Riot Fest Day 2!

The forecast for Day 2 called for clear sky and better music!  That forecast proved to be pretty darn accurate!  I decided to get up at a reasonable hour, and get to Riot early to catch Macauley Culkin's Pizza Underground.  For those of you that don't know, Macauley started a Velvet Underground cover band, but all the lyrics are about pizza.  Their hits include songs such as  "Pizza Day" and "Waiting for the Delivery Man."  If you think this is a joke, I believe you are right.  I also believe they are in on the joke.  They joked with the crowd a lot, and smiled a lot.  They had the Velvet's look down, dressed in all black and wearing sunglasses.  They even had a German lady, just like Nico.  The Pizza Underground also had a pizza box player. This was the first band I have ever seen with a pizza box player.  The box said Pizza Metro, to cater to the hometown crowd.   I thought it was very entertaining and humorous.  If you missed this, don't fear.  You can always catch them in Pussy Joel, their next project.  If you can't figure it out, that's a Billy Joel cover band about cats.

Next up was The Orwells.  I knew nothing about them, except that David Letterman apparently loves them.  This was the most obnoxious crowd of any band I saw during Riot Fest.  People were super pushy and not even remotely conscious of other people.  The band was very good, though.  I enjoyed it until the very end.  I'll explain that in a bit.  The singers vocals seemed spot on for rock, the drummer kept a very good beat, the guitar was powerful, and the bassline was nice and heavy.  They did a pretty cool rendition of "Fill me up Buttercup."  The singer appeared more hippie than rocker, and appeared high as a kite.  Here's what made me dislike them.  I was right up front, so security was right in front of me.  Right near the end of The Orwell's set, pizza was brought to security for lunch. At the end of the set, the singer purposefully jumped on the pizza, ruining their lunch.  I thought that was an absolute asshole move,and that absolutely killed it for me.

Buzzcocks are a band I should've checked out years ago, and for some reason never did.  I was excited to see them on the line-up.  They are classic British punk.  I don't know what else to say besides that, just good ol' fashioned punk.  Union Jacks were very present during their set.  They were the first band to get my head bopping.  I  highly enjoyed them.  I intend to add them to my play list.  I also wouldn't mind checking them out in a venue setting.

Television was next on the agenda.  I had the privilege of seeing them about four months back at The Metro here in Chicago.  It was a great show.  I was super excited to be able to see them again. Television pretty much started the CBGB's scene.  We may not have punk, if not for them.  Verlaine's vocals seem a tad weak, but that seems fitting with their sound.  His guitar playing is still top notch. The guitar in Marquee Moon is among my favorite.  There really isn't too much else to say about this classic band, or else I could go on and on.  They're a must to check out!

Die Antwood was next!  This was another act I was excited to see.  They are a rap group from South Africa, but have an electronic twist.  Some of their lyrics can be crude and somewhat twisted. The guy even mooned the crowd at one point.   They came out wearing prisonlike jump suits.  As the went on, they worse less and less.  Lola's baby pitched vocals made the lyrics seem less offensive somehow.  They were very high energy, and created a dance party environment.  They even had back up dancers.  That may have been the only set I saw at Riot with back up dancers.  They were one of the most unique sets I have ever seen at Riot Fest, and they're another one I'd like to see in a venue setting.

As stated previously, I am not a big rap or hip hop fan.  I had to check out the WuTang Clan.  They had one of the biggest crowds I saw.  I enjoyed it a lot.  I don't have too much to say really, though, about them.  I'll end with this "Wu Tang ain't nothing to fuck with."

After WuTang came Metric.  I really don't have much to say about them either.  They played a few radio hits, songs I recognized.  I'd describe them as unoffensive, neither really good or bad. They have a female singer.  It made me realize, she was the only female lead I'd seen at this point.  It made me recall the Pussy Riot discussion.

The last band on my agenda was the Flaming Lips.  I knew a little about them, mainly about how far out their shows are.  Naturally, I had to check them out.  I was not disappointed in the slightest.  The stage was set with hundreds of LED lights hanging down, as seen in the picture below.  They came onstage with two huge mushrooms and a giant rainbow.  During their first song, they were about to shot cannons off, instead the power went off.  After a 5-10 minute delay, they got power and picked up were they left off.  The canons shot off a ton of glitter.  It looked beautiful in the night sky. Throughout the show, they had butterflies, suns and aliens join them on stage.  Wayne also put on a super fringy metallic jacket, giving him the appearance of being covered practically in tinsel.  It was all so beautifully tacky.  Least you think it's all about the show, the music was pretty great too.  It was like what I imagine taking acid would be like.  They ended the show with a cover of The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky"  I had heard their version before, and wasn't a huge fan. It was amazing live, though.  They used the cannons again.  The sky appeared to be full of diamonds.  It was a great way to end the day.  I have seen obsessively been listening to their album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I'll just wrap this entry up by saying Wayne Coyne is insane, but in the best way possible.