After the rain Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, Douglas Park turned into a mud pit. Most of Saturday was spent trying to avoid massive puddles and getting shoes stuck in the mud, which acted like a quicksand (impossible). Even with the bad weather conditions, Riot Fest provided the most stacked lineup for Saturday, which even made eventually falling into a gigantic puddle of muddy water worth it.

FIDLAR

I feel like I should put a disclaimer that FIDLAR is my favorite band. It’s a tough choice between No Doubt and FIDLAR for who I was more excited for, and the California skate-punks did not let me, or anyone else in the fairly large crowd down. Kicking their set off with “Stoked and Broke,” off of their first full-length LP “FIDLAR,” the show was already filled with more energy than many other acts at Riot Fest.

FIDLAR continued their set, while finding time to writhe on the ground, kiss their R. Kelly mannequins that they had accompany them on stage, and in the case of guitarist and vocalist Zac Carper, crowd surf, as the band played “Drones,” off their just-released album, “Too.” After getting back on stage, Carper was almost tackled by a security guard for some reason, and given a black eye, but in typical FIDLAR fashion he just laughed it off, reflecting their laid-back vibe made evident in songs like “West Coast,” which they played much to the crowd’s approval. Although they were one of the earliest sets, they (at least in my biased opinion) were by far one of the best, as no one can ever be let down by a FIDLAR show.

The Dead Milkmen

Riot Fest normally does really well with the nostalgic acts. Of course there are always some missteps, but for the most part, older bands that the punk festival brings back are normally just as fun as they would have been in their heyday (well, at least close.) Unfortunately, The Dead Milkmen weren’t one of those bands. While the band still has the spirit of 1983 in their performance, they just didn’t sound great. Even with whipping out songs like “Punk Rock Girl” and “Bitchin Camaro,” it wasn’t enough to grab the audience and make it a memorable set. Instead of retaining the snotty quality they previously had, The Dead Milkmen, and vocalist Joe Jack Talcum’s voice, reflected their age.

Desaparecidos

The crowd for Desaparecidos was divided. There were the happy fans, who were just excited to see the band who was broken up for close to 10 years. Then there were the jaded fans, who listened to the emo band when they first emerged in 2001 and thought there was no way to top their stellar 2001 release, “Read Music/Speak Spanish.” Both groups were kind of right. It’s always awesome to see a band you never thought you’d get a chance to see, but the appeal kind of wore off after Desaparecidos came to Chicago numerous times after their reunion. The band’s newest album, “Payola,” was released in June, and doesn’t capture the intensity that their first did. Not that it’s bad, it just doesn’t stand out like “Read Music/Speak Spanish,” and that’s how their set was, fine, but nothing stood out about it.

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Joyce Manor

Joyce Manor played at the furthest stage from the rest of the festival, and in order to get to the stage people had to traverse seas of mud and dirty puddles. It was a trek to get there, but well worth it. Starting off their energetic set with “Constant Nothing,” the band played songs off their self-titled debut, 2012’s “Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired,” and last year’s “Never Hungover Again,” in addition to a cover of Weezer’s “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly,” while fans sang along and crowdsurfed throughout the set. Not only did Joyce Manor sound great throughout their set, but are also a fun band to watch live, as they interact with the crowd consistently. While it was the hardest to reach set, the energy that both the band and the crowd had made it one of the most fun to catch.

The Academy Is…

One of the aspects that Riot Fest excels in is their nostalgic run-throughs of albums, which is a trend that the festival thankfully is carrying on, after starting it last year for their tenth anniversary. The Academy Is… was also celebrating a tenth anniversary, as their first full length studio album celebrated it’s tenth birthday this year. The crowd, which almost entirely consisted of people in their 20’s, was packed as the band masterfully tore through the album, which included emo-era staples like “Slow Down” and “The Phrase That Pays.” In addition to performing the album in full, The Academy Is… announced a full tour in honor of the tenth anniversary of the album that will be taking place in December, which made the concert goers who are still emo at heart extraordinarily excited.

Billy Idol

Summer festivals always try to have one legendary act, and it can be argued that Billy Idol is their pick for this year. Idol, famous enough on his own, has also been a member of classic English punk era band, Generation X. Idol mostly stuck to his hits he had throughout his solo career for his late performance, including “Rebel Yell,” “Dancing With Myself,” and “White Wedding,” which was unanimously beloved by the incredibly large crowd.

While most concertgoers were entertained by Idol, some found a perfect chance to expose their pretentiousness about a man who guest starred in an Adam Sandler film, saying “This is okay, but Generation X was better.” Although Idol is beyond famous, he made sure to express his gratitude to the crowd numerous times saying “Thank you for making my life so great and crazy,” but by the love Idol was shown, it’s obvious his fans feel the same way.

System of a Down

One of the largest crowds of the night was for alternative metal band System of a Down, who have been regularly touring since returning from their hiatus in 2010. The large amount of people in the crowd led to some downfalls within the otherwise outstanding set, as ambulances rushed in on at least three separate occasions to help hurt crowd members, and at least two different people were arrested within the band’s set. System of a Down even took time out of their set to stop their music twice, to acknowledge that people were being hurt, as frontman Serj Tankian said “It’s extremely awkward to sing when there are people who look like they’re dying in front of me. We love playing these shows, but it’s not worth one person getting hurt.”

After most things involving outside forces were taken care of, System of a Down proved why they had such a large crowd, as Tankian phenomenally belted out some of the band’s hits, including the highly recognizable “B.Y.O.B.” and “Radio/Video” off of 2005’s “Mezmerize,” in addition to their countless other fan-favorite songs.