The 20th anniversary of Riot Fest is in full force in Chicago, and day two of three didn’t let up, even with rain looming over Douglass Park. The day featured everything from punk icons to *checks notes* The Beach Boys and John Stamos(!), with a pair of top-tier alternative rock stars closing out the night. Let’s recap:
The Rebel Stage on Saturday played home to some of the festival’s most tenured punk bands, with a lineup of legneds taking over for the day. That started early, with Agent Orange ripping through an early afternoon set that featured an album play of “Living In Darkness,” albeit out of order. There are simply some bands that have no quit in them, and on Saturday, they showed that with a strong set to kick off the day.
While there were plenty of classic punk icons to see, there were no shortage of veteran emo bands, as well. Free Throw brought their brand of Midwest emo to the Rise Stage, and they also brought a big crowd in with them, as well. While they technically call Nashville home, we can count that as the Midwest whenever they’re around. There were technical guitars and heavy clean channel riffs, so they’re honorary Midwesterners in our book.
Back at the Rise stage, GWAR made their near-annual appearance, ready to spray blood, guts, and whatever other kind of ooze that they could on the Chicago crowd. They did just that, while also lampooning (and dismembering) Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift, and more. If you saw fans walking around Douglass Park with a particularly reddish tint to them the rest of the day, you know what band they saw.
After a longer-than-usual break in the action (likely to mop up the stage,) the Rise stage also hosted another punk legend. Marky Ramone and his band took the stage, with a faithful tribute to the Ramones. The hour-long set felt true to The Ramones, with vocalist Pela Urbizu channeling Joey Ramone, down to the stage mannerisms and too-skinny of jeans. The band also worked in Joey Ramone’s solo cover of “What A Wonderful World” and The Ramones’ cover of “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” which felt especially fitting as a light rain started hitting Chicago.
Over on the Riot main stage, it was all sun and surf, though. The Beach Boys (yes, for real, The Beach Boys) took the stage with a packed crowd for the anomaly. They were also joined by John Stamos (yes, for real, John Stamos) on drums and guitar, putting a button on a decade-long mission to get John Stamos to Riot Fest. If you didn’t know, there’s a statue of John Stamos made of butter on the festival grounds, and previous years have featured art shows, t-shirts, and dedicated tributes to Uncle Jesse from Full House. The Beach Boys, to their credit, played it straight, giving us big hits from the 60’s and beyond, with Stamos holding his own on the drumkit. Vintage videos of the band (and Stamos) played on the screens behind them, making the moment entirely surreal. It may have also been the first time that anyone has crowdsurfed at a Beach Boys show, too.
Just after, on the Roots stage, a festival powerhouse showed his strength. Jack White ripped through an energetic set that saw sped up versions of his biggest solo songs, as well as worked in tracks from The White Stripes and The Raconteurs. There was no slowing down White when he got his momentum going, pacing through songs and not letting up an inch. He also took just a moment to make a statement, albeit in a very Jack White way, telling the crowd “there are no facists in control tonight. There are no ICE agents here tonight. Rock and roll is in control tonight.” It got a big roar, as expected.
While Weezer brought a giant crowd to the Riot Stage for an album play of their legendary blue album, there was still more classic punk to be seen. The Damned headlined the Rise stage, running through their fan favorites while using as much of the stage as possible. In fact, Dave Vanian would often trail his way out of the spotlight, getting as close to the crowd on the wings as he could. The band capped off the night with an hour that gave the punk purists one more moment to enjoy for the night.
With two days down and one to go, Riot Fest 2025 is delivering the biggest moments possible (and John Stamos, finally.) Stay tuned for even more from Douglass Park this weekend.