There are few things more Chicago than Malört, the Bears, dragged-through-the-garden hot dogs and Riot Fest. And on the final day of the event’s 20th anniversary year, organizers are keen to put the focus fully on its roots, starting with the music.
Sunday offers a team huddle of Chicago bands, beginning early with two legendary punk acts, The Effigies and Pegboy, that are the very fabric upon which Riot was built. Followed by Footballhead and Smoking Popes, indie darlings Dehd, cult classics Screeching Weasel and The Academy Is … take to the stages before the night wraps up.
The pride runs deep at Riot. But it’s not just the soundtrack that’s homegrown — the entire atmosphere at Douglass Park oozes with local flavor. Every tented bar is named after one of Chicago’s institutions from EZ Inn to Delilah’s and Cobra Lounge. Video screens have been running promos of Madame Zuzu’s — Billy Corgan’s suburban tea shop — which also has a remote presence at the festival this year. In Riotland, pop-ups bear facades of Fireside Bowl, Logan Arcade and the Field Museum. The fest even got Tom Skilling to do the forecast this year — and the meteorology legend got us some great weather for the weekend, so far staving off a lingering threat of severe storms.
On Sunday, Mayor Brandon Johnson proclaimed Sept. 21 as “Riot Fest Day,” recognizing founder Mike Petryshyn, aka “Riot Mike” for his efforts, calling him “an institution.”
“You’re a part of the legacy in the history of Chicago. The way you bring people together from all different backgrounds … to have a fest like this in North Lawndale on the west side, where Black, Brown, white, Asian, young, old, no matter what political stripe or what cultural stripe, whether you are part of the Great Migration of descendants of slaves or you’re part of the vast immigrant community that have called Chicago home, you are Chicago,” Johnson said.
In an era where corporate takeovers have changed the landscape of most pockets of life, including festivals, marking 20 years of Riot Fest is a huge celebration of not only the independent spirit but also being proud of where you come from.
Here are a few highlights Sunday from Riot Fest’s stages.
Dehd
If the early bands on Sunday celebrated Chicago’s punk lineage, Dehd carried the flag for the city’s DIY arts scene.
“Chicago, we’re from here. I can walk home,” declared guitarist Jason Balla.
Since 2015, the trio has been a vanguard of Chicago’s new wave of rockers, setting the example for how to be unfiltered, authentic and totally successful. The band is signed to indie imprint Fat Possum Records and has released five revered albums in the past decade, the most recent being 2024’s “Poetry,” resulting from a road trip to New Mexico and Puget Sound.
In addition to the hit “Bad Love,” Dehd also brought new material to their Riot set with songs like “Mood Ring” that fit in well with their signature sound. Theirs is a mix of uncomplicated drumbeats (Eric McGrady played from a standing setup) that at times felt synced to the human heartbeat, along with reverb-drenched guitars and the vocal interplay of Balla and bassist/singer Emily Kempf.
Their yelps, howls and other primitive sounds added to the feral rawness of the band. Kempf’s guttural vocal tone also matched her statements Sunday night. “You know what Riot Fest means right?” she asked the crowd. “It means to riot and who should we riot against? ICE.”
As the band wrapped a short 40-minute set, she took one more shot:. “We’re Dehd, thanks so much and f**k ICE.” — Selena Fragassi
Pegboy
Here’s the thing about Chicago’s punk scene that has made it so full of lore over the years. It’s always been more than just a community. It’s family.
Riot Fest drove that point home on Sunday by bringing together the family tree of The Effigies, Pegboy and Naked Raygun (who has an aftershow at Metro later Sunday), all bands that have intermarried and swapped members over the years and have amassed a large extended branch of supporters.
“We have more people over there than up here,” Pegboy singer Larry Damore joked of the numerous people huddling in the wings of the Roots Stage to watch the set. It was matched by the large crowd on the ground. “It’s 2 in the afternoon. You’re in a field, this ain’t no punk rock,” chided bassist Herb Rosen, also the owner of Liar’s Club, the watering hole that’s become ground zero for many of Chicago’s gilded punk acts to perform or pop in.
Pegboy’s set was meant to be another full album play of the day, to roll out their 1991 punk opus “Strong Reaction,” though they only got through about 80% of it. Damore front-loaded the set with a walloping amount of energy, jumping down into the crowd to be one with the people, singing right at several fans while trying to catch his breath.
“I don’t know how to get back up there, give me one more song,” he shared midway through, soon after telling the crowd he just had heart surgery last year. “That run is gonna kill me,” he joked once back up on stage with Rosen, guitarist John Haggerty and brother/drummer Joe Haggerty to fittingly deliver the song “My Youth,” capturing the same reckless spirit of 1991 in his performance.
“I wrote the song when I was 25. I’m 61, I thought I’d be done with this s— a long time ago,” Damore commented, adding, “Don’t grow up too fast.”
While the final two songs of “Strong Reaction” were skipped over, Pegboy had one final surprise that made up for it. Damore offered a heartfelt tribute to the late Pierre Kezdy (former bass player in Pegboy and also a mainstay of Naked Raygun) as well as his brother John (the late singer of The Effigies), calling them “two guys that meant more to the punk rock scene in Chicago than just about anybody.”
He then invited Pierre’s daughter Nicole to the stage for a cover of Naked Raygun’s “Treason” in which she played her father’s bass guitar. “Get ready for the new wave of Kezdys in Chicago,” said Damore, with Nicole quickly adding, “Punk’s not dead!”
The Effigies
Riot Fest really knows how to dig up the ghosts of Chicago’s punk past.
Last year, Verboten was unearthed after a 40-year absence. This year that same stage was given to The Effigies, one of Chicago’s original punk bands, who graced the stage with such spitfire energy, it’s hard to believe the band got its start in 1980.
For this career-high moment, the band dug deep into the vault to offer a full album play of its 1984 debut “For Ever Grounded” with its nonconformist elegies feeling incredibly relevant for this day and age. Bassist Paul Zamost’s chugging lines, drummer Steve Economou’s pulverizing beats and the heavy-handed guitars of Andy Gerber (originally the band’s producer) were a playground for vocalist Geoff Sabin to frolic through.
Sabin was incredibly animated for the noon call time, ditching the mic at times to run down the catwalk, throwing high knees and fists in the air. The singer takes his role quite seriously — since early 2024, he’s taken over the very big shoes of original vocalist, the late John Kezdy, after his untimely passing in a biking accident in 2023, just as the band was finalizing its first new album in 17 years, “Burned.” It’s the final record to feature his vocals.
“A big thank you and memorial to John … without whom none of this would be possible,” Sabin said toward the end of the set, a bittersweet reminder of how much Kezdy would have loved to have been part of this moment. So would Steve Albini, who was a very vocal fan of The Effigies. But, alas, the big punk wheel keeps turning, and as The Effigies themselves say, “We’ll Be Here Tomorrow,” knowing it’s the only way to keep those legacies alive.
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