NOFX // photo credit: weworemasks

The premise of Riot Fest was like so: Rise Against, The Gaslight Anthem and Hot Water Music were all heading out on a national tour. Worries of $50 cover charges go to us, when just in time, the festival angel dropped down on weworemasks: Riot Fest. An exclusive event, only available to cities like Brooklyn and Chicago, and it’d be available a mere four hour drive away. Not only that, but you throw NoFX, The Descendents and Andrew WK in the mix, and you’ve got yourself a party…

…Or so we thought. Hit the jump for the festival recap.

-grizzly

Andrew W.K. // photo credit: weworemasks

Right off the bat, the festival was, to put lightly: awkward. Nothing towards the Riot Fest organizers, but it seemed that Gexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas was completely unprepared for this festival. Booths were scattered in a chaotic way, the beer/concession was outrageously priced (“Fuck $12 beers,” Less than Jake said.), and the press tent was highly miscommunicated to us by the venue staff. That was just the icing on the lethargic cake that was the crowd and Pavilion set up. SEATS? SEATS…AT A PUNK ROCK FESTIVAL? That alone made this entire trip a confusing mess of having to watch a full lineup of mosh-worthy bands from angled seats.

Kicking off his “special solo performance” with an a capella delivery of “The Star Spangled Banner” (“This is no joke, folks – there’s no other country this could happen in!”), a very mild and sincere Andrew W.K. first doled out prizes to his fans – pre-watched DVDs of Event Horizon, Thundercats, and the Christopher Walken series The Prophecy. Classics, in his opinion. Taking requests, W.K. played “Party Hard.” “I Get Wet,” and “Ruby Tuesday” for the small, but die-hard, early crowd.

The American Heist // photo credit: weworemasks

Houston wouldn’t just send two of their loudest enforcers on a four hour road trip to play to the lethargic Dallas crowd. Which is why The American Heist and Venomous Maximus turned it up to 11 and shook the sleep out of the Dallas punks’ eyes, wringing every bit of energy out them and letting their presence be known. The American Heist’s gruff and tumble punk brought a considerable crowd over to the side stage, a crowd who were then slayed by Venomous Maximus’ primal riffage.

Less Than Jake // photo credit: weworemasks

Less Than Jake are never ones to shy away from the mic. The crowd was made fun of, as was the venue and basically anything that got in the way of this 20 year veteran pezcore act. You really forget how many hits a band of 20 years has until you see em. And hell, we saw ’em earlier this year at Bamboozle. Sliding through songs like “Gainsville Rock City” and “The Science of Selling Yourself Short” were plenty for the core group of Less Than Jake faithfuls down in the pit.

Venomous Maximus // photo credit: weworemasks

The Sword brought their sludgy doom metal from Austin, TX to the fun-fearing Dallas crowd, much like their Houston brethren. Met with a lukewarm response? Sure. But did they rock out like it didn’t make a difference? You betcha. Not to mention, these guys have their first Razor & Tie release on the horizon, and rest assured, they premiered a couple of new songs from Apocryphon in the confines of their half hour set.

The Gaslight Anthem // photo credit: weworemasks

Speaking of half-hour sets, perhaps the main reason we made the trip in the first place was Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem. And it almost seemed like a band that has garnered a lot of mainstream press as of late kinda fell by the wayside of this festival. If you blinked, you might’ve missed the 8-song, 27 minute set. On one hand, it was a power (half) hour of some of the band’s best songs, but on the other, you couldn’t help but wonder why other headliners were given an hour or more. Kicking off with “American Slang” and bruising through fan favorites like “The 59 Sound” and new single “Handwritten,” this phantom version of The Gaslight Anthem was a far cry from their typical haunts: minimum banter, no stories, no laughter – the rock was short and sweet and just like that, they were gone.

The Descendents // photo credit: weworemasks

NOFX was the OTHER main reason we trekked to Dallas for this festival, and they delivered plenty of memorable moments throughout their half hour set. The band, first off, was 12 minutes (of their own set time) late, and kicked off their set with a cheeky proclamation, “Prepare to be disappointed.” Fat Mike and El Jefe played the crowd to the beat of their own drums, bringing back everyone’s “Oi oi oi” chants in “The Brews” and “Perfect Government” from the widely loved Punk in Drublic. I’d have to say that the best part about this was the fact that for the first time all festival, it felt like a festival. The crowd woke up, the sun had set and the folks started dancing.

Given the extra few minutes from NOFX to lengthen their set, grand daddies , the Descendents managed a blitzkrieg of 27 songs that included “I’m The One,” “Silly Girl,” and “Everything Sux.” The over 30-year old band had played a fine midday set earlier this year at Houston’s Free Press Summerfest, but given the headlining slot at Riot, they were a vicious frenzy of old-school punk firing on all fours.

On a closing note, this festival was a shell of what the lineup made it out to be. This could’ve been something with a lot more impact. On Gexa’s behalf, it seemed completely unorganized and just an awkward cluster of bad time management and setlist planning. But hey, we’re low maintenance and managed to have plenty of fun in the Dallas sun. Let’s just relegate festivals like this to Austin, shall we?