- Alison Green
- Weezer
Leor Galil: Thirty minutes into the Cure’s set, people began to peel off and move east en masse—it was kind of like the way birds fly south for the winter, but instead of seeking warmer weather, these flocks were going to hear Weezer play their self-titled 1994 debut, aka the Blue Album. The band didn’t seem quite ready for an audience, though: they flubbed the first part of the 2001 single “Island in the Sun” while playing a selection of favorites that led backward in time to the main event. Fortunately by the time they got to the Blue Album, they’d worked out the kinks.
- Shamis McGillin
- Craig Finn of the Hold Steady
Brianna Wellen: The greatest joy of today was that the mud had mostly dried (though shout-out to the terrain for giving my calves a killer workout all weekend). My Sunday started with the Hold Steady, and boy did they sound great live. “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” was a formative tune for me, and hearing it in the lovely sunshine brought me back to the days of cruisin’ in my mom’s car right after I got my license. Motion City Soundtrack, another gem from my teenage years (Riot Fest was full of them for me), just seemed so excited to be onstage that they made me excited for them. It seems the weekend was full of 2000s pop-punk acts that haven’t played in a while, and just watching them have fun was worth the sometimes less-than-stellar songs.
- Alison Green
- The Riot Fest crowd
I’d be remiss not to mention Kurt Vile’s soulful set, Andrew W.K.’s jovial performance (and pristine white outfit—why hasn’t Tide to Go tapped him as a celebrity endorser?), and Robert Smith’s impressively preserved voice. The cherry on top of Nostalgia Fest 2014 was Weezer playing the Blue Album in its entirety.
I was probably the only Reader staffer to watch New Found Glory, and I totally understand why. But I don’t feel even remotely guilty for enjoying these Florida dudes, whose hardcore bona fides lend a serrated edge to their bouncy pop-punk. Another band who’ve been performing the same goofy breakup songs for decades, NFG played to their strengths on Sunday, inspiring multiple circle pits and encouraging top-of-your-lungs sing-alongs to radio jams such as “Hit or Miss” and “My Friends Over You.” Plus, the lead singer wore a vintage Wipers T-shirt, which made this native Portlander beam.
- Andrea Bauer
- Primus
Philip Montoro: Yesterday was my first visit to Riot Fest, not just this year but ever. (I know, I know. Hush now.) Tightly packed crowds make me tense, and honestly, I’m more of a World Music Festival guy—on Friday I went to see La Bottine Souriante at Millennium Park, where there was at least enough room in the aisles to keep myself warm by dancing.
- Bobby Talamine
- The Cure
Anyway. Robert Smith still sounds exactly like Robert Smith (which is more than I can say for Robin Zander), and the Cure sucked me into a nostalgia vortex with 80s material I hadn’t heard or even thought about in ages—it turns out I must’ve really liked “The Walk” 25 years ago, because I recognized it from the first bar. In the spirit of the moment, I texted my high school girlfriend, who’d loved the Cure above all others when we were teenagers—she’s a stand-up comic in California now, and was killing time before the last night of prelims for the San Francisco Comedy Competition. Which if nothing else proves that goths can have senses of humor.
