Friday:
Briefly saw Taking Back Sunday, saw all of Cloud Nothings, small bits of Alktaline Trio and Portugal. The Man, and was very pleasently surprised by Bleachers. Would enjoy seeing Bleachers again even though they are not my kind of music. The sax does it for me. MCR was the tale of the day. Exactly what I wanted them to be, they absolutely killed it and exuded great music and positive energy. The crowd really sucked though. So many assholes.

Saturday:
Saw Joy Formidable, Front Bottoms, Yungblud, Gogol Bordello, Sunny Day Real Estate, and some of Misfits and Yellowcard (that's what I remember at least). Joy Formidable were solid, Front Bottoms are good as usual, Yungblud was fully not my thing, Gogol was the best of the day (great energy and passion), the rest were fine-slightly unpleasant.

Sunday:
Saw Less than Jake, briefly Coolio (RIP), Pvris, Jimmy Eat World, Alice Glass, Sleater-Kinney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, NIN. (That's what I remember at least). Alice Glass, Sleater, and Yeah Yeahs were the standouts on this day. So good to see Alice doing well, and I liked hearing some Crystal Castles without the douchebag being involved. Sleater is great live, though Janet was missed. Yeah Yeahs aren't my favorite on record but are very good live. The new songs play well in this setting.

Overall, I would say this festival isn't built for me. Riotfest of a decade ago was more for someone of my taste, but it is always a fun and exhausting experience

Going into this show, I had no idea this was going to be an album playthrough. Those aren't typically my favorite (unless I only like a specific album from an artist), but I don't feel this detracted too much from this performance. Was right in front to of the stage, and had a lot of fun. The moshing was a bit much for those of us that were on the near outside of the pit, I was in protect mode for my beloved GF.

I feel they put on a better performance a few months earlier in support of PUP. I feel their play of Wasted Days wasn't quite hitting on all cylindors. I get somewhat bad vibes from them on a personal level.

PUP's energy and positivity is a reliable force. They aren't my favorite, and a lot of their music can be a bit "same", but I enjoy seeing them and their music never bothers me. Seem like great guys.

Cloud Nothings stole the show for me. I knew them very little going in, but their frantic jammy play style is a lot of fun. This made me a fan of theirs and led me to see them headline at the Empty Bottle months later

I always love seeing FJM, he puts on such a great show consistently. Seeing him with the more orchestral backing band was a great experience.

The opener was inoffensive.

"I'm All Ears" was my album of the year the year it came out. I listened to it endleslly. I had tix to see them at the Empty Bottle and was at my peak fandom at that point. Sadly, tragedy struck the band and they had to cancel that tour. This was their first show back in Chicago since then, 3.5 years later. My fandom has wained somewhat, I was not as into their followup album.

They put in a good show, still showing some of their youthful energy. Compared to their pre-pandemic shows that I have watched on YouTube, they seemed like they were perhaps having less fun and less connected on stage which was a bit disappointing for me. Was still a good show that I am glad I went to, but I'll forever wonder what it would have been like seeing them at the Empty Bottle playing the album I loved so much.

Folie was the opener here. Not the most impressive display, musically, but it was a fun set to watch.

I have avoided going to see the Shins over the years because I know that James is not the best live-vocalist. IMO, he does better on record than in person. That being said, they are a big band for me in my life and the chance to see them play this album was something I jumped at.

This was a good experience. Perhaps not worth the money, but I am glad I made the leap overall. It brought me back to younger days listening to this album and finding such meaning in it. I'm glad they didn't play anything from Heartworms. I don't feel I ever need to see them again. This was the best way to see them at this point in my life. JOSEPH was a perfectly OK opener.

Great show. Was front of stage and could feel the positive energy from the band. They seemed to be having a great time and that was infectious. Seeing the songs fleshed out added meaning to them, particularly “Riding Solo”. One of my favorite shows in recent memory

Perturbator was a very good opener. HEALTH was good, as always, and played a good mix of their songs