Photos: Faces of Riot Fest Chicago 2024

The crowd holds up a surfer during the Hives' performance at Riot Fest in Chicago on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.Nate Ryan for MPR

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September 23, 2024

Riot Fest returned to Douglass Park in Chicago, Illinois, over the weekend of Sept. 20-22. More than 90 bands performed on five stages over three days, and photographer Nate Ryan attended on Saturday, Sept. 21.

A few notes from Ryan’s experience: English punk rock act Buzzcocks had a smaller crowd earlier in the day, but looked like they were enjoying it — and that crowd was too. Swedish garage rock band the Hives stole the show, with huge energy, climbing all over the speaker stacks, and down into the pit right up to the front row — all with the singer Pelle Almqvist recovering from a recent knee injury.

The NOFX World stage had a long list of accomplished punk and hardcore bands. So many guests lined the stage for NOFX, in what was their fifth-to-last show.

Fresh off a pair of nights in St. Paul, St. Vincent's band was ripping with Mark Guiliana on drums. Beck opened up right into a raucous version of “Devil’s Haircut,” bringing a punk energy to start, before getting into more groovy/dancy tunes. It was a busy lineup with lots of overlapping sets, 88 degrees and sunny made it a hot day, but everyone looked excited — onstage and off.

The Crowd

Buzzcocks

Dead Milkmen

The Hives

Sir Chloe

Rival Sons

Spoon

Pavement

Descendants

Taking Back Sunday

Beach Bunny

Waxahatchee

NOFX

Dillinger Four

Beck

St Vincent