Bad Copy

One of the absolute best parts of getting older is that, no matter how tired you are, your internal clock wakes you up within 15 minutes of whatever you consider “too early” on days you can sleep in. It was 8AM and I was up, cleaning my apartment, and preparing for another day of Riot Fest.

As Mat and I headed to the park for Day 2, we drafted our plan of action. “Secret Parking” did not disappoint; we were two blocks closer to the park today than we were yesterday. We met our new photo pal Matt at entry to the park and all headed in together to regroup in the Press Area. I chugged down my breakfast, another 0% Riot Pop, and backed it with my brunch, Red Bull. Let’s get this shit started!

We took to the park to catch Pool Kids open up the Riot Stage for the day. The Tallahassee, FL-based band plays a mix of math rock and emo. Two of the members, Christine and Nicolette, took to the stage wearing hot pink pants. They looked absolutely fabulous as they launched into their set. Next up was Enola Gay – a group from Belfast, Ireland – that Matt recommended. They were such a strange, interesting mix. Noise-punk sound with hip-hop-inspired vocals; they’re part techno, part post-punk and were overall super fun to watch.

I broke off from the Mat(t)s and sauntered across the park to see Hardcore punk band Drain. We were doing a round of Bad Libs with them later in the day and I wanted to support those who support us. I stood off to the side of the stage and, as the first few notes of their set rang out, I was suddenly surrounded. People were running from all corners of the park to the stage to catch them and I was suddenly in the middle of a swarm. Their set was fucking phenomenal. They are fast, fun, energetic, loud, everything a hardcore band should be.

I caught a little bit of LA indie rock band Warpaint before heading back to the Press Area for more Redbull and Riot Pop. Since I had stayed late working on a grad school assignment, I felt exhausted and I had decided earlier in the day that chugging Red Bull was a great idea. I was already on #4 and I didn’t just have wings. I had a whole goddamn fleet of jets I was soaring on. When Frank Turner swung by a table nearby to be interviewed, I ended up chatting with his tour manager for about 15 straight minutes (which is a lifetime in Riot Fest Press time). She is the most pleasant person in the whole world. We were even able to get Matt a quick photo with Frank, as he’s a huge fan.

Drain entered the Press Area with the same gusto and presence that they had onstage. Doing a round of Bad Libs with them was one of the top moments of the weekend. They are hilarious and seemed to have a great time, which always makes it better for us too. Between their set and their down-to-earth nature, they made a fan of me for life.

All day, all Matt talked about was the tattooed stomach of the lead singer of Viagra Boys. “He walks around with his shirt unbuttoned, gut just out there. You have to see it.” So we did. The three of us headed over to catch Viagra Boys, a Swedish punk band with American lead singer Sebastian Murphy. And my god, they did not disappoint. A horn player in hot pants. A keyboardist/synth player. And yes, Sebastian was just as entertaining as Matt had professed. I decided early on that this would be one of those sets where I would imbibe by watching the whole thing (a rarity at festivals, as there’s always so much to do and see). And I almost made it… until Mat texted me that Violent J (of ICP, duh) was in the Press Area. I broke into a sprint, hopping over piles of trash and those people who sit on the ground in the middle of a crowd on blankets. I made it! He was still there! I snapped a few photos from afar and then joined the crowd that was forming around him. I thought about how, if I got the chance to talk to him, I would tell him that my high school boyfriend gave me a hatchet man necklace that I still have and that Riddlebox is my favorite joker’s card although “Tilt-A-Whirl” has the sickest riff and may be one of their best songs. Who would have thought that my biggest celeb sighting this year would be Violent J? (Me. I did. I knew it). Unfortunately, I caught him just before he was heading out of the tent; there was no time for pleasantries, so I headed to the bar and ordered another Red Bull to console my sadness. *insert sad ‘Whoop whoop’ here*

I sipped ANOTHER Red Bull while watching Head Automatica, licking my wounds. I was absolutely obsessed with their first album, Decadence, and used to play it over and over and over in my car while I cruised around Los Angeles back during a time where the jeans were skin tight, bangs were swooped over one of your eyes, and ladies loved to layer their tank tops. They played so many tracks off that album, I felt my scene hair growing back and the urge to go clubbing. The band has been quiet for years, but announced that they would be playing the festival circuit this summer include Furnace Fest and of course, Riot. It will be interesting to see if these performances will give them enough momentum to make a new album.

The next few hours were a Red Bull induced blur. We did a round of Bad Libs with the guys in Enter Shikari. This was a fun one because they didn’t know the game, so we got to watch them realize how silly and fun their result was as they were reading it out loud to us. I followed the Mat(t)s over to see PUP. This is another great example of a band who can so easily transfer their energy from a small, damp basement show to a giant festival stage without skipping a beat. I caught a little Death Cab before Matt and headed to the other side of the festival, back to the best little stage – the Rebel Stage. We had heard that only the first 40 photographers would be allowed into the photo pit for ICP and we wanted to make sure we got spots. Mat was off shooting about twenty other bands, so I saved a space for him.

I had been counting full face painted Juggalos all day and had only hit 36, which felt too low since I know how ICP fans show the fuck up for their shows. But when I looked around the crowd that had formed both to watch Sleep Token and also to wait for ICP, I saw them all. We were surrounded by Juggalos in full face paint and I loved every moment of it. The next hour was a caffeine induced whirlwind. The Mat(t)s got into the photo pit and I found a spot on the barricade, thanks to a kind Juggalo. When J and Shaggy came out to “Hokus Pokus,” the crowd exploded. And I realized learned how many of the lyrics to the first six cards/albums I know. Answer: all of them. I know all the fucking lyrics still. I texted Curtis, Detroit native and Riot Fest Press Crew member who was missing in action this year, that we should plan to cover The Gathering next year. I was 100% serious and still am.

It didn’t take long for the Faygo to start flying. There were clown assistants that doused the crowd by spraying them out of liter bottles, with giant straws that they filled like syringes and rocketed a stream into the middle of the crowd, and even by just dumping buckets of the Detroit-based pop into the air. I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen GWAR (thanks mostly to Riot Fest), but I had never seen anything like this. There was a giant teddy bear and a giant Raggedy Ann which danced in the back of a few songs. There were costume changes, crowd surfers, and even security guards who took a second to grab their phone and snap some pics of the insanity.

I texted Bad Copy’s Keeper of the Code, our site builder, graphic designer, and overall IT problem fixer, David, while I was also singing along to “My Axe.” David has been down with the clown since the dawn of time; it’s one of the first things that we bonded over when we met at a punk show almost a decade ago.

K: Yo. What have I been doing with my life NOT seeing them. Punk IS dead.

D: Yeah, I already gave you this whole spiel about how ICP is better than punk rock years ago.

And he did.

While the Mat(t)s got out of the photo pit as soon as they could – drenched and sticky – I stayed and watched the whole set. I wasn’t missing a goddamn thing. This was, hands down, the best set of Riot Fest 2023… and Sunday hadn’t even happened yet.

Mat and I met back up in the Press Area, where I walked right up to Heather West (queen of Riot Fest press) and thanked her for giving us the opportunity to witness the epicness that was ICP’s set. She jumped up and out of her chair and walked over to us to tell us all about how she also watched their set and to share notes on how amazing and entertaining and bizarre it all was. Now, I’ve been doing Riot Fest coverage for almost ten years between two websites and I can tell you that Heather West is one of the busiest people in the park. She is always behind her laptop, taking care of issues, helping out the outlets and the artists all weekend. She barely sleeps. So if Heather makes it to your set and loves it so much to stay, that’s a huge deal!

Mat and I packed up and headed out during Postal Service’s set. Now, I love absolutely love Death Cab and their Transatlanticism album holds a special place in my heart, representing a very specific time and place in my life. And I also love Postal Service. But let me tell you a secret – I’m too much of a punk at heart for a large ass festival setting like this. That’s why you never catch me at Pitchfork or Lolla. If I have to watch you on a giant TV screen and can’t even see the stage, I may as well just go home and try to listen to the album alone. And that’s exactly what I did. I dropped off Mat, got home, ate an absolute truckload of carbs and drank water. I considered drinking the Red Bull that a promoter handed to me as we walked out of the festival earlier, but I was already running around my apartment like a hummingbird and needed to rest up for the final day!

Check out Mat’s photo gallery from Saturday!

ICYMI: Check out our DAY 1 coverage now!