After two days of rain and mud, the final day of Riot Fest was a beautiful day. But even with  the best weather, it was arguably the day with one of the weakest lineups. But Snoop Dogg, even though he was a half hour late, stole the show.

Taking Back Sunday

After a headlining set Saturday night, Taking Back Sunday came back to play a mid-afternoon secret set at one of the smallest stages within the festival. Rumors were going around that the emo legends were going to be playing all new material, but instead came out and instantly performed “A Decade Under the Influence” and “What’s It Feel Like to Be A Ghost?” before continuing to play an entire set of their classic songs from the emo era in the mid-2000s. I passed on watching their set Saturday night in order to see System of A Down, as I’ve seen Taking Back Sunday at least four times, but it was such a treat to be able to see them, especially in a sort of more intimate setting. The band plays Riot Fest almost every year, but watching their set made it understandable why—the band very obviously loved performing at the festival, as frontman Adam Lazzara said, “We are Riot Festing so hard right now,” and the crowd loved them back.

Andrew W.K.

If you’re coming to an Andrew W.K. show for musical variance, or even good music in general you’re in the wrong place and you’re totally missing the point. Andrew W.K.’s sole purpose in life is to provide as many people as he can with a good time, and he’s a person who just wants to make others happy, as he dedicated “She is Beautiful” to every woman at Riot Fest. Yeah, his music might all sound the same (to the point where you go “Oh cool, this one’s ‘Party Hard’ with every new song he plays), and it might be pretty bad when you actually listen to it, but it’s fun—and that’s the main point. Even with all his songs sounding the same, his massively large crowd was partying through the whole set.

Super Heaven

Though it was finally a nice day at Riot Fest, Superheaven managed to bring gloom to the sunny and beautiful day. A complete contrast from Andrew W.K., Superheaven’s set was mostly filled with sad-looking men in their 20s, nodding along to grunge revival band. The band, formerly known as Daylight, played songs off of both of their albums, 2013’s “Jar” and their latest release “Ours is Chrome,” which came out in May.

[box]See all of our Riot Fest 2015 coverage here.[/box]

Snoop Dogg

Almost 35 minutes after Snoop Dogg was set to perform, he came on stage in a cloud of smoke. While some members of the incredibly dense crowd were mad, most of us realized if we’re going to see Snoop Dogg, his emerging incredibly late and incredibly high was an inevitability. After a hype man and hype woman introduced him, The Doggfather himself emerged, launching into “Gin and Juice,” one of the most iconic hip-hop songs of all time.

Though he was supposed to play the entirety of his debut album “Doggystyle,” Snoop also included “Nuthin but A ‘G’ Thing” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” within his incredible set. But because he arrived so late, Snoop was told he had three minutes left in his set, then went into a verbal tirade against whoever told him he only had three minutes left, and he yelled “I’m doing my thang right now,” before eventually having all power cut at his stage while singing “Young, Wild & Free.”

Modest Mouse

Following Snoop Dogg must have been tough for several reasons. The first being no one knew when he was going to end his set, and the second is Snoop should have headlined, as his set was filled with excitement and fun, and Modest Mouse’s was just filled with beautifully performed, but sad music. Modest Mouse is a really good band, don’t get me wrong. All of their albums are good—but they’re not great. The band is missing anything to make them stand out from a wide array of other choices to headline the festival. On top of that, the calming lights throughout their set and their overall depressing music (just try listening to a Modest Mouse album without sobbing) left me feeling empty and sad inside, which is a really weird way to leave a music festival. The band flawlessly performed their set, but the headlining spot on the last day of Riot Fest was the wrong time slot for them.