Riot Fest 2012 Preview Featuring – Iggy And The Stooges – NOFX – Descendents – Elvis Costello – plus more – at Humboldt Park and Congress Theatre – Chicago, IL – September 14-16, 2012

In less than a month, the Windy City will be blown over by spiked and studded punks of all ages. Yes, that’s right folks—Riot Fest, is back for its 8th year. Each year has brought bigger and better line-ups, and to date, 2012 promises to be the best one yet!  This year they’ve expanded the reach of the ‘Riot’(s) from previously only using The Congress Theater, to setting up a full festival at Humboldt Park. Not only will the 3-day festival include some skull kicking headliners, they also have after party shows lined up at smaller, more intimate, venues. If you don’t have tickets yet, you might be able to pick up some 2-day and single-day passes (hurry though, as they are this close to being sold out). As of this writing, most, if not all, of the club shows are sold out. .

Some festivals may only have a handful of bands that you want to see, so scheduling will be easy in those cases. However, Riot Fest 2012 is the complete opposite—each band, from headliners to support, are all pretty fuckin’ phenomenal. You have to choose what band you could live with missing out on seeing. I mean, c’mon! Just take a look at this…Dead Sara, GWAR, The Offspring, Descendents, Dropkick Murphys, Frank Turner, The Adicts, Larry and His Flask, NOFX, Fishbone, Reverend Horton Heat, Elvis Costello, and Iggy and The Stooges? You can’t beat this line-up. I’ve already started counting down the days until September 14th as this Fest promises to be one boot stompin’, body slammin’ helluva time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iggy Pop, well known in the mainstream for his solo work from the late 70’s through the 90’s, began his rise to prominence fronting The Stooges. The Stooges are the seminal band of the punk / underground / garage genre and their first 3 albums helped shape that sound. Iggy’s antics and stage diving are part of what makes The Stooges’ live shows so engaging and raw. Due to some recent injuries (and aggravations of old injuries), I don’t expect to see the same sort of high-flying acrobatics out of Iggy this time around, but that won’t matter as I’m sure they will play a good mix of some of the best songs from both The Stooges and Iggy’s solo career. Iggy Pop and The Stooges will close out the festival as the headliners on Sunday night. 

Elvis Costello, one of the greatest singer/songwriters to come out of the late 70’s, will bring his genre-crossing music to Riot Fest, backed by The Imposters. Will he break out his spinning songbook, where the audience members can spin and whatever song the arrow lands on is the one they will perform? One can only hope! Even if that is absent, I’m absolutely certain Mr. Costello will amaze the audience with his intelligently blunt lyrics, smooth vocals, and brilliant instrumentation and musicianship.

After more than 20 years of all out rocking, NOFX still brings the same ‘kick yer teeth in’ energy to the stage when they perform. These guys are a mainstay in the punk scene and are no strangers to playing sold out festival tours. Will Fat Mike play tricks on the audience, ala the “urine in the tequila” incident? Show up as Cokie the Clown? Or will he talk politics more than playing songs? You’ll just have to catch their set to find out. Their club show, with The Adicts and The Dickies, will probably be one for the record books. 

Speaking of ... favourites of Bigwheel, The Adicts will also be playing! The guys always, ALWAYS, put on an amazing show, and I'm sure their appearance at Riot Fest will be no different. Well, except for the fact they will be playing some new songs off of their upcoming release "All The Young Droogs". Expect slammin' pits, stage shenanigans, and going home to find confetti in places you never thought would have confetti. 

 

Milo and Co. have ‘Descended’ on Riot Fest before, having played to a sold-out crowd at Riot Fest 2011, and I’m sure they will do the same this year. The Descendents have seemingly been on tour non-stop for the past couple of years, and I couldn’t be more thrilled (mainly because of the dozen times I've seen them, their set is always solid). 

Frank Turner. What can I say about him? His lyrics are smart, self-deprecating, at times funny, sad, angry, or just introspective. If you think you'll catch a breather by watching his set, you'd be wrong. He's recently added a backing band, The Sleeping Souls, and that's just punched up his already energetic live shows. If you can't catch him in Chicago, he will be playing shortly after in Los Angeles. 

 

Below is the complete festival and club show line-up. Just looking at this list makes me jump up and down and make "fuck yeah!" noises. 

Friday, September 14

Congress Theater (Festival)

The Offspring
Neon Trees
Pegboy
Dead Sara

 

Empty Bottle (After party show)

Alkaline Trio
Brendan Kelly

 

Subterranean (After party show)

Naked Raygun
Dan Vapid & The Cheats

 

Cobra Lounge (After party show)

Frank Turner

 

 

Saturday, September 15
Humboldt Park (Festival)

Rise Against
Descendents
Coheed and Cambria
Dropkick Murphys
Slapstick
The Gaslight Anthem
Andrew W.K.
Hot Water Music
Minus the Bear
August Burns Red
GWAR
Frank Turner
Cursive
The Adicts
Nobunny
Of Mice & Men
A Wilhelm Scream
Teenage Bottlerocket
Off With Their Heads
Deals Gone Bad
Larry And His Flask
The Story So Far
Fireworks
Environmental Encroachment   

 

Congress Theater (After party show)
NOFX
The Casualties
The Adicts
The Dickies

Cobra Lounge (After party show)

Fishbone

Sunday, September 16

Humboldt Park (Festival)
Iggy And The Stooges
Elvis Costello & The Imposters  
A Day to Remember
Gogol Bordello
NOFX
Alkaline Trio   
The Jesus and Mary Chain
AWOLNATION
The Promise Ring   
Less Than Jake
Chiodos (original lineup reunion)
Built To Spill
Imagine Dragons 
Reverend Horton Heat
Fishbone
Screaming Females   
White Mystery
The Henry Clay People
Sister Crayon
Japanther 
The Infected
Environmental Encroachment

 

-Anni Thyme-
Big Wheel Staff Journalist

 

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