Live Music Will Save the World

A few weekends ago, we took a giant risk with some of our friends and went to a music festival in Chicago. It felt like a trip that took about 9 years from start to finish. 

It was June 2020, we were having our first socially distanced outside hangout with some of our best friends. It was already a very exciting day. The pandemic was raging on, it seemed like half the country was determined to keep it going, and we were losing hope while watching movies over Zoom with our friends. 

But on this day, we got together on a deck, sitting 10 feet apart, yelling toward each other as we drank White Claws. We were seeing real people in real life. Ryan broached the topic first. 

Riot Fest was offering incredibly discounted tickets for the 2020 Riot Fest with a disclaimer that it may get cancelled or moved depending on 

1. If we had a vaccine
2. If enough of the country got the vaccine to actually create herd immunity
3. If we got close enough to herd immunity for the virus to not mutate

Only number 1 happened, so Riot Fest was pushed to 2021. And based on how things were going in 2021, I was expecting Riot Fest to not happen this year. But Ryan sort of said, it would be nice to have a little hope and it was low risk. So we bought tickets. 

Well, Riot Fest happened despite about half the bands I wanted to see dropping for safety reasons. It was still so needed. 

We traveled to Chicago by train. I would highly recommend it. It took maybe 30 minutes longer than driving, but you were able to read or play Switch, while sipping a beer. 

Douglas Park is off of the pink line in Chicago. It's one of the least popular lines. It took a bit to travel the 5 or so miles to the concert venue. Douglas Park is huge, Riot Fest managed to fit 5 stages and a carnival within. 

It was beautiful except for two things. First, there wasn't a lick of shade anywhere. The sun burned many people. Luckily, I married a red head who is always prepared. SPF 70 was out and applied to the skin constantly.

Second, having a stage setup in front of a baseball field while thousands of people kick up dust and dirt wasn't exactly fun. I was covered in dust, head to toe, every day. 

But people... we saw live music!

Friday bands I saw

Meg Meyers

Circa Survive

Anti-Flag

Thrice

Lawrence Arms

Sublime with Rome

Coheed and Cambria

Circle Jerks

Dirty Heads (for Medusa)

Smashing Pumpkins

I'm not a huge Meg Meyers or Circa Survive fan, but the first chord was played and I lifted 35 feet from the ground. I felt like all of the anxiety and depression from the past year was being ripped from my body while my soul was being healed. 

This was the most normal thing I had done since March 2020. 

Anti-Flag was an early highlight. They blasted through the hits while interspersing discussions about what it means to be an empathetic person in the internet angry world. They played One Trillion Dollars while the entire crowd sang along. It was the most connected I'd felt to people in... well, 18 months. 

Thrice had released an album that day and just tore it apart. They sounded tight, like they had been locked in a cargo container just practicing for this day.

Sublime was a band that was featured heavily in my high school days, but sadly the original lead singer died of a heroin overdose before I was able to see them. Rome is the replacement singer, and I couldn't tell you the difference. His voice was spot on, the energy was right, and hearing them sing Santeria and Bad Fish just about brought a tear to my eye. 

And then Coheed and Cambria played their brand of emo metal while the sky opened up. Lightning seemed to be part of the stage show, flashing at all the right moments. 

We attempted to get home by the designated train line for the festival. Several hundred people crowded on the platform. Train after train was coming by, filled to the max, skipping our stop. People were riding the west bound train two stops, then turning around and getting on the east bound train that went downtown. 

It was getting scary, so we ditched out, walked for 30 minutes, and got an $80 Lyft. 

We found out the next morning, we missed someone falling on the track getting electrocuted by about 30 minutes. The witnesses all wrote of their traumatic event in the Reddit thread. I'm thankful we didn't have to see it.

Saturday

Bayside

Rancid

Andrew WK

Taking Back Sunday

Run the Jewels

Saturday, we lazily made our way back to the festival. We met up with my friend Lindsay for her birthday, road the line for a few stops, and then there was an announcement that they were working on the tracks and we would be stopped for an indeterminant amount of time. We jumped off the train and had a couple beers and played a card game at one of those places where you pay by the ounce and pour your own drinks. 

It was relaxing to sort of just slowly make our way to the event.

We made it to the festival about 90 minutes after we wanted to. But the lineup Saturday night was incredible. Rancid just played a non-stop 45 minute block of bangers. Taking Back Sunday featured heavily on the older albums. And as always, Run the Jewels unified tens of thousands of people. 

We skipped the pink line on Saturday and instead walked 25 minutes to a blue line. It was still packed, but we managed to get on the first train that came by. 

Sunday

Thursday

Anthrax

Simple Plan

Anthrax

Knuckle Puck

Devo

Flaming Lips

The Weak Days

New Found Glory

Slipknot

Sunday turned into our marathon day. We had an early brunch and headed straight for the park. The weather couldn't have been better. When I was looking at the schedule, Sunday had the least amount of bands I absolutely had to see, but it turned out to be a great day.

Thursday played a heartfelt set where the singer openly talked about his heroin addiction, what it meant to be four years sober, and how the fans that have stuck by them for two decades are what keeps him going. 

Simple Plan was the complete opposite vibe. Just a happy-go-lucky party. 

The Flaming Lips were always a band I wanted to see, but wouldn't probably pay to see them headline. The singer came out in a giant inflatable ball and it muffled his mic. 

And unbelievably, Slipknot was incredible. Not a band I wouldn't ever thought of seeing before. For those of you that don't know, Slipknot is a 9 piece metal band that all wear scary masks on stage. They have three drummers. It was stimulating. 

I'm thankful we were able to do this. It was a risk, but one we felt was necessary. We were vaccinated. We wore masks. We distanced when possible. And we isolated when we got back. We did all the things you're supposed to do and managed to stay Covid free.