Party like it's Riot Fest

A recap blog of day one.

Riot Fest, Riot Fest, Riot Fest, oh! What a weekend! If we could go back and relive it, we would spend every lifetime in this lineup, and then some.

Day 1 Schedule:

The first day got the energy started, with artists like Blink-182, Alkaline Trio, Weird Al Yankovic, and Rico Nasty, they kept the audience going, no stops, no sleep.

The first show we attended was Julia Wolf's performance on Riot Stage. When we got there, the crowd had already started to gather for Julia Wolf. As it was an earlier set, starting at 1:40 pm, the sun was beating down on the Riot Fest go-ers, so the crowd was more scattered and reluctant to let their freak flags fly, but it didn't stop them from finding their own atmosphere. Julia Wolf's sound is slower and more powerful. Songs like "Wishbone" and "Sunshine State" carry this sentiment, and seeing it live was beyond powerful. Her visuals behind the stage were eye-catching, which amplified her performance.

With a guitar, bass, and drum sound in the background, Julia Wolf's unique voice fits in to create a sound that sounds like a rainy fall night full of ache. Her songs are heartfelt and filled with hurt, with "In My Room" being the most popular one of the set. She sings about desperation and longing, and it can be felt with every word. It was enthralling.

After Julia Wolf's amazing performance, Rico Nasty took over the Riot Stage with the same intensity but a different sound. She immediately was able to get the crowd jumping and screaming along to her sets. Her music is a more upbeat, pop/rap-like mix with a rock song thrown into it. The bass was intense, like a second heartbeat shooting through my body with every thump.

Rico Nasty didn't have the same type of visual aspects to her performance that Julia Wolf did. She instead opted for a black and yellow screen flashing her name, but it did not subtract from her performance. Rico Nasty knows how to party, and she made it clear. During her song "Tia Tamera" she would call out to the audience to sing back to her, encouraging them to be as loud as they could. She ran from one side of the stage to the other, dancing around to keep the energy high.

 With a 30-minute set placed earlier in the day, it was difficult to keep people going the whole time, but by the end, people had gathered to watch her perform her last song. The raspiness in her voice, ever so present, made her vocal additions in her songs stand out more than ever. "SMACK A BITCH," the last song, was especially popular with the crowd. People were shouting the lyrics back to her so loud you could barely hear her over the speakers. You could feel the rage; it was magical.

After checking out Rico Nasty, we decided to review their food selection for lunch and stop by the press tent to edit and upload content, but making a choice when it came to food was so difficult. There were at least 15 food trucks and vendors lined up for guests to choose from. They had options like burgers, hot dogs, noodles, tacos, salads, and more. We opted for Billy Goat burgers, which were affordable (and delicious).

After recuperating and a break from the extreme heat, I made our way over to Alkaline Trio at the Riot stage. They were the last act at the Riot stage before the closer! The Chicago-born band played songs that had not been heard live in 10 years, such as "Private Eye" and "Calling All Skeletons," driving the crowd wild. We were not able to stay for their full set, as lots of our time was spent bouncing around from set to set.

Weird Al Yankovic was next, and in true Weird Al fashion, his show was mostly geared towards comedy. The set started with a man dressed in all yellow telling corny, sometimes adult, jokes to the audience as his own personal opener. He gave announcements and set the scene for what was about to come.

Weird Al utilized his screen heavily. He had video clips playing in between songs featuring a variety of celebrities and Weird Al in different comedic scenarios. It truly enhanced the viewing process and gave the audience a lot of laughs. I could hear it all around me. He sang songs like "Party in the CIA," "Smells Like Nirvana," and "Polkamania!" which were parodies of popular songs made by other artists.

The crowd for Weird Al was massive. It felt like everyone had come to "Weird Al Yankovic's Stage" to watch his performance, and it makes sense why. He delivered. It was funny, the music was good, the videos were clever and added heavily to his performance, and he interacted with the audience. He knows how to keep an audience engaged, and he definitely utilizes his platform to have a lot of fun (in his Hawaiian shirts).

After Weird Al, we made our way to see the final performance of the night, and the headliner for day one, was Blink-182. While waiting for them to come out, we got to see the end of Knocked Loose! They gave an amazing show on the Roots stage, getting the energy up for Blink-182! As soon as Blink-182 came out, the attention was on them. They took the stage with confidence and delivered an amazing show.

They started with "The Rock Show," and transitioned to "First Date," which automatically pulled audiences in. The 3 of them meshed so well, and you could tell they really enjoyed being on stage together. They would stop in between songs to often banter with each other, reminiscing about the band's history and why music was made, even if it was just a funny comment about how their songs are about how they like to have sex.

Their energy on stage was captivating, and their bass and drums were heavy. With each thump, I got the same feeling of the sound running through my body, which was very immersive, no matter how far into the crowd I was. Just like everyone around me, my eyes were glued to the stage, lyrics spilling out of my mouth. The sounds of all the fans screaming back were insane, and it is one of those moments when you feel like you're part of a community. They carried on with hits like "I Miss You" and my personal favorite, "What's My Age Again?" It was so nostalgic and fulfilling to see it performed live. It made day one a huge success in my mind, even if we hadn't seen all the wonderful shows from before.

Overall, day one was a huge success, and it set up the atmosphere for days two and three to follow. Thank you. - Iva & Lauren