Ah, Riot Fest. The last huge festival of the year took place this past weekend and it was the affair you'd expect it to be: amazing bands dazzling a crowded Douglass Park. Every year the fest brings some of the best bands to Chicago to dish out an alternative to the more mainstream mega festivals in town.
Day one of the storied festival featured a nicely loaded lineup featuring the likes of Foxy Shazam, Aviva, Jeff Rosenstock, The Descendants, Portugal the Man and so many more. As always the crowd matched the bands energy, moshing and headbanging to their hearts content as they enjoyed massive sounds coming from the stages. The opening evening was headlined by the reunited emo icons My Chemical Romance, finally making their way to Chicago after being announced for the 2020 edition of the festival!
Check out some of the photos of the festival taken by the wonderful Jessica Mlinaric, author of Secret Chicago: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure (2018) and Chicago Scavenger (2022).
