Girl at the Rock Shows

The last day of Riot Fest is always the hardest, and this year, the 20th anniversary of this festival, was no different. It’s hard for many reasons. The first is because, by day three, my body is giving in to the pain and exhaustion. Second, I look back on all the missed opportunities. Did I pick the right sets to cover? Did I see what I wanted to see? Lastly, and most importantly, the last day of Riot Fest is the hardest because I have to say goodbye. Words really can not describe how amazing this festival is and what a true honor it is to be even a small figure at it. I won’t get all sappy with you here, because, like the past two days, there are so many bands to talk about. But let me just say —wow. What a year.

My Sunday started by catching Dune Rats. Their surf-punk style fit the sunny start to the day perfectly, and although the sweat was already rolling down my back, the coolness that their attitudes and performance brought was absolutely perfect.

Indianapolis-based Zero Boys were the next band for me. I had never heard of this group before, but it quickly became clear that they are legends, and I was honored to see them. Their sound was as classic as it was well-rehearsed. Sure, this is the first I have heard and seen of this band, but it surely won’t be the last.

I have seen The Smoking Popes a couple of times over the past few months, so I knew that their set was one that I couldn’t miss. As usual, this band sounded great and filled me with a fantastic sense of nostalgia and energy.

I don’t know why, but I always put Smoking Popes and Pegboy in the same category, so it seemed so fitting that Pegboy was the next band for me to see on Sunday. Although their crowd was a bit smaller than what had gathered for Smoking Popes, Pegboy gave us everything they had and were clearly having fun on stage, which made their time on set nothing short of charming.

Soft Play was one of the “big bands” for me on Sunday. This duo (formerly known as Slaves) has been my go-to choice for music to listen to while at work. It’s bombastic, it’s brash, it’s energetic, and it’s angsty, and I loved how perfectly this duo brought all of those elements into their short set on Sunday.

The attitude that Soft Play had laid out continued as Lambrini Girls took the stage right next to them. I’ve covered this band many times this year, so I will spare you this time, but, seriously, if you aren’t paying attention to this amazing trio, you’re doing it wrong.

I had a little break in bands that I had been planning on seeing, so I stopped by one of the two main stages to see what Dance Hall Crashers were all about. I am happy I did. Their classic ska sound not only gave me a breather from running around, but also filled me with enough energy to even dance a wee bit.

It was back to a more classic punk sound for the next set that I caught. Screeching Weasel has been around since 1986, and, like Zero Boys, you could hear and see that, but not in a bad way. Screeching Weasel was as full of life as they were perfect, and it was so fun to hear them play through their 1991 album ‘My Brain Hurts.’

This is where the night got a bit hectic. Something was going on with one of the smaller stages, and the timing got off. It seemed as though the stage had been plagued by sound issues all day, but the problems were getting worse as the day progressed. I was super annoyed by this because it was throwing off my schedule for the rest of the day, but, at the same time, it worked in my favor because I got to catch Hanson for a hot minute. I couldn’t stay long, but I was there long enough to get the sweet sound of this iconic pop band stuck in my head.

It had been far too long since I last saw Gym Class Heroes, so this was a set I was absolutely stoked for all weekend. I honestly had this set up on a pedestal as one of my highest anticipated ones of this entire festival, which means, ultimately, I was setting this group up to fail, but they did not. With Travis “Travie” McCoy at the helm, this group filled me with such a pleasant feeling of nostalgia, but there was also something fresh about their set that has me hopeful that maybe there will be some new music coming from them soon.

It was a pretty giant change to go from the boy band feeling of Hanson and the pop-punk/ hip-hop tone of Gym Class Heroes to the intensity of IDLES, but that’s what this festival is all about. It’s about music that makes you feel something, and IDLES absolutely made me feel everything. This band will forever remain in the list of best live bands I’ve ever seen, and their set on Sunday only solidified that. There are no words that can accurately describe the power this band brings to a stage, and it absolutely helps that their music is unique and intense.

Cobra Starship was another intense set, but in a different way than IDLES. The intensity of Cobra Starship came in the form of a dance party that was impossible to resist. Cobra Starship’s bouncy and infectious beats were only outshone by the personalities and attitude that really brought this band to life.

The Academy Is… was my final set of Riot Fest 2025 and, truthfully, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. Although it was a race against the clock to get through their set since the stage they were playing had fallen behind schedule-wise, this band played every song with the same feeling of heart and conviction that I remember them having when I saw them over twenty years ago. There was something so special about having this band be the final band of this year’s edition of Riot Fest.

And there you have it. 43 bands photographed, numerous more seen and enjoyed, one piece of pizza consumed, more energy drinks than I’d like to admit consumed, one bottle of sunscreen drained… You get it. Riot Fest 2025 is over, and, per usual, heading back to Minneapolis on Monday will be bittersweet. I’m excited to get home and get back in the swing of things, but I am absolutely leaving a little piece of my heart at Riot Fest. I’m hopeful that I’ll be back next year to pick it up again.