Riot Fest 2023
Turnstile, Code Orange, Death Cab For Cutie, L.S. Dunes, The Postal Service, AFI and more
Douglass Park // Chicago, IL // Sept. 16 – Sept. 18, 2023
Photos and review by Casey Lee
Riot Fest returned to Douglass Park in Chicago, IL for the September 16-18 weekend to bring its unique brand of music festival to its fans. A weekend loaded with artists that span not just genres but generations, from post-hardcore stalwarts Thursday, punk and genre-spanning legends AFI, experimental hip-hop outfit Death Grips, alt-rock heroes The Breeders, to the unshakably cool Kim Gordon, and that is just beginning to scratch the surface of the immense lineup brought to the fest for 2023.
Friday’s festival kickoff was the only day not impacted by weather, and easily the warmest of the three days, but that didn’t stop the crowds from packing into Douglass Park and bringing every bit of energy you’d expect for a day headlined by Foo Fighters and including bands like Code Orange and Turnstile.
Possibly coming out of the gates a bit too quick, but a fantastic way to kick off a weekend. While Baltimore’s Turnstile certainly didn’t feel out of place playing alongside legends Foo Fighters, Grammy-nominated Code Orange perhaps felt slightly skewed from the overall sound of much of Friday’s lineup. Their sound and energy certainly drew a crowd to watch the Pittsburgh band bring their riffs to all those in attendance on Friday afternoon. Jumping over to Kim Gordon brought a notably more mellow energy from the former Sonic Youth singer before shifting to Bayside and Say Anything.
Saturday started with an unexpected but relentless, albeit light, drizzle that continued for what felt like the entire day. It was fitting for a day that would conclude with Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, a welcome relief to Friday’s temperatures, and bit of foreshadowing for the weather that would bring a hefty shakeup to the last day of the 2023 edition of the fest. And while Ben Gibbard’s most prominent of projects were to be two of the biggest draws of the day, that didn’t mean the entirety of Saturday would be in the same vein as the bands celebrating the 20th anniversary of Transatlanticism and Give Up. Death Cab would be preceded directly by hip-hop group Death Grips, and bands like High Vis, Drain, and Snap Case brought more hardcore to the day than would be expected if you were judging solely off the headliners.
Sunday morning began with a rainstorm that did not quit, ultimately leading to a three-hour delay and several bands unfortunately being forced to not play. Organizers quickly did everything imaginable to get the park ready for an eager audience that had queued from the corner of California and 19th, along Ogden, all the way up to the festival gates. Weather be damned, the show went on, with New Jersey hardcore heroes Thursday beginning their set as soon as doors open with an admittedly on-the-nose “Running from the Rain.” L.S. Dunes returned to the Riot Fest stage to play the first anniversary of their first show, also at Riot Fest. Playing practically simultaneously was AFI, bringing a massive surge of energy to the Roots stage. The four-piece brought out a career-spanning set that arguably left no one in the audience disappointed. Singer Davey Havok may have been wearing a vest emblazoned with “Death of the Party,” but AFI were anything but, bringing an endless flow of energy that had crowd surfers flowing over the barricades from the first notes of “Girl’s Not Grey” to the last of “Miss Murder.” While most in attendance were closing out their evening waiting for and watching The Cure, I was spending mine watching The Gaslight Anthem. The band’s songs brought forth cathartic sing-alongs, with singer Brian Fallon interjecting provocative digs at the host city’s deep-dish pizza that had much of the city laughing along with the New Jersey band.
Riot Fest yet again brought forth a lineup that drew endless complaints out of the virtual woodwork, as seems to be tradition, while simultaneously making pretty much every human who walks through the gates smile from ear to ear for three days straight.
