Sep 21

Sep 21 Riot Fest Day 3 Recap: Nine Inch Nails, The Academy Is..., Ice Cube Conclude Sunday Festivities

Riot Fest 2022 – Day 3
Nine Inch Nails, The Academy Is…, Ice Cube, and more
Douglass Park
Chicago, IL
Sunday, September 18th, 2022

Photos and Review by Jared Stossel

By the third day of a festival, attendees are usually exhausted. Blisters have formed, sunburns are at their worst, and you’re starting to regret drinking all those beers on the first day. However, with an event like Riot Fest, the best acts are spread out over the course of all three days, and the organizers of this year’s edition of the Chicago-based festival saved some of the best for last. There was genuinely something to look forward to every single day, with performances from acts both old and new, along with some incredible reunions thrown into the mix.

On Sunday, there were a lot of overlapping set times, with fans having to pick and choose who they wanted to see most over anyone else. At 12 PM, The Bombpops woke up the crowd at the Roots stage, while up-and-coming rapper Reece Young kicked off things at the Rise stage. New York City’s Moon Kissed got things started over at the Rebel stage, with an exciting opening performance that combined synth-pop sensibilities with indie rock stylings. An hour later, The Linda Lindas got the crowd moving on the Roots stage while Treaty of Paris generated a stunning alt-rock performance on the Radical stage. 2 PM brought one of the toughest decisions for fans, as Jawbox, Mom Jeans, and The Juliana Theory all played at the exact same time. It didn’t matter which stage you went to, as you were guaranteed to get a highly entertaining performance.

Zola Jesus followed with an excellent performance in a day that was heavily dominated by both indie rock acts and some of the biggest names in the world of hip-hop. With the sun beating down on the stage, Zola Jesus glided her way through a set of indie-goth tracks, bringing forth a brief respite from some of the heavier acts of the last few days. The calm didn’t last long as Lunachicks brought the energy right back up on the Roots stage, while Less Than Jake owned the Radical stage, dousing the crowd with heaps of toilet paper as they careened through a smattering of their biggest ska-punk hits. Hip-hop began to make an appearance as the legendary Coolio took to the Rise stage, adorned in all green as he made his way through fan-favorite tracks. The Lynn Gunn-fronted PVRIS made an impression on the crowd as the band put on an impressive performance, while Jimmy Eat World took to the main stage and reminded everyone why they deserve their attention. I feel like it’s impossible to find a bad Jimmy Eat World song; in my opinion, they don’t really exist. They have an unsullied catalogue of music, and their performance was definitely one of the highlights of the day, as they played through tracks like “The Middle”, “Bleed American”, “Big Casino”, and “Pain”.

As Alice Glass led the crowd over at the Rise stage, something big was about to take place over at the Radical stage: Midtown was about to perform in Chicago for the first time in decades. The Gabe Saporta-fronted pop-punk act were essential to the upbringing of so many pop-punk acts in today’s scene, disbanding years ago. A healthy number of fans ended up discovering Midtown after becoming fans of Saporta’s then act (and now disbanded) Cobra Starship, a dance-rock act and antithesis to the Drive-Thru Records era of the scene. Armed with a catalogue of spotless pop-punk tracks from throughout their career, the four-piece New Jersey act launched into a high-energy set that proved to be one of the best of the weekend. I hope they’re back for good.

Over on the main stages, Sleater-Kinney and Yeah Yeah Yeahs made sure that alternative rock had a larger-than-life presence as their back-to-back sets permeated the atmosphere of the day as the sun finally began to set after mercilessly shining down on the crowd for hours. Their dynamic performances led to the evening’s headliners, Nine Inch Nails. It was my first time seeing them, and they sounded perfect. There wasn’t a bad song or performance in the bunch, and it’s clear why people still flock in droves to see them whenever they announce that they’ll be touring. Trent Reznor proclaimed to the crowd, “This is one of our favorite festivals in the world. We’re so fucking glad to be here after COVID and everything else.”

Some of the weekend’s greatest performances were saved for last. The Rise stage featured sets from Action Bronson and Ice Cube, the latter delivering lyrics and wordplay with venomous intensity. Cube is a demanding presence, and you can’t help but be thrilled whenever you’re watching him perform. He’s one of the originators of “gangsta rap”, and he makes goddamn sure that you remember it. The performances at the Rebel stage came to a close with a high-intensity pop-punk set from Real Friends, while The Maine played host to a pristine penultimate set on the Radical stage. The Maine are one of the best bands in the world right now; they’ve yet to release an album that I would even consider to be “just okay”, and their live show is something that must be witnessed at least once.

Other than Nine Inch Nails, the biggest event of the evening came when, for the first time in years, The Academy Is… took to the stage for a highly anticipated reunion set. Much like Yellowcard, no one ever thought that this day would come. But as the band walked out on stage in front of a backdrop modeled after their sophomore album Santi, the opening notes to “The Phrase That Pays” kicked in, and the crowd behind me was deafening as they screamed the words back to vocalist William Beckett. “About A Girl”, “Slow Down”, and “LAX To O’Hare” followed in excellent succession, the crowd hanging off of every word and note that the band delivered. In an incredibly special moment, fans got to witness original members Michael DelPrincipe and AJ LaTrace join the band on stage for the first time since the release of their 2005 debut Almost Here, performing the album’s opening track “Attention”. If you were there, you literally got to witness the original Academy Is… lineup, something that I don’t believe will ever happen again. The band concluded with “After The Last Midtown Show”, ending the night on an epic note.

In a weekend filled with amazing performances, bright sunshine, and plenty of drinks to go around, Riot Fest once again showed why it’s such an impressive festival in the scene, and exactly why fans continue to flock to the grounds year after year. Most festivals can come up with a great lineup, but it takes even better skill to curate a lineup that convinces bands to reunite and come together under one roof for an unforgettable weekend. Long live Riot Fest.

Nine Inch Nails Set List
Somewhat Damaged
Wish
Heresy
Sanctified
The Lovers
Less Than
March of the Pigs
Piggy
Closer
Burn
Shit Mirror
God Break Down The Door
The Perfect Drug
Copy of A
Gave Up
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole

Encore:
Reptile
Even Deeper
Hurt

The Academy Is.. Set List
The Phrase That Pays
About A Girl
Slow Down
LAX To O’Hare
Season
Sleeping With Giants (Lifetime)
Classifieds
Bulls in Brooklyn
Black Mamba
Very First Lie (Material Issue cover
Attention (featuring original members Michael DelPrincipe and AJ LaTrace)
We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands
Checkmarks
After The Last Midtown Show

Ice Cube Set List
Natural Born Killaz (Dr. Dre & Ice Cube cover)
Hello
Check Yo’ Self
Ain’t Got No Haters
Friday
Bop Gun (One Nation)
You Know How We Do It
Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It
Straight Outta Compton (N.W.A. song)
No Vaseline
You Can Do It
Gangsta Nation (Westside Connection song)
It Was a Good Day