Photo Gallery Day Three: Riot Fest at Douglass Park • Chicago

Brassneck | September 25, 2024

Riot Fest Recap: Day Three

Recap by Justice Petersen; Photos by Ed Spinelli

After two days of blistering heat, alternative music heads were no longer covered in sweat and melting corpse paint but, instead, rain. Riot Fest’s final day took a turn for heavy downpour and even heavier music, as day three’s headliner was thrash metal icons Slayer, who briefly came out of retirement to play their first show in five years. With such a hard-hitting headliner, the day saw a lineup of more metal-leaning acts to coincide with them. Sunday offered back-to-back metal mania as groups such as Mastodon, Gwar, Lamb of God, and Rob Zombie took to the main stages before Slayer’s inimitable conclusion.

Sunday cemented the incredibly diverse lineup of this year’s festival. Riot Fest 2024 featured up-and-coming punk bands, definitive names in modern hardcore, heavy metal legends, and indie pop outfits. Ultimately, Riot Fest may be deemed the only place to see Beach Bunny, Cypress Hill, and Rob Zombie in a single weekend. The rain did not impact Sunday’s lineup on stage, and the day began with hardcore punk groups Sunami and Gel, both icons within the modern scene. Between the mud wrestling, mud-slinging, mosh pitting, and chicken nugget throwing, it was clear early on that Sunday would be a day of reckoning.

The latter half of the day saw Gwar drenched their audience – who had just dried off from the rain – with alien ooze, blood, and a few other unknown liquids while bringing their signature gore and controversial humor to the stage. Lamb of God delivered an unforgettably hard-hitting set, which was the perfect set-up for Rob Zombie’s theatrical and intoxicating performance. To end the evening, Slayer brought their raging musicality to the Metro stage for one final night of aggression. If Slayer is said to be a religion, thousands of devoted followers gathered to hear the long-awaited gospel. After it was all said and done, this year’s Riot Fest was no doubt a three-day-long purge of rage, raw intensity, and carefree individuality. Everything that makes Chicago’s iconic fest so undeniably glorious.