Riot Fest Continued….

Okay. So it’s been over a month since I threw down at Riot Fest and I totally procrastinated blogging about the whole experience. I realized how pathetic this blog was becoming after doing my latest blog assignment for #EnterpriseSM, my social media class here at SU. So here it is. Part 2 of my Riot Fest Blog

Day 2

Totally overslept for day 2 cause I was knackered from travelling the day before PLUS day one of Riot Fest.

Started the day of with Anti-Flag. The queue to get in, coupled with me oversleeping meant that I almost missed their set. BUT, at least I got to watch them perform Die For Your Government live. Even though I was late, I couldn’t miss their show. I doubt Singapore will ever let them in given the stuff they write about. So this was probably my only chance. Anti-Flag taught me a lot about not just passively hating, but trying to do something about it. So there was no way in hell I was gonna miss them.

Next up: SAOSIN. THE ORIGINAL LINEUP. Oh God. I never thought I would see them live given how I started listening to Saosin after Anthony Green left. Not that I hate Cove, but this Saosin was a totally different monster compared to the one on the ‘Beetle’ album. I said it for Circa Survive and I’ll say it for Saosin, Anthony Green is one hell of a performer. And together with the insane musicians that Saosin possesses, the show was borderline perfection. They played a couple of new songs and I sincerely hope that they at least release an EP together.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes! Fat Mike was still taking digs at Failure. Nothing better than chilling halfway through the day while singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Stuck around for only half their set cause I had to go see…..

Wu-Tang Clan! I know it seems random that a bunch of hip-hop gods appear in a predominantly punk and metal festival, but that’s what makes Riot Fest so beautiful. Everyone that performed were there because of their passion, and it was no different with Wu-Tang. Granted, it wasn’t the full Wu in attendance. I honestly don’t think Method Man was there, as well as a bunch of other dudes that I couldn’t tell from a distance. But they still belted out hit after hit. Cause if you want beef then bring the ruckus….

Next up was The Descendents. They were scheduled to play the whole of ‘Milo Goes to College’ live. But again, I was there just to chill and listen to some good ol’ punk rock. Left halfway through to go watch….

Taking Back Sunday. I have totally no good photos of this show cause I decided to hang back and not get caught in the mosh pit. I haven’t followed them in a while, but I still sang my lungs out when they played Error: Operator and MakeDamnSure. Adam Lazarra went insane for this set. He was popping handstands and even climbed the rafters towards the end. Awesome set.

All in all, day 2 was kind of a chill out day for me. Wanted to gather my energy for day 3 where I promised myself to get into the pits again.

Day 3

Last day! I had to make it count.

Started my day discovering a cool new band called Survay Says. They remind me of a younger version of Less Than Jake, playing ska-punk with a heavy tinge of pop melodies and hooks. The definitely got a new fan. Go check ‘em out.

Camped out early so that I could get to the front of the next 2 bands, starting with Silverstein. I missed them when they came to Singapore, so I was stoked to hear that they were playing Riot Fest. They played a good mix of old and new songs. Screamed my heart out to Vices and My Heroine. The circle pit behind me meant that the crowd’s energy spread to everyone else and we all had a good time. Definitely one of the better shows at Riot Fest.

La Dispute. Another band that I missed when they came to Singapore. I’ve had a weird listening relationship with them recently. Between Vega and Altair was the only album where every song hit me hard and I was kinda bummed they didn’t play any from that album. Their set consisted mainly of songs from Wildlife and Rooms of the House. And rightly so. They just released Rooms of The House. But La Dispute are a band that still made a huge impact in my life as I was figuring stuff out when I turned 21. They ended their set playing King Park and I screamed the last part of that song out so hard in an attempt to exorcise my demons. Maybe it did to the trick. But it was so hard to make a connection with the band when they seem so far away on the stage. I need them to come back to Singapore and do a floor show. I promise I won’t miss it again.

Next up, Dropkick Murphys! Okay, I’ve only ever listened to The Boys are Back and Shipping Up To Boston, but those songs always get me so riled up. I’ve always admired that Boston Strong attitude and you could feel it from the band every time they played a song. I was supposed to chill out for this set, but nothing like a Dropkick Murphy gig to get you in the mood for a fist fight. (No, I did not get into a fist fight)

Second to last: New Found Glory. Pretty much the summary of my teen listening habits. Good ol’ pop punk. And I threw down in this pit. Jumping and two-stepping to NFG. That’s right. Two-stepping. I just got into this. And I screamed my lungs out when they played the oldies. All Downhill from Here, Failure’s not Flattering, Understatement, My Friends Over You, Dressed to Kill, Hold My Hand. The last two in that list. I screamed that shit so hard cause they somehow became so relevant to me these past few months. NFG always finds its way back into my life at the right times.

Last, but definitely not freaking least: Bring Me The Horizon. Another band that’s been super relevant to me these past few years. And recently learning about Oli’s battle with drug use made me appreciate the song-writing a lot more. There’s a lot of honesty on their latest album Sempiternal. And anyone who is dealing with any major issues can learn a lot about coping with them. It was a grade A performance (the only issue I had was the volume on Oli’s mic, but I suspect it was getting drowned out by the teenage girls screaming around me) and the light show and projections just made it even more awe-inspiring. You get fully immersed in their performance and those words that Oli screams just rips at you even deeper. I used whatever I had left in me to scream the words to Sleepwalking. And I almost cried. It’s a song that could mean so much to different people, and it definitely means something to me.