Bad Copy

Years ago, when I first started covering Riot Fest, I would go to the festival all day (that’s about 10-11 hours), then I would grab something to eat and head to a Late Show (which would start at 11PM and end at 1 or 2AM). I would hit up a 4AM bar and then somehow make it home to collapse at around 5AM. I’d wake up 5-6 hours later, get ready, and do it all again. I’d be sleep deprived and exhausted from partying. However, these days are a bit different. I stopped drinking 5 years ago, and while I do love a good 4AM bar, I also love sleep. The Late Show lineups don’t catch my eyes like they used to, so I’m usually home around 12AM-1AM. But don’t worry! I am still sleep deprived every Riot Fest… because now I have a tiny dog who LOVES to kamikaze herself onto my stomach every morning around 6:30AM. I dragged my tired ass around my apartment getting ready, chugged caffeine, made sure to eat, and then headed down to pick up Mat.

We were able to grab the best secret parking space and headed into Douglass Park just in time to catch Cliffdiver starting off the day. I love this band. I discovered them at Riot Fest in 2022 and have been following them ever since. Their songs mix emo, pop-punk, and alternative rock; they’re super catchy and even have a sprinkle of saxophone on top! They played songs off their first full-length album, but also folded in some new tracks from their new and second album, Birdwatching, which was released last year. I watched their entire set – a Riot Fest rarity for me!

I then scampered over to catch Wishy from Indianapolis. The band weaves together shoegaze, dream pop, alternative rock, and touches of ’90s indie. Their set felt dreamy and ethereal. It was the perfect way to get my head right and prepare for the day ahead. I hit the press tent to prepare for a whole day of BAD LIBS and then quickly scampered out to catch what I could of GWAR’s set. The main thing that I, and I think so many onlookers, wanted to see was which political figure(s) they were going to disembowel. Today scratched a good itch as they maimed fake Trump and fake Elon Musk and blood came cascading out on to the crowd. After their set, there was – of course – a ton of blowback about this, like the band hasn’t been beheading and disfiguring political heads of state and country for decades. Riot Fest responded to the backlash on their Twitter/X account with the following:

People getting mad at GWAR in the year of our lord 2025 is the funniest most pathetic fucking thing. Eat shit losers.

Fabulous. Just fabulous!

I slunk back into the Press Area and hammered out Bad Lib after Bad Lib with amazing bands and artists as James played in the background. We met Mike from The Ataris and got to play a round with Nina and Kevin of Wishy. We were SO stoked to snag an unscheduled Lib with Girl in a Coma and to meet every member of Free Throw. We became best friends with Chase Petra and we even got to meet Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks and tried not to freak out in front of this legend!

When there was a break in the Bad Libs, I snuck out of the press area and across the park to catch most of Citizen‘s set. I love this band. I will be honest, I am old now. I came out of the pandemic with almost no understanding of who any bands were anymore and what music even was after years of going to shows like 5 times a week. Everything now sounds weird and loud. I am tired at 11PM. *shakes cane* Old. But somehow, I stumbled upon Citizen’s album Life in Your Glass World and it wormed its way into my everyday listening for months. It’s one of those albums that feels life changing in a way that only a solid and honest album can be be. The band was great; the crowd was huge. And everyone was there to celebrate the ten year anniversary of their album Everybody is Going to Heaven despite the fact that it started to sprinkle.

I jogged back over to the press area and met up with Joey of Cliffdiver fame. We ducked under a tent to play a round of Bad Libs, as the rain came down. After, I grabbed a drink and took a moment to rest and recuperate in the dry safety of a tent while The Beach Boys played in the distance. When I recharged, I wandered just outside the press area and found Aaron from Bearded Gentleman under a tree. It had started to sprinkle and it was a safe, dry place. Soon Curtis showed up and the three of us hung out under the tree and talked and listened to the band. They sounded good too. The Beach Boys are one of those bands that so many people don’t set out to engage with but, yet, somehow, we all know about 15 of their songs and every lyric to those songs.

Why were The Beach Boys even playing? Well, I am so happy you asked. So, back in (I believe) 2013, Riot Fest joked that they wanted to get Jesse and the Rippers – a fictional band from ’90s TV show Full House that was fronted by Uncle Jesse played by actor John Stamos. That joke started to snowball, as all weird inside jokes do. There was a real life butter bust of John Stamos one year. Last year, a full size faux butter Stamos statue was unveiled in Riot Land. And the joke just kept going. So… this year… Riot Fest was able to get the Beach Boys to play, despite the fact that the lead singer and sole original member, Mike Love, is a MAGA chud. All of this, just to get John Stamos to attend Riot Fest.

The rain stopped and I headed over to catch the remainder of Buzzcocks‘ epic set. While the set was short, it was great and packed with so many songs I wanted to hear. “What Do I Get?,” “I Don’t Mind,” and “Orgasm addict” to name a few. I was also stoked to be able to catch the entire set from The Damned. It had been years since I saw them and they put on a show today! Their set was 14 songs long and covered (almost) all the hits! They played “Love Song” of course along with “Wait for the Blackout.” With the final bit of energy that I had in my reserve tank that day, I lost my shit to “Machine Gun Etiquette.” “New Rose” – check. “Neat Neat Neat” – yup. And… they played parts 1 and 2 of “Smash It Up” as a closer. Bravo. Just fabulous. For a band that will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year, they sounded better than ever!

The night ended with Weezer and, between the band’s fancy photo pass requirements that we did not meet and Mat and my apathy, we were able to sneak out early. As we snaked our way through the crowd, I noticed there were a lot more “blanket people” tonight than last night’s Blink set. They brought their blankets and their wind sock seats and I did my best not to trip over them or step on their fingers as I walked by. It was a quick walk to the best free parking spot ever and we were on our way to Handlebar again for night two of our three night stint as “smelly festival people who show up an hour before close, over order way too much food, laugh too loudly, but over tip.” It’s a Riot Fest tradition!

Check out Mat’s photos below. He covered more bands on Day 2 than I think I’ve seen all year!

ICYMI: Our Day 1 coverage is here!