LIVE REVIEW: Riot Fest 2023 Day 2

Words by Arthur Machado, Photos by Camila Trimberger-Ruiz

While the first day of the festival was full of emo classics, the second day was here to show that Riot Fest caters to all outcasts. As we made our way through the festival grounds we were surprised by an equal number of juggalos in full clown make-up and "music bros" with ironic gaming shirts, as they prepared for the day Riot Fest gets weird. Here are some of the highlights from the second day of the fest:

POOL KIDS

As soon as the gates opened, we rushed straight to the main Riot Stage, waiting at barriers for the new Florida emo superstars, Pool Kids. Following the steps of fellow Floridians Dashboard Confessional, Dikembe and Glocca Morra, the four piece embraced their inner rockstars and kicked-off the festival with all their hits.

With relatable lyrics and the impeccable dual tapping guitars by guitarist/vocalist Christine Goodwyne and guitarist Andrew Anaya the group is a force to be reckoned with live. Starting with "Swallow," the energy only ramped up, and the band felt right at home in the exact same stage the Foo Fighters played the night before (or in a way… they opened for Pool Kids.)

Bowling for Soup

Much like Hawthorne Heights the previous day, Bowling for Soup is one of those bands we simply couldn't miss. Like, c'mon, they made the songs for Phineas and Ferb and frontman Jaret Reddick is the voice of freaking Charles Entertainment Cheese! This would be the band's first time at the fest, as Reddick placed it, the band is "finally cool enough to play Riot Fest, it only took us 29 and a half years."

With their trademark irreverence, the band's set included all the hits, from "Almost," to "1985" and to my own zoomer surprise the iconic Phineas and Ferb theme song. The band wasn't afraid to use their limited set time to interact with fans. Highlights included choreographed dance breaks mid song, and right before the last chorus of "Punk Rock 101" the entire band got together and posed for pictures across the stage; all set to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." On a day where audience members would be sprayed with countless bottles of Faygo during the Insane Clown Posse set, and sung about frogs on the floor at Gecs, Bowling For Soup made their mark and played the most fun set of the entire festival.

VIAGRA BOYS

While not being incredibly familiar with their discography, I was all too aware of the Viagra Boys' reputation as a stellar live act. The Swedish dance-punk group, lead by the bombastic vocalist Sebastian Murphy, rocked the Roots Stage. With their impeccably tight grooves and Murphy's ironic bravado, a mosh pit was begging to be formed the entire time. It was clear from their show-offish stage presence that the Viagra Boys reveled in their orchestrated chaos.

Their setlist included all their hits, including "Troglodyte," "Ain't Nice," "Sports" and "ADD." The sextet is abrasive, they demand your attention at all points, even their mistakes. Murphy perfectly channeled the stereotypical "drunk uncle" energy, endearingly forgetting some of the lyrics and even googling the "Troglodyte" lyrics mid set as he paced across stage fully shirtless. The true show-stealer was band's saxophonist Oskar Carls, with every note in his solos being matched by them rhythmically thrusting into the air — all accentuated by Riot Fest cameraman's perfectly timed zooms into their ass.

Death Grips

Few acts could have been a better fit to follow up the chaotic Viagra Boys performance. The experimental rap trio is composed by producer and keyboardist Andy Morin, drum whiz Zach Hill and the infamous MC Ride at vocals. Their discography has become a staple of Fantano-heads everywhere, with the group dominating the experimental hip hop scene since the release of 2012's The Money Store.

Fans of the band were screaming along the lyrics of hits like "I've Seen Footage," "Get Got," "Giving Bad People Good Ideas" and "You Might Think He Loves You for Your Money but I Know What He Really Loves You for It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat," but the performance felt disorienting at times if you weren't part of their fandom. While Hill's drumming is highly technical, MC Ride's delivery often felt abrasive for the sake of being abrasive. The industrial production is unsettling and you're getting screamed at for the entire set. In the end, that's the Death Grips appeal and fans got exactly what they signed up for.

100 gecs

Ever since I missed the free 100 gecs show at The Sett in 2020 I have been on a quest to see the hyperpop pioneers at every opportunity I can. Their Riot Fest set was my fourth time seeing Dylan Brady and Laura Les perform this year. We were blasted back in time to 2018 as the duo walked on stage to Travis Scott's "SICKO MODE" and wasted no time on a no-filler setlist.

Coming out of a series of shows supporting their sophomore record 10,000 gecs, nearly all of the tracks from the much anticipated album were performed, with the exception of the text-to-speech heavy "One Million Dollars." As the crowd attempted to continuously form circle pits, the other half of the set was filled with the heavy hitters from their 2019 debut 1000 gecs. Highlights included their fan-favorite unreleased classic "fallen 4 Ü" and a happy hardcore remix of "xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx," momentarily transporting Douglass Park to a Slavic nightclub. Seeing 100 gecs perform in their hometown is always a treat, and with a rare hour-long set, hyperpop freaks (endearing) had the perfect ending for their second day — or warm-up for the Insane Clown Posse show starting on the other end of the fest.

Day two also included performances by the Queens of the Stone Age, Death Cab For Cutie, Insane Clown Posse, Drain, Pup and more. Be sure to check out our photo gallery and stay for our Riot Fest 2023 interviews.