These are my top five shows of 2021. I hope to see more than 30 bands in 2022, but the future is now – so let’s get to it.
#5: Ty Segall – Psycho Music Festival – August 20th
Playing on a stage atop a wave pool, Ty Segall and his band put on one of the loudest, fiercest sets of the 2021 Psycho Music Festival. The power coming across the water was stunning.
Clutch are always a top tier live band, and this show kept their reputation intact. They played a few new cuts and a lot of stuff from early in their catalogue they hadn’t played in a long while.
I’m not sure I saw a more delighted crowd at any show in 2021. Everyone stopped caring about the heat and humidity, the overpriced food, and the terrible screamo bands on the lineup and started cheering, dancing, and singing.
This set stunned everyone at the Mandalay House of Blues. It was my first time seeing FATW live, and the first time many in the crowd had heard them. It was their first gig in two years, and they came out gunning. I heard someone in another crowd later raving about them and telling everyone he could to listen to them. I can’t put it better than that.
Holy crap. Osees closed the 2021 Psycho Music Festival’s outdoor stage on the last night of the four-night festival. They went bonkers. Yes, I know every Osees show is bonkers, but you could tell they had a lot of pent-up energy from not being able to play in front of a crowd for two years. People were charging through the wading pool in front of the stage, throwing beer buckets full of water on each other, or stumbling backwards on the beach as the wall of sound hit us like a bulldozer.
Everyone stay healthy in 2022 so we can see more shows.
No, you didn’t miss three posts. I only attended day four of Chicago’s annual Riot Fest this year, and it was the first Riot Fest I’d attended. A friend scored some free tickets, and far be it from me to pass up a chance to see Devo and The Flaming Lipson the same bill.
This was the hottest music festival I’ve attended in a long while. There was little shade to be had, but sunscreen and taking frequent breaks between sets meant not suffering too much. A freshly made fruit smoothie from a vegan food vendor did me wonders.
The first set we caught was by The Gories, who opened one of the main stages. They sounded loud and dirty, and I’d love to see them in a small venue, but I’m glad I finally got to see these Detroit punk legends.
The Gories!
We walked around Douglas Park and discovered the festival was widely spread out. Food vendors were in one far corner, while a smaller fifth stage was seemingly a half-mile away in the opposite corner. You’d think they’d wheel out some portable light posts with all that room, but no.
Up next were HEALTH, and one of my friends fell in love with them upon hearing their industrial set under sun so bright that their bassist / synth player had to cover his keyboards with trash bags so he could read the digital displays on them.
The sun wasn’t healthy if you weren’t wearing sunscreen that day.
After a nice break under a tree, we trotted over to the smallest stage to see Chicago noise rockers Melkbelly, who played a fun set that included a cover of Pixies‘ “Gigantic” in an attempt to make up for Pixies cancelling their tour this summer. They were so out of practice with performing live shows due to the pandemic that they forgot their merchandise in their van.
Melkbelly playing to a lot of local fans.
I scored some chicken tenders that were average at best while my friends scored an elephant ear. Riot Fest has carnival rides on site, and I can only imagine how many drunk attendees regret getting on them over the course of the weekend.
We returned to the Rebel Stage to see Bleached perform their first set in two years (according to them, and a running theme for live shows everywhere this year), right after a guy walked by us peddling mushrooms to anyone who wanted them. They sounded great, and I would’ve liked to have stayed for the whole set, but Devo was calling…
Bleached having a fun time in the sun.
The stage was packed for Devo, complete with a mosh pit and crowd surfers. It was a fun set in which they played nearly the entire Freedom of Choice album. The whole crowd was happy and still buzzing afterwards. One guy was high-fiving people and telling them, “You just saw Devo!” It was the first time my friend, Amy, had seen them. She said she smiled so much during the set that her cheeks hurt afterwards. A delight for me and my friend (and Amy’s cousin), Brian, was getting to hear Devo’s cover of “Secret Agent Man” live for the first time. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to hear it.
De-evolution is real!
Brian and I stuck around for the Flaming Lips‘ set. Brian hadn’t seen them before, and we couldn’t get close to the stage by they started – mainly due to them starting right after Devo’s set. It was still a good set, and nearly the same as when I saw them at Psycho Music Festival. Wayne Coyne encouraged everyone to take care of each other and stay healthy so live music can continue. Amen to that.
The Flaming Lips blowing sun-baked minds.
It was a good time (and Brian’s first music festival, no less), but would I go back? The short answer is, “I don’t know.” There were a lot of bad bands on the bill on day four, and I don’t think the other three days were much better. A lot of the bands playing the various stages sounded like Rage Against the Machine rip-offs, screamo nonsense, or pop-garbage. We got the hell out of there before Slipknot and Machine Gun Kelly started their sets and laughed as we passed a guy selling nitrous oxide balloons outside the park. I might return if the lineup gets better, and they’ve already announced another Misfits reunion for 2022, but Douglas Park-area residents won’t be happy about it…
