Riot Fest Day 3: Rainy But Worth It
Riot Fest on Saturday, September 22 was a wet one! But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the day. With bands on the docket like GWAR, Lamb of God, Mastodon, Rob Zombie, and more, the metalheads cannot be stopped! Plus, if you weren’t there for the Slayer vibes, there was Laura Jane Grace with Catbite performing an Operation Ivy set, or the highly sought-after return of Something Corporate.
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
MAGNOLIA PARK
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
We started off our day with Magnolia Park, who we hadn’t seen until this time! They put on a hell of a show, playing some of their originals like “Misfits,” “Do Or Die,” and “The Void,” before thrilling the crowd with their Pop-Punk version of “I2I” from The Goofy Movie. They happened to be one of the few acts we caught that day that were of the pop-punk genre, before diving right into the metal genre.
MASTODON
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
Mastodon hooked us up with a full play of their album ‘Leviathan’ in chronological order, along with two other songs, “Circle of Cysquatch” and Steambreather.” We caught the beginning of their set, before heading off to explore Riot Land and the activations around the campus.
GWAR
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
We had the opportunity to photograph GWAR ahead of time in a series of portraits, which created its own form of anarchy. What do you expect from this goofy group of individuals? The rain had been a deterrent for the day, so when the band made it to the media area, it was a slight frenzy where all the photographers wanted to snag a moment. While we all snapped away, one member decided to use the portapottie, which set us up for quite possibly one of the funnier pictures from the group. As one went to use the facilities, the other had to hold the door shut due to their monstrous costuming.
Their performance was just as memorable, and required the media to cover themselves with ponchos for the gushes of blood that flew from the stage. The “victim” who lost his head posed as an annoying radio DJ — we’ve heard of some of those before, right? The shower of gore exploded while the band performed, and many fans said that their set was THE SET to be at of the day.
Their first few tracks included “Let Us Slay,” “The Sordid Soliloquy of Sawborg Destructo,” and “Hail, Genocide!”
SOMETHING CORPORATE
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
Something Corporate, after all this time, has aged like fine wine, and sounds just as stellar as they did back in the 2000s. Andrew McMahon has kept the dream alive with his other projects and solo work over the years, but nothing quite prepared us with hearing songs from their album ‘North’ — it truly brought some tears to our eyes.
Their first 3 songs were “Space,” “I Want To Save You,” “She Paints Me Blue,” and then we unfortunately had to run to our next set.
LAURA JANE GRACE x CATBITE
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
It was almost criminal that Laura Jane Grace and Catbite’s set was planned for the same time as Something Corporate, because I was sprinting across the park to NOFX world to get a glimpse of this Operation Ivy set before running to Lamb of God. Luckily, we showed up just in time to see the the crowd skanking to “Bad Town,” and now we completely understand why, after this performance, Laura Jane Grace posted to threads that she would absolutely love to perform more Op Ivy, either herself or with members of the band for a tour.
LAMB OF GOD
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
If there’s one thing I know about Lamb of God, they put on a phenomenal show. If there’s one thing I know about Lamb of God as a PHOTOGRAPHER, though, it’s not to miss the jump shot. As I was personally dealing with crossover time-slot madness during this area (truly the only time frame I was conflicted on where to go), I ran from NOFX World, and managed to catch Randy just in time, flying off the drum riser with pyro in tow.
I was granted access to get into the photo pit, but I was worried I wouldn’t make it in time since I was trying to be everything, everywhere, all at once, but thankfully, the odds worked out in my favor. Their first 3 songs were “Laid To Rest,” “Hourglass,” and “Now You’ve Got Something To Die For.”
ROB ZOMBIE
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
Rob Zombie always puts on a hell of a show, and this was not an exception. Rolling out on what looked to be almost like a ‘Star Wars’ Jawa Sandcrawler with his name on the side, Rob punched through “Demon Speeding,” “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown,” and one of the most iconic, “Feels So Numb.”
The full set honestly was classic banger after banger for the most part. “Superbeast,” which tends to start a lot of Rob’s sets, got moved to the middle, while the ending 4 tracks would please even the most casual Zombie enthusiast. These included White Zombie’s “More Human than Human,” “Living Dead Girl,” “Thunderkiss ’65,” and of course, “Dragula.”
SLAYER
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
A legendary opportunity, in a mound of wetness. The rain began to fall again, especially the overhead rain from the stages, as we waited on bated breath. Finally, the lights began to come up, only slightly, and we finally got to see these icons in the flesh. Slayer finally took the stage, and kicked off their set with “South of Heaven,” “Reborn,” and “Blood Red.”
“Reborn” hasn’t been played live since 2014, so that gave fans a real treat, and of course, “Blood Red” was accompanied with a sea of red lighting. They powered through 20 songs, including “Raining Blood, “Black Magic,” and “Angel of Death” solidifying their spot in metal as one of the most influential acts.
SUBLIME
ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY AMI NICOLE ACRONYM.
I never thought I’d see Sublime live with Bradley’s son Jakob at the helm, but nothing prepared me for hearing “Date Rape” live.
That sentence is quite a way to start a review of their set, but I couldn’t help myself. “Garden Grove” started the set, followed by the deep cut “Date Rape,” and they rounded out the first 3 tracks with a cover of Secret Hate’s “The Balad of Johnny Butt.” The rain persisted, which was a bummer for any stoner who brought a pre-roll, as the rain probably soaked through their papers.
Despite that, Jakob Nowell holds it down for his dearly departed dad Bradley, and while he sounds pretty much just like him, he puts his own flair and spin on their songs. It was also very endearing to hear him call the rest of the band Sublime family, kicking it all off saying, “Me and my uncles are gonna play some music.”
THE LONG WAY HOME
Riot Fest was an epic experience. All 3 days offered pretty much something for everyone, and there were so many sets to choose from that you can’t go wrong. We cannot wait to do it all again in 2025, the approval gods willing. There’s no party quite like a Riot Fest party.
If you missed our reviews from the other days, feel free to get them here by clicking Day 1 or Day 2.