Riot Fest 2022 day two review (Misfits, Gogol Bordello, The Menzingers, Bad Religion, and more)

The second day of Chicago’s Riot Fest had a calmer feel than the hectic sold-out opening day, which made for a much more pleasant festival experience overall. While it’s hard to blame the generally young My Chemical Romance fans that filled Douglass Park the day prior, the manic energy of Friday was eased a bit on Saturday by thousands of older punks who simply wanted to slam IPAs and sing along to their favourite punk and emo bands.

The Saturday lineup included punk legends the Misfits playing their seminal 1982 album Walk Among Us in full, sets from the recently-reunited Yellowcard and Sunny Day Real Estate, the almighty Gwar, and much more.

Read on for some of the highlights of the second day of Riot Fest 2022 below. You can find all of our Riot Fest coverage here.

The Get Up Kids

In one of the many full album performances of the day, the Kansas City emo veterans performed their debut full length, Four Minute Mile, in full during their early afternoon slot. While much of that record doesn’t necessarily benefit from being played in the blinding sunlight, the band delivered a rousing set while describing making the record in Chicago 25 years prior. Ending their set with a trio of tracks off the Something to Write Home About LP was the icing on the proverbial cake.

The Menzingers

Pennsylvania punks The Menzingers drew an absolutely massive crowd to their side-stage late afternoon set. The Riot Fest vets celebrated the tenth anniversary of their breakout album On the Impossible Past by playing it in full, along with a handful of tracks from throughout their discography. The set was all the more meaningful as the band emotionally described recording the record in Chicago a decade earlier, which was like catnip for the already pumped-up crowd.

Bad Religion

With no new record to push, the California punk icons ran through a career-spanning setlist that pulled from early classics like “We’re Only Gonna Die” through to the succinct “Fuck You,” off 2013’s True North LP. Bad Religion has absolutely nothing to prove at this point, but they still bring a refreshing passion and energy to each show and their Riot Fest set was no exception.

Gogol Bordello

Replacing Bauhaus at the eleventh hour is no easy feat, but Gogol Bordello took the stage with a mission. With the band’s Romani music sound shot through with punk energy, the band stormed the stage and delivered a passionate and dizzying set complete with traditional Ukrainian dancers. With frontman Eugene Hütz repeatedly thanking the crowd for their support of Ukraine as the war in the country rages on, the set had an emotional heft that lingered long after the band’s thrilling finale that included Hütz surfing on a drum head over the delirious crowd.

“The Original” Misfits

Riot Fest was responsible for reuniting original Misfits members Glenn Danzig and Jerry Doyle in 2016, which seemed like an impossible feat at the time. The lawyers must have made it work because the band was back six years later to play 1982’s classic album Walk Among Us in full, along with a slew of other punk classics.

For fans who grew up thinking of the Misfits as a mythical band they would never see live (with both Danzig and Doyle on the same stage at least), it’s still incredible to think how long this reunion has lasted.

With an impressive light and video backdrop, the NJ heroes blasted through nearly 30 tracks including “Night of the Living Dead,” “Skulls,” “Last Caress,” and so many more. While Danzig often appeared out of breath between songs and found a number of creative ways to stall between numbers, once they kicked in the band sounded great. (You try singing even one Misfits song at full volume when you’re nearing 70).

With Jerry Only and his brother Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein pounding it out on bass and guitar, the band (also featuring Acey Slade on guitar and backing vocals and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo behind the kit) delivered a full-throttle set that had the massive audience singing along to every word. It truly felt like a dream (or nightmare) come true.