Everything about Riot Fest breathes “made in Chicago, by Chicagoans” — from the Goose Island Beer Company setting up their bar in a retired CTA train car to the vendor booths for Liar’s Club and Reggie’s, and the video screens that, between bands, offered mini filmed tours of some of the local eateries around Douglass Park. Among the ones featured were Aloha Wagon in Pilsen and TacoSur and El Churro Shop in Little Village.
Fans also echoed that same earnest, supportive spirit, showing up in large numbers at doors to take it all in, Juggalos included, even though it was hours until the “main event” with Insane Clown Posse and full album plays from Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service being big draws of the day.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Saturday:
Viagra Boys
His bandmates knew there was something special about Sebastian Murphy when they first heard him sing karaoke on a debaucherous 2015 night in Sweden, where they all call home, (Murphy is an American expat originally from California.) And now a good portion of Chicago knows it after watching the oddball Viagra Boys frontman command the Roots Stage Saturday with his five equally entertaining counterparts offering their own weird variety show.
Viagra Boys often are lumped in with the post-punk pool but there’s more to their magic: They also throw in a good dose of humor, sardonic wit, pinpointed soapboxing (their name is an anti-patriarchal sentiment) and musical charm. As Murphy delved into a spoken-word monologue about the internet drug black market on song “Research Chemicals” (“a great time for science, a low point for humanity”), saxophonist Oscar Carls came in with a jazzy breakdown making the whole display just short of a few berets and finger snapping.
When Murphy wasn’t spitting beer like a fountain from his mouth and bathing in it, he was checking lyrics on his phone for a song he forgot the lyrics to (“Troglodyte”) or doing a round of pushups during the affable “Sports.”
“We hear you like athletic activities,” Murphy said in a moment of trying to relate to the Chicago crowd before admonishing Second Citians of putting “entire salads on hot dogs.” Riot Fest was Viagra Boy’s second date of a new U.S. tour but already the group hit a milestone. “I’ve never seen such a big crowd in America for us,” said Murphy. “And that excites me.” — Selena Fragassi
Jehnny Beth
Former Savages lead singer Jehnny Beth brought her solo act to Riot Fest Saturday afternoon and although she didn’t have an ideal time slot (2:10 p.m.), she brought the energy of a headliner.
While Savages stopped playing in 2017 after releasing two critically acclaimed albums, Beth has been busy since, working on various music collaborations, a book with partner and current bandmate Johnny Hostile, acting gigs in her native France, and finally a solo album in 2020, for which the tour in support was cut short because of the pandemic. So, in many ways she is starting anew, albeit with the experience and seasoning of a crafty rock veteran.
Beth acknowledged her long absence to the crowd on Saturday, saying that it was good to be back in America and that it had been three years. She also made up for it in her 11-song, 45-minute set, playing with abandon and going into the crowd, no doubt causing security guards to stress out. However, the crowd adored her, and there were no issues.
In an unusual move, Beth opened and closed her set with the same song, “I’m the Man,” and in between, she continued on the path of solo works with the exception of a cover of the Nine Inch Nails’ industrial crossover hit “Closer,” which was well received.
If there were any negatives during the set, it was that at times she played to the Riot Fest cameraman instead of the crowd, and some of her vocals were drowned out by the heavy reverb from guitarist Hostile and new band member EREX (Alexandra Dezzi) on keyboards.
Beth’s solo act may be missing the guitars and drums that defined Savages, but she made up for it with her energy, often appearing to use some of her boxing moves (a hobby of hers) on stage. Of course, her best song Saturday was “More Adrenaline,” the song which she largely performed from inside the crowd while getting them to chant along. They obliged, happy to help someone who put it all out there. — Bob Chiarito
Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman was, naturally, one of the bigger draws of midday Saturday, with many Gen X’ers eager for the chance to see their favorite former child actor in the flesh and doing his other entertainment shtick on stage. The shtick also meant the crowd had to coax Feldman to even come to the stage. Feldman was a barrel of energy once he did make his entrance, his surprisingly gravel-toned voice leading a crescendo of a half-dozen rock songs that honed in on his life as a former kid star, his failed romances and multiple divorces and his “Angelic era” (from an album released seven years ago). Some brought handmade posters, others crowdsurfed their way to the front. And Feldman, who has often used his music as an outlet for some of the pitfalls that have publicly befallen him, was having a blast, basically inviting everyone to dinner: “I love Chicago, I love Rosebud’s. I hope we are all going to eat after this.” — Selena Fragassi
Enola Gay
Those who did head out to Douglass Park on Saturday may not have realized they got a lucky break, getting n on the ground floor of Enola Gay who, no doubt, will be the breakout band from Riot Fest 2023.
Early in, they even had a surprise, joined by their “hero” and fellow dark star Jehnny Beth, who guested on a rollicking take of their song “Scrappers” before she took the same Roots Stage an hour later.
“They are one of my favorite bands in the whole world,” Beth declared in a testimonial before exiting stage left.
Not only are they a great entrant in the long cast of U.K. bands making unparalleled punk music, but their diatribes are incredibly topical, voicing a collective frustration of modern societal ills that touch on race, sexism and the working class. All of it is done to a scream-worthy soundtrack full of chunky bass lines, piercing guitar work, battered drum rhythms and the quick whip of vocalist Fionn Reilly who is a poet in punk waiting. — Selena Fragassi
