for any water splashed upon them in the fit of their cathartic awakening. ”War. War! This a bitch war..war. More and more and more…” He’s right. The crowd’s energy rises even higher as the riff to “Mama” starts to play. “Oh mama we’re all gonna die!” The audience spits back as crowd surfers tumble across the audience members’ heads. I must have seen 200+ crowd surfers during the whole set. But there was no denying this was our moment to shine, and we all had to take that as we do. One after another My Chemical Romance played back-to-back hits, there was no escaping the hold they had on their audience the moment that infamous G note played on the piano for “Welcome To The Black Parade”. Incredible. Once again Gerard brings up the suffocation of the audience. “One more time back up please. One more time. Make some space, pick each other up. It’s cool and everybody doing it, so you should too.” He states matter of factly. And no one, no one would forget Timmy. Especially not Gerard Way. “I like your vibe. Seriously though for real. Timmy…I love you Timmy. I love you, Timmy! I love you for not wearing a shirt! I fucking love you!” Finally it was time to end the night with a song that could easily be a top contender for the saddest song ever made, “Cancer”. As tears rolled down my cheek. I thanked whatever brought me to that moment on that day and smiled as I felt others around me do the same. That’s the kind of power great music holds and without a doubt, My Chemical Romance will now and forever, hold that place.
©Jason Pendleton
©Jason Pendleton
©Jason Pendleton
L.S. Dunes helped kick off the 3-day festival with their band’s debut performance taking place on the Riot Stage Friday afternoon. This year’s Riot Festival was far from the band’s first time performing for a crowd. All members of L.S. Dunes have a history with crowds of fans screaming and chanting their music. Comprised of Guitarists Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance) and Travis Stever (Coheed and Cambria) vocalist Anthony Green (Circa Survive), bassist Tim Payne (Thursday) and drummer Tucker Rule (Thursday/Yellowcard) these festival goers were off to a historic and electrifying start to the day. Shortly after beginning the performance, vocalist Green jumped into the crowd and began singing alongside the audience members. Hopping back on stage only after being gifted a pink tiara from an ecstatic fan. Stopping the show in preparation to perform their song “2022”, Green told the audience the song “2022” might be “the most fucked-up song I ever wrote.” The song “2022”, a heart-wrenching tale of a failed suicide attempt takes us through the details of Green’s mind while struggling through addiction and suicidal admiration mid-pandemic. Though the song “2022” originally appeared on Green’s solo album “Boom.Done.”, it was removed from streaming services shortly after and has just recently been re-released as an L.S Dunes single. Green shares “ If there’s a positive takeaway, it’s that it’s never a burden to the people you love to share your feelings with no matter how dark or painful it might be.”
Boston Manor was one of many heavy-hitting punk rock bands that Chicago attendees wanted to see. Boston Manor hit the Radical Stage performing at 1:30 Friday afternoon following the Holy Fawn performance. The band previously accompanied Neck Deep last year on the road shortly after performing their headlining tour earlier this year. Now back in Chicago for a quick and intense Riot Fest performance they received a great reaction from the crowd when performing their recent single “Passenger” – the boys will be spending the next month performing overseas to promote their upcoming album drop. October 14th marks the day of Boston Manor’s newest album release and we can’t wait. This new album is rumored to tell stories of the band members losing control over their addiction, alcohol, and the ever-present nightlife scene. Guitarist Mike Cunniff shares “ a lot of it is based on our relationship with alcohol and how we can use it as a crutch. How we can depend on it, but also the bad things that come with it as well.” The upcoming album is also rumored to be part of a double album which the band tells us they are currently working on. It should be noted that next year marks the 10th anniversary of when the band was officially formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, in late March 2013.
Foxy Shazam was one of my favorite shows to witness throughout the Friday festival. The show was nothing short of electrifying and boisterous. No one could have guessed keyboardist Schuyler Vaughn White would have dove head first into the sea of people only to play a keyboard on top of their heads. The band’s newest album release “ The Heart Behead You” was released on Valentine’s day Feb. 14 2022 and continues to gain traction. The band has consistently put out music for the last 5 years. Long-standing fans will note their official debut in 2005 “The Flamingo Trigger”.
Bob Vylan released “Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life ” with a clear and concise message ‘Open your Eyes’. The album sends a message that everything is political when lives are on the line. Gaining a wicked amount of support and traction Bob Vylan seemed to have created a great album almost completely by themselves for the people.
Before the song ”Wicked and Bad” Bobby becomes excited to let fans on stage join him this moment. Thinking the stunt had been okayed before the set, he riles up the crowd. ”If you would like to join us on this stage… look there is a space here where you can climb up “ he looks to the side as some stage manager informs him that doing so is against the rules. “Alright. They’re not letting you come on stage. I suppose I’ll come down there” Id say it was the best solution I’d seen all day.
Destroy Boys
The kick-ass band from Sacramento shook the ground of the Rebel stage late Friday afternoon. Known for their girl power and pissed-off punk attitude, anyone in the crowd who had not heard of the band was in for a thrilling surprise. As the show begins Violet Mayugba (Guitarist/Back vocals) cheers “Sweet sweet lord am I happy to be in Chicago”. The song “Fences” was the first song they played during their 30-minute set. The song is one of my perennial favorites- ever since the 2020 release anyway. Next up was “Drink”, a song off their 2021 album that has been another great hit among fans, and your grandma too! The song “Drink” from “Open Mouth, Open Heart” holds a catchy upbeat attitude with lingering sad undertones. With lyrics like…
“She understands me as you did
She really loves me
I’m a saint living in sin
Oh, she really loathes me”
You can tell the heartbreak in Alexia Roditis’s words and as she dances and stomps across the stage you feel compelled to feel her pain as well,and then..you rage.
The Wonder Years took over The Radical stage following Jeff Rosenstock’s set. Fans in the crowd were excited to hear some new songs off their upcoming album “The Hum Goes on Forever”. The album has since been released, less than a week after the Riot Fest performance. Playing songs like “Oldest Daughter,” “Wyatt’s Song (Your Name).” “Summer Clothes,” and “Low Tide,” fans were no strangers to their outwardly depressing lyrics. The opening verse in the song ‘Low Tide’
“I’m staring at the wall, ’cause the only news is bad
I’m waiting to fall, I’m the rain cloud in your living room
And I keep making lists of shit to tell my therapist
The reasons I wish I didn’t exist”
Once again, Dropping us a fat load of the reality of what awaits many of us once we get home from the festival. Until then we can feel the joy of singing along together as one with the music of those who speak so deeply to us.
Of course, they made room for some classics as well as songs like “Passing Through A Screen Door,” “Came Out Swinging,” “There, There,” and “Dismantling Summer” all made an appearance.
Taking Back Sunday was one of the most well-known acts to perform Friday. Chicago was happy to have them back after their 2018 Riot Fest performance. Fans were excited to be transported back to a time musically when “Hot Topic” and “Myspace” were much more familiar. This band is well known by the older emo crowd. Fans of Taking Back Sunday are die-hard and devoted, anyone at the festival who knows the band from their former glory emo days would ‘MakeDamnSure’ to make it to their 6:20 performance on the Riot stage. *Pause*… Anyway, some songs on their set list this year included classics like “What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?,” “Lier,” and “ Cute Without the ‘E”. Adam Lazzara is a processional at both vocals and swinging the mic around like an absolute madman. Adam paraded around the stage with a well-held theatrical presence. Once it was time to play “MakeDamnSure ” Lazzara didn’t hype it up any more than “anyways ladies and gentlemen, were a band Taking Back Sunday. I hope you have a fantastic evening” Boom* 20,000 emo’s cry their hearts out “I just wanna break you down so badly…in the worst way”! Luckily all the mic acrobats went smoothly and no noticeable injuries were sustained throughout the show. Lazzara asked the audience to take out their cell phones and turn on the lights. As you could imagine no light was had. Could you believe no one brought their phone to the show? Crazy.
Alkaline Trio was one of the final bands to perform during the opening day festivities. The band has had some bumps in the road as members can’t seem to stay in one place over the years. Passions change and sometimes you just need time for your mental health. Their last release in 2020 was an EP cleverly titled E.P. . Even Though there hasn’t been much new music released by them, locals were happy to see another Chicago native band on the main stage. How could they not be? Some fans were lucky enough to catch their sold-out show at the Metro the night before. The band opened with “Time To Waste” and ended the show with “Radio.” from their 2000 album release” Maybe I’ll Catch Fire”, which I hear is not a song the band regularly plays live.
riotfest.org
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