Riot Fest Celebrates 20 Years with Blink-182, Weezer, Green Day
Riot Fest rocks Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois, once a year, but this return was extra special, stacked with a stellar lineup for the brand’s 20th anniversary.
DAY 1
SENSES FAIL
Spanning genres of Rock, Punk, Pop Punk, Hardcore, Satire, and more, trying to tackle all 3 days as one person while trying to catch all your favorite sets proves to be a bit of a challenge, but we were up for it as we descended on Day 1. We primed our ears by catching a snippet of Senses Fail, and by happenstance, we arrived just in time for frontman Buddy Nielsen to give a rousing comment to what’s been going on in America as of late.
Nielsen said the following:
“If you’re kinda feeling like shit’s not okay, you’re goddamn right, this shit is not okay. Can I get a hell yeah?!… Everybody is fuckin’ lying to you about everything, everything you see on the internet, everything in your life is a device to sell you some bullshit. So don’t get twisted, I don’t care what fuckin’ side you’re on, where you fall, how fucking gay you are… you’re definitely not as gay as me, okay? That’s for damn fucking sure… but you know what? I celebrate that shit…
And they’re gonna come after us, they’re gonna come after you, if you think any of you are fucking safe, you’re not, okay. But don’t you get twisted, the people in this crowd, the people that are here, the people that support good things, which is almost everyone: your neighbor does not fuckin’ hate you, okay? The people next to you do not fuckin’ hate you. They may have a difference of opinion, but they don’t want to fuckin’ kill you. Don’t fuckin’ believe that shit for a second. Don’t let them divide you, unless it’s for a fuckin’ wall of death.”Â
The Senses Fail frontman was just the beginning for us, witnessing bands speaking out against the tyranny and authoritarianism in the U.S., which was honestly what was needed over the weekend with the threat of Martial Law looming over the city of Chicago.
RILO KILEY
After 2023’s stint with The Postal Service, Jenny Lewis returned with her band Rilo Kiley to give us some light and jaunty tunes, with a stellar crowd and fanbase in tow. The first 3 songs of the set included “The Execution of All Things,” “Spectacular Views,” and “Paint’s Peeling,” while the end of the set included some of the fan favorites like “Silver Lining” and “Portions for Foxes.”
ALKALINE TRIO
Alkaline Trio is a killer band, and we were lucky enough to capture a set with an album play. ‘Maybe I’ll Catch Fire,’ which is the band’s second studio album, is one of the coveted albums in their discography. Some of the songs on the album have not been played live for many years, including 3 tracks that haven’t been played since 2015, like “Keep ‘Em Coming,” “Sleepyhead,” and “5-3-10-4.”
While I was in the pit, however, they started their set with some super fun tracks, including one of my close personal favorites, “Calling All Skeletons,” as well as “Mercy Me,” and “Private Eye.”
“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC
“Weird Al” Yankovic is a sought-after performer to see, and even more coveted to capture. It’s crazy to think that Al has the same number of costume changes as some of the pop girlies of the 2000s, but over the course of his set, along with his music changes, he went through a slew of different outfits. The press was able to capture his Nirvana look, where he dons a cosplay of Kurt Cobain, along with his Devo-esque, yet Powerline-inspired jumpsuit, for the songs “Smells Like Nirvana” and “Dare to be Stupid.”
KNOCKED LOOSE
In one of the first scrambles of the weekend, running (literally) from one set to another, we went to see Knocked Loose. This band has been taking over the scene with their legends of massive walls of death, as well as their killer album that they dropped in 2024 called ‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To.’ The hype for this album landed them a late-night TV spot with Poppy for the single “Suffocate,” which they performed on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!,’ as well as skyrocketing them into the mainstream.
The band has not forgotten their roots and their day one fans, making sure to pepper their setlist with fan favorites, including “Counting Worms,” aka the song that gets memed the most because of the “Arf! Arf!” in the lyrics. The crowd was going insane, creating massive pits in the center of Douglass Park, which would have been a perfect closer for that night, if there wasn’t one more act we were dying to see.
BLINK-182
Blink-182 is one of the quintessential bands of the 90s & 2000s, and at any given point, fans will point to them for Punk, Pop-Punk, Emo, and Alternative Music. The band, which is now operating with its legacy lineup of Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker, kicked off their set with “The Rock Show,” “First Date,” and “Josie,” which were the songs we allowed to photograph from the crowd.
Playing songs from across the entire span of their catalog, fans got a taste of new and old, but also a few surprises. With Alkaline Trio on the same bill on the same day (and as a tad of cross-promotion for their current tour), Matt Skiba joined the band to perform the hit Blink-182 snagged when Skiba filled in for Delonge during his hiatus called “Bored To Death.” A fan in the crowd caught a video of the performance, along with the intro that Tom offered for the song, noting that Matt kept the band alive while he was gone. Tom turned into the hype man during the set, standing on the stage and contributing some backing vocals, and strutting around the stage, setting the band in 4-piece mode for a spell.
Another guest on the set was when Stephen Egerton graced the stage to perform a Descendants cover of “Hope,” before closing out the night 1 with “What’s My Age Again?,” “All The Small Things,” and “Dammit.”
DAY 2
We had a couple of favorites we wanted to catch for Day 2, but the highlights of the day happened to be Dropkick Murphys, Jack White, and Weezer.
DROPKICK MURPHYS
Dropkick Murphys is a staple in the punk lexicon. There, I said it. Ken Casey and the Dropkick Murphys have managed to many a time be on the right side of history, and their performance at Riot Fest was no different. During the song “Bury The Bones,” which was 9 of their setlist, the visuals on the screen depicted footage of ICE, Donald Trump, Epstein, and more, driving home that while we’re here in this moment, we cannot forget what’s happening to our country, and we have to resist. They were also one of the many bands on this year’s lineup that brought Gaza to the forefront, speaking up about the atrocities.
The 14-song setlist included some of their biggest bangers, including “The Boys are Back,” “Skinhead on the MTBA,” “Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya,” and “I’m Shipping Up To Boston,” as well as their newest fighting anthem, “Who’ll Stand With Us?”
JACK WHITE
 These images in the Instagram post above are from a free event in Detroit in 2024, they are not from Riot Fest 2025.Â
Jack White, the Detroit-hailing rock n’ roll icon, played a blisteringly badass set. Jack is widely known to be a no-photo performer, and as a mag that hails from Detroit, who has the utmost respect for White, we elected not to take any chances, and not sneak any shots. We did, however, spend the entire set watching the performance, which I believe is the end goal of not being consumed with capturing. Jack kicked off his set with a Stooges tune, “T.V. Eye,” before catapulting into his tracks “Old Scratch Blues” and one of his biggest and newest radio hits, “That’s How I’m Feeling,” which really got the crowd into a full buzz.
Jack White always makes room for The White Stripes, as it is a huge part of his legacy, but he also makes sure to nod to his other projects like The Raconteurs by playing “Steady, As She Goes” and “Broken Boy Soldier.” Toward the end of the set, Jack played some of his most iconic works, including his killer track “Lazzaretto,” which contains a nod and love letter to Detroit, before playing what is his most popular song to date with The White Stripes. You guessed it, “Seven Nation Army.” Before the song truly kicked in, White let the crowd get their “Oh OHH OH OH ohhhhhh OHHHHs” in, and had the entire audience not only present, but as one for a huge moment of collective excitement. While that description may seem the whole point of concerts, Jack is on another level, and he barely has to ask for any return for the crowd to echo.
We’ll say it once, and again, and again: Jack White might be one of the last living and breathing true rock stars of our generation, and he will go down in history for that Detroit grit and spirit, with a body of work that challenges its listener, while fueling a rock n’ roll heart to the brim.
WEEZER
Being that Riot Fest had decided to break out the big guns for this year’s lineup, Weezer was wedged perfectly between the 3-day weekend headliners, aligning with Green Day and Blink-182. Bringing ‘The Blue Album’ to the party, fans were geared up to hear this legendary milestone in person. Much like some of the other album plays of the weekend, it was slid to the back of the set, while the band started off with some of their other best works including “Hash Pipe,” “Pork and Beans,” and “Island in the Sun.”
After working through what is called the “‘Pinkerton’ Asteroid Belt,” which includes “Pink Triangle,” “Getchoo” and “Why Bother?,” the band then played the coveted 1994 album which is now over 30 years old, in release order, which meant the last notes fans heard whilst walking off the grounds was the mellow yet ever-loved “Only In Dreams.” So fitting, because we are sure everyone was TIRED AS HELL.
DAY 3
The Rebel Stage Block (The Ataris, Hanson, Gym Class Heroes)
We kicked off the day seeing The Ataris, who are a legacy act in their own right. Doing an album play of ‘So Long, Astoria,'” they performed some of the fan favorites, kicking off with “In This Diary,” as well as playing their cover of the Don Henley song “Boys of Summer.”
When you think Riot Fest, I’m pretty sure the band Hanson isn’t the first that comes to mind, but the fans were READY. There were a bit of technical difficulties that caused the set to run behind, but once the boys hit the stage, now full-grown men, the crowd was electric. Taylor Hanson (who’s looking kinda like vintage Adam Lazzara these days) came to the stage wearing a T-shirt that photographer @ryanbakerink gave him with a vintage solo Hanson shot, but with text that said John Stamos. Later in the set, Stamos joined in (who was there performing with The Beach Boys), so we’re sure he probably saw the shirt.
Travie McCoy has still got it, y’all. For anyone who was a MySpace user back in the day, it was peak time for Gym Class Heroes and their highlight album ‘As Cruel as School Children’ in 2006. Off to the side of the stage, we peeped members of the band Cobra Starship watching, who were performing later on that night, and brought out McCoy for a moment.
BAD RELIGION
Punk legends Bad Religion were one of the bands slated for an album play Riot Fest weekend, hitting up the album ‘Suffer’ which was released in 1988 on Epitaph Records. Prior to the album play, they had a hefty 9-song helping of other tracks that are staples in their discography, including “You,” which is featured on the ‘Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2’ Soundtrack.
IDLES
We’ll admit, we were so concerned about getting into the crowd for Green Day that we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to see IDLES, and boy, were we not disappointed. This band defines what we think of when we think Riot Fest: loud, fast, and hard. They had a 13-song set full of righteous riffs, danceable moments (like “I’m Scum”), stood up and spoke out about Palestine, and even had guest spots of Jack White (playing on “Never Fight A Man With A Perm”) and ending the set with “Rottweiler” with SOFT PLAY.
JAWBREAKER
We got to listen to Jawbreaker from the grounds waiting for Green Day, and it was the perfect wind-down for those who weren’t staying for the ‘Dookie’ rockstars. They performed 12 songs, and started with “Ache,” which they have not played live since 2019. Watching the set from the screens, we got to see the fans emoting heavily in the audience, with one man in particular screaming every word (and got a lot of screen time as a result). Given how far away we were, we weren’t able to snag images from this set, but it was worth the listen!
GREEN DAY
Full transparency: I am a Green Day FAN. At around 12 years old, I was looping the ‘International Superhits!’ DVD in my bedroom while re-arranging my room and dreaming of the future. In 2004, when I was in high school, ‘American Idiot’ took us by storm in a Bush-era presidency, and radicalized a new generation of punk rockers, being exposed to the system and its flaws by relatable media. And we know that the world in 2025 isn’t the greatest: ICE raids, the FCC silencing late-night talk shows, a rise in authoritarian ideals and fascist acts.
This isn’t new for Green Day to be looked to as a voice of reason, inspiration, and a mouthpiece for those of us trying to fight back, so right out of the gate, the band played “American Idiot,” “Holiday,” and “Know Your Enemy,” and didn’t sugarcoat the talking bits in between. After shouting “FUCK THE FCC” during “American Idiot,” he began to speak to the audience during “Holiday” and asked, “Do you want Fascism in America?” Still, Green Day played it a bit safe, doing their lyric changes to certain songs in their discography to reflect their feelings, including during “Jesus of Suburbia,” they changed the lyrics to “from Utah to the Middle East.”
The highlight of the set was a fan pull for “Know Your Enemy” in which a fan named Argyle was brought up to help sing, and gave it their absolute all, screaming when necessary. Fans were losing their minds at the bravery of this, along with chanting Argyle’s name after they left the stage.
@acronymis @Green Day @Riot Fest fan pull 🤘 give it up for argyle!
And really, that moment closes it off: Generations coming together to celebrate their love of music over the span of 20 years. Riot Fest can be a lot with the five stages and the hard decisions of who to see, but I can tell you one thing: You’ll never leave empty-handed when it comes to the memories.