Chicago – While others are ushering in the Fall with pumpkin spice lattes and already working at piecing together Halloween costumes, Chicagoans are refusing to let go of summer. At least for one more weekend, anyway. Beginning this Friday, September 12, Chicago’s Humboldt Park will host Riot Fest and three days of music, carnivals rides, and even a Pussy Riot discussion panel, moderated by Henry Rollins. Riot Fest went all out for its 10-year anniversary, featuring ten bands performing ten classic albums, including Jane’s Addiction rocking Nothing’s Shocking and Weezer playing The Blue Album. While Riot Fest is filled with plenty of big names and seasoned bands, it’s also filled with some emerging bands worthy of your time. Here are five new bands you should pencil into your Riot Fest schedule.
Radkey
While school may be back in session, for the guys of Radkey, the open road is their education. After teaching themselves to play music, the home-schooled Radke brothers – Dee (lead vocals and guitar), Isaiah (bass), and Solomon (drums) – started performing shows in their Missouri town, and thanks to their father and manager, they’ve since played Afro-punk Fest and SXSW, released the EPs Cat & Mouse and Devil Fruit, and are currently touring with Rise Against. Catch this young punk band playing the Radical Stage on Friday from 6:30-7:00 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of The Windish Agency)
SKATERS
This NYC band embodies all that is Riot Fest with their mix of garage rock and punk. After a chance encounter at a fancy LA house party in 2011, singer Michael Ian Cummings and guitarist Josh Hubbard became friends and eventually formed Skaters with drummer Noah Rubin and bassist Dan Burke. After signing with Warner Bros. Records, Skaters released their debut album MANHATTAN earlier this year. They’ve since been touring and putting on what our Ariela Kozin describes as “maniacal frenzy” of a show. Skaters will be thrashing around the Revolt stage on Saturday from 7:00-7:30 p.m.
(Photo Credit: Shane McCauley)
The Orwells
This Elmhurst, IL band has become the pride and joy of the Chicago music scene. The Orwells formed in 2009 while still in high school, performing at house parties, because they were too young to play clubs, and recording in their basements. Their punk-infused garage rock and crazy shows, filled with “mosh pits, crowd surfing, and a little blood, sweat, and tears,” have garnered them a large cult following, but their wild performances on Letterman and Bonnaroo combined with the release of their sophomore album Disgraceland (on Canvasback) have put them on the mainstream radar. The Orwells will be tearing up the Riot Stage on Saturday from 12:50-1:30 p.m.
(Photo credit: Jory Lee Cordy)
Cerebral Ballzy
Punk rockers Cerebral Ballzy have been getting ballsy since 2008, and Best New Bands has been a fan of the Brooklyn band for ages. The recent release, Jaded and Faded, has finally put the fellas on the map and exposed more music lovers to Cerebral Ballzy’s wicked shows and “anti-establishment, fuck the cops mentality.” Catch these skateboard loving, pizza eating, 80s punk fans at the Revolt Stage on Sunday from 4:00-4:30 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of Cult Records)
Modern Baseball
Philly emo rockers Modern Baseball blew critics away with their sophomore album You’re Gonna Miss It All and quickly became the poster band for the emo revivalist movement. Yes, these twenty-somethings can easily be categorized as emo, but they bring more to the table with their indie-pop quirky Millennial lyrics, humorously taking aim at social awkwardness and twitter conversations. The foursome made the Artists on the Verge list with New Music Seminar’s “Top 100 Class of 2014.” Re-live 90s emo with Modern Baseball on Sunday at the Revolt Stage from 6:00-6:30 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of Lame-O Records)
At press time, Friday and Saturday single-day passes were still available. Click HERE to purchase tickets.
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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