After Riot Fest was NIMBYed out of its former home in Byers earlier this year, it looked like the young event might join Monolith and Mile High Music Festival in the Denver rock festival graveyard.
Instead, Riot Fest raged on this weekend in the parking lot of Sports Authority Field while its normal residents were out of town. And while the new venue was far less memorable than May Farms, the music was no less great.
The three-day fest featured some huge names (The Cure, Wu-Tang Clan, Weezer), but some of the smaller moments lent it a distinctively Colorado feel. Seminal punk acts the Descendents and All (both loosely based in Fort Collins) were on hand, while members of NOFX spent the full weekend in Denver.
When a rainstorm rolled in Sunday night, conjuring visions of last year’s muddy weather delay in Byers, Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath responded by diving headfirst into the crowd. That move, along with Wu-Tang’s insistence on popping bottles no matter what the weather, put an exclamation point on the festival’s final hours.
The following bands are pictured in this photo gallery:
- New Found Glory
- Gogol Bordello
- NOFX
- The Flaming Lips
- Slayer
- Weezer
- The Menzingers
- Bouncing Souls
- Violent Femmes
- Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies
- Dropkick Murphys
- Sublime with Rome
- Rise Against
- Wu-Tang Clan
- Manchester Orchestra