Riot Fest East conquered Philly this past Saturday with a line-up that bridged the divide between old and young fans of punk rock. And to my suprise, the old heads probably out-numbered the youngins, which made for an eclectic mix of music lovers. The day was filled with legendary bands giving amazing performances for almost 12 hours, non-stop. The roster included The Descendents, Dead Milkmen, X, Plow United, Hot Water Music, Naked Raygun, 7 Seconds, Suicide Machines, Samiam, Weston, The Menzingers, Excitebike, Shot Baker, Larry and His Flask, The Holy Mess, Brothers From Another, The Claw, and Population Zero. In general, I prefer small clubs to large fests any day, but have to tip my hat the show organizers as Riot Fest East ran incredibly smooth. As soon as one band would wrap up on the main, outdoor stage, another band was just gearing up to rock the indoor stage, thus giving fans the feeling of an intimate show and outdoor fest, all-in-one. There was not a bad performance throughout, but if I had to crown some standouts, it would have to be Suicide Machines, 7 Seconds, Larry and His Flask, and Population Zero, who collectively demanded the crowd’s full attention with an undeniable energy that saw mosh pits, stage-diving, crowd surfing, and all of the needed spectacles of a quality punk rock show. We know you are here for the pictures, so without further ado…
Enjoy 200+ pictures of Riot Fest Philadelphia by Joshua T. Cohen.
* Normally we like to include embedded music players to accompany each seperate band gallery, but due to the magnitude of this gallery, we did not want you dealing with ungodly load times, so we have included links to all performing acts.
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Excitebike
Suicide Machines
Plow United
Hot Water Music
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