Anyone catch the Dean Ween Group last weekend?

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Friday looks like it'll be a shitshow with rain in the forecast. Sucks cold weather is rolling in.

Too bad Janes and Slayer are playing at the same time.

so what's the official CSFMB roll call for this

IN.

Not taking the day off today so I'm going after work but there's a solid chance I won't even go if it's rainy and cold.

Fuck getting sick.

yeah, i've made the decision to skip today. Just can't do it. i'm all out of vacation time and there's no way i can leave early...the 2 bands i'm most interested in (ALL and Failure) are at 4 and 5pm, and i probably couldn't get there until 6 or 7....

so i'll just rest up and get ready for tomorrow & Sunday , going to an aftershow tomorrow too so its going to be a long day anyways

I'll be there tomorrow and Sunday also.

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Don't take it personally.

In.

All 3 days, Nancy boys.

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For those that attended last year - it's on the other side of the park this year and it is HUGE. It's really, really spread out and has much more room to move this year. A lot more bathrooms and beer tents too. Those areas are a great improvement.

But the entire park is mud. No clean grass areas to stand at all. The mud was probably 3"-4" deep over all of the grass areas and the baseball field areas were over 6" deep. I drove home in socks with my pants rolled up to my knees because I was so covered in mud.

I would wear your worst pair of shoes/jeans today. I don't see how it can be dried up yet. There isn't enough kitty litter and plywood in Chicago to fix it.

$7 beers with offerings of Tecate Light and some kind of amber and cider.

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so, how many bands are playing at the same time. God, i'd love to be nearer to a show like this, best we had this summer was Warrant, Winger and Firehouse at the local fairgrounds

3.

There is at least 8 or 9 stages, set up in pairs, and one of each "pair" is always playing....it's almost too big.

I have little/no cell service at this thing. Sorry bagels/JORR

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Showed up around 3 and left around 9:15 after listening to a little of Taking Back Sunday. I wanted to hear the Samhain out of curiosity but my friends are more pop punk peeps. I just went with the flow wandering from stages as couldn't find my buds due to not being able to send or receives texts.

I had heard of the name Die Antwoord but never heard their music. Holy shit I wish I never hear them ever again. I have no idea what the hell their thinking but it sucks sucks sucks.

Yeah, Bagels wasn't getting service either and my phone ran out of juice quickly. Maybe I'll find you today. I think I'm starting at Superchunk. You going again today, Kirkwood?

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Don't take it personally.

Yes, I should get there around 1-2.

Planning on being there around 3:00

Ran into local news person/a capella singing sensation Anthony Ponce yesterday. He seriously was trying to big time people, his blue-wigged GF/date was a LOT friendlier than he was. I think she seriously was trying to ditch him/his group and hang with us. He had to step in and save that situation, being the dominant alpha male that he is. Once he realized what was going on he was instantly super friendly and came over and introduced himself, etc

Got a pic with him. Figure that's be worth a couple hundred once I get him to sign it. Maybe a couple thousand.

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RECAP

Lowlights:

The Cure was even more pussified than I remembered. Just not as good live as on record. There must have been an agreement to turn down the sound after a certain time because they were quieter than any band all day. The crowd keep chanting "Turn it up!" to no avail.

Television was a huge disappointment for me. I've always loved this band. I think I have every record Tom Verlaine has ever made. I never had a chance to see them live. They were old and feeble. They played the way I imagine my grandfather playing if he were alive and someone handed him a musical instrument.

I've never like Naked Raygun and all the reasons came home for me today. To me, a good band has to have strong melodies (Oasis), play with power (Black Flag), or be weird and interesting (Butthole Surfers). A great band may do all three (Superchunk, more on them later). I understand Raygun are the architects of the "Chicago sound". But it really just kind of sucks. And it hasn't aged well at all. I think in their time they had enough melody that it set them apart from the real hardcore bands. But in light of what came after (Green Day, even a lesser band like Blink-182, etc.), those whoa-oa choruses just aren't getting it done. And Riotfest Mike getting on stage and weeping while giving Raygun credit for being his best friends and making Riotfest what it is didn't do much for me. This is fucking attorney rock.

Highlights:

I had a great conversation with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Nikolai Volkoff while the Nasty Boys beefed with some goof who tried to take their picture without paying.

Right before the Cure started playing a hot blond who was standing next to me, put her arm around me and started jabbering. She was about six feet tall and just delicious, way hotter than the chick from Texas who wanted Bagels to take her home on Saturday. I think she was just trying to fuck with an old guy (and maybe with her boyfriend too), but then my charm kicked in, and to her boyfriend's dismay, she found me irresistible. But I had complete empathy for the guy. This was the kind of shit my ex-wife did regularly. So I turned the tables on flirty girl and started talking to the boyfriend. He did have to mark his territory by grabbing her to make out. But there's only two things you can do with a broad like that, just deal with her shenanigans or send her packing. And I don't care how hot she is, after awhile that type of stuff gets old.

Kurt Vile and the Violators were great. Heavy and emotional.

Superchunk played a great set. After hearing Billy Bragg whine his way through "There Is Power In A Union" it was refreshing to hear a workingman's anthem with some balls. Slack Motherfucker!

Wu-Tang Clan wasn't nuthin' ta fuck wit. RZA had the crowd rolling. Their "cover" of "Come Together" was a transcendent rock and roll moment.

The best thing I saw all weekend was the Afghan Whigs. Intense, powerful, emotional. All out effort. Just everything a great rock and roll show should be.

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Don't take it personally.

Good:

Afghan Whigs: loved. Wished they played later in the night Saturday.
Paul Weller: never heard of him before. Solid chill sound.
Motion City Soundtrack: I'm a sucker for pop punk. They were great.
Show You Suck: what an odd rapper. Played on a smaller stage but he was really jacked and energetic. Fun show.
In the Valley Below: wasn't a huge crowd but I enjoyed checking them out.
Dads: the drummer was the singer which is kinda different. We just popped a squat on the small hill and listened.
lucero: never heard of them before. I guess they've been around forever. Kind of a springseen vibe. I dug it. Caught 15-20 minutes and gonna check more out on spotify.


Sucked:
Billy Bragg: got there when he was on stage and woof. I was in the Strongbow "tent" waiting for my buddy and overheard him crying about healthcare or something. Shut up and play your scottish music.
Drop kick Murphy's: caught the last 10 minutes. They performed covers. Wtf
Andrew w.k: saw them bc Motion city was next door. Blech.
Die Antwoord: posted yesterday about them. Horrible

Whatever:
Flaming lips: cool visuals and stuff. Not a fan or anything and didn't seem like the crowd was either. The frontman kept urging for more energy
The used: caught 15-20 from the hill.
Taking back sunday: caught 15-20 minutes from the hill and went home.
The hold steady: not sure why they're really popular.


I bounced around a lot trying to see/hear as much as possible. I'm not a music expert like many hear so just want to explore.

Goddamnit I almost went Saturday just to see the afghan whigs.

My 1st time at Riot Fest so I can't compare to previous versions for criticisms.

Navigating the festival wasn't the easiest. The Riot/Roots area with the carnival rides was an unneccesary choke point. I do not understand the carnival aspect of the festival. The equipment seemed more in the way. Scrapping them or shoving them in a corner away from prime traveling real estate would be much wiser.

The Rock stage was isolated. No easy way to get there and definitely not from Rebel/Rise.

The food area was way to crowded. Very poor planning to put the food along the walking path. The lines got in the way of people trying to move. There was plenty of area behind them along Kedzie. Some seating wouldn't hurt either.

Whether you consider it a positive or negative the security was a joke. I brought a backpack both days and all I had to do was open it and then they squished it once from the outside. Never pat down. You could've brought in some real sketchy stuff. Saw a drug deal go down along the chain link fence walking on Kedzie getting to North Ave for the bus. The security guards were huddled talking to each other by a car.

I wouldn't really say the festival is a punk rock fest. I think it's rock in general.

echo Kirkwoods point about the rides and the stages...i didn't even make it out to the Rock stage on Saturday, and it felt completely isolated from the rest of the fest. very weird. and the rides are stupid , guess its just one more revenue generator but who rides them ? and yes just totally in the way

re: cell phones, i had 0 service the entire weekends, so apologizes to Kirkwood and spanky amongst others that i didn't meet up with, and I lost JORR and mcbrides on Sunday after Superchunk...but i don't think you guys would have wanted to see Mineral and Blue Meanies anyways....

for me winners were : Hot Snakes, Afghan Whigs, Mineral, Blue Meanies, Wu Tang, Descendents..
losers: Paul Weller (boring), Naked Raygun (seemed disinterested), Die Antwoord (holy hell was that awful), Billy Bragg (same as other times i've seen him, solid set but the excessive preaching between songs totally kills the vibe) , Wu in a way because where the hell was Method Man. I don't quite echo JORRs sentiments about the Cure...it is what it is. I thought they were fine. Never been a huge fan, but they play a marathon set and play pretty much everything. The other option was the Primus/Weezer pu pu platter, so it wasn't like there was a better option, really

Mcbrides wasn't there.

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WTF I can't believe that you left me hanging all by myself . Shit dude when you say you are coming back .... Come back

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https://www.backroadspubandgrill.com

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.

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was it a hologram ?

No, that was my cousin.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Did anybody else see him?

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