
Tag: bad religion

Riot Fest 2018: The Riot Still Rages
Words and Photos by: Meghan Breedlove This past weekend in Chicago, Riot Fest 2018 wrapped up their 13th year and Janky Smooth was there to capture some of the scenes from the weekend. Even though Riot Fest shared some devastating news regarding Blink 182’s cancellation (due to health issues) a few short days before the festival, Riot Fest was able to recover quickly by booking Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, and Run the Jewels. related content: How Riot Fest Chicago 2016 Survived The Misfits Subpar Performance Even with Blink 182’s absence, there was no shortage of their songs, with multiple Blink 182 covers sung over the weekend to honor the band, with both Weezer and Young the Giant covering “All the Small Things”. The festival layout was somewhat cozy, with five stages of proximity, a freak show, a variety of carnival rides, and of course pretty much any fried food your heart desired. Overall, Riot Fest 2018 was a major success despite some last minute lineup changes, so here is a recap of my adventure in Chicago this past weekend. related content: Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop Punk Day 1 I first arrived at the festival

It’s Not Dead Fest: The State of the Union
After my visit to San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino yesterday and bearing witness to the 1000’s of punks kicking up huge clouds of dust In 100 degree weather at It’s Not Dead Fest, I can, without a doubt, attest to the fact that It’s NOT Dead. Not dead at all. Well, at least the part of IT that generates millions of dollars of revenue, world-wide. When people talk about “It” being “dead”, are they referring to “it’s” spirit? “It” is punk rock and I’ve written about this topic so many times now that this might be my swan song. Then again, if a 52 year old Milo Aukerman can stand in front of thousands of sweaty friends and play “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” then I can write about “it”- again. After attending HiFi Rockfest a couple weeks back, I must admit, I WAS a bit worried about the future of hardcore punk but after the invasion and take over this weekend and thinking back to the last Punk Rock Bowling it became clear that the issue with HiFi Rockfest was 100% promotional. I hadn’t attended a Warped Tour in at least 15 years and this show reminded me

Bad Religion at The Mayan: Hardcore Punk Lives On Through a Soft Generation
It’s been interesting to attend every night of Red Bull Sound Select’s, 30 Days in LA– and exhausting. I’m a music mutt so I would probably attend at least 15 of 30 days even if I wasn’t covering them but this weekend, I went from Warpaint to Bad Religion. Now that’s a swing of emotion. I went from being brought to tears to wanting to make someone cry. Red Bull was labeling Sunday as an all punk night and claims like that are when I start to get really snobby. There is no denying the influence Bad Religion has had on hardcore punk but I was worried that they might bust out acoustic guitars for a show like this because their releases over the last 10 years have certainly lost their edge. I walked into The Mayan in Downtown L.A. and immediately became worried when I heard Foo Fighters playing over the P.A. I didn’t do my usual homework on the Red Bull bands opening for Bad Religion. I prefer letting the live show do the talking but it’s always nice to have a point of reference. I had heard The Scandals from New Jersey but had no idea what