Weezer – Urge Overkill – Teenage Bottlerockets – White Mystery – Congress Theatre – Chicago, IL

The fiery redheaded siblings, White Mystery, began the day on Sunday. Alex White and Francis Scott Key White comprise this widely acclaimed brother/sister duo. Alex came with a deep voice and guitar skills to boot.  Brother Francis plays the drums and, together, the duo is taking the Chicago club circuit for a ride.

 

Their set is wild and intense, with the finale as Alex tears the strings out of her guitar (with her TEETH!) while Francis stabs his drum sticks through the snare. (If they included the washboarder from Reverend Peyton's, their set would've been truly on fire.)

Up next was Teenage Bottlerockets, this time playing to a crowd three times the size of the one at Cobra Lounge. The increase in size didn't seem to faze the boys as they demanded (no, really, they demanded) that everybody pogo. The crowed obeyed and Congress Theatre housed what was quite possibly the biggest pogo party of Riot Fest.

Next up was Urge Overkill. Urge Overkill is an amazing band that has reunited after a long hiatus, and, respectively, they put on a great show. But I'm slightly confused as to why they would be playing Riot Fest, period, but especially in between Teenage Bottlerockets and Weezer. Whatever the reason, they were the interesting wildcard of the festival.

That overcast morning we awoke to the devastating news that former weezer bassist, Mikey Welsh, was found dead in Chicago. We sat in our hotel room, rubbing sleep from our eyes and barely drinking our coffee as the news settled over us, just looking back and forth and saying, "holy shit. HOLY SHIT!", over and over and over. Upon checking the Weezer website for an official statement, we read this: "As sad as it is to think about, we know Mikey would never want the rock stopped on his account - quite the contrary in fact. While we won't see him, we know he will be there rocking out with us!"

At the beginning of the set, Rivers came onto the stage kicking a soccer ball about. As soon as he stepped up to the mic, he (and the band) dedicated the set to Mikey. It was emotional, but not sad. There was a sense of shared mourning between Weezer and their fans as the crowd chanted "Mikey. Mikey. Mikey".  Rivers and the rest of Weezer delivered wonderful sets. Their first set (yes, they played two!) included "Pork and Beans", Beverly Hills", and a random cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android". After a short 20 minute break, they played the "Blue" album in its entirety-the fans were able to vote between that and "Pinkerton" in an earlier online vote. Throughout both sets, they played to fans young, old, and in-between. The crowd sang along to every song, bridging a generation gap of fans from the 90's to those fans that were born in the 90's (possibly due to their parents meeting at earlier Weezer concerts).

Weezer set-list:

(Greatest hits set)
(Rivers dedicates concert to Mikey Welsh)
Troublemaker
El Scorcho
Hash Pipe
Perfect Situation
Island in the Sun (with Weezer Cruise song)
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
Paranoid Android (Radiohead cover)
Beverly Hills
Pork and Beans

 (Blue album set)
My Name is Jonas
No One Else
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
Buddy Holly
Undone - The Sweater Song
Surf Wax America
Say it Ain't So
In the Garage
Holiday
Only in Dreams

 

                   More photos of the show can be seen HERE


      -Desire G.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

 

 

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