Marky Ramone looks back on the Ramones as the Riot Festival kicks off in Chicago

“I see Ramones’ acting,” drummer Marqui Ramone said with a chuckle, assessing the Riot Fest during a Friday afternoon chat in Chicago. “It’s like, you have misfits and they have been influenced by ramonis. You have the grandchildren — they are affected by ramonis…” he remarked, running into some major work on the weekend. “Thank you. I am very grateful for that.”

The Riot Fest is one of America’s most important festival celebrations of punk rock and metal, with a diverse lineup on Friday highlighting pop (Bleachers), alternative rock (My Chemical Romance) and more.

Mark Bell took charge of the original Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone in 1978, becoming Marky Ramone, who debuted on the group’s fourth album. road to ruin (and the Ramones’ original tracks like “I Wanna Be Sedated”), while appearing in the 1979 cult classic Rock and Roll High School.

After spending the summer outside waving an ancestral punk flag, Riot Fest marks only Ramone’s fifth American show since 2019.

“After two and a half years of playing, I didn’t really think about it,” the drummer explained to return to the stage. “I just wanted to get over the COVID problem. I went to Hawaii for three months. I wanted to be isolated. So I started painting,” Ramon said. “I didn’t want to do anything with music at that moment. Because I just wanted to see if I could do something else, the thing I drew, which I did. Two and a half years later we were training once, playing in Chile at Lollapalooza with the Foo Fighters and it was like we never stopped, you know? “

In classic Ramones costumes, director Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg was a frantic force on stage at Riot Fest, performing Ramones classics at breakneck speed. “1, 2, 3, 4!” The number of brands came as the group went from “Beat on the Brat” to “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” searching deep into the Ramones catalog for pieces like “Havana Affair,” any backing track or any other trick spotted during the group’s hour. specified.

“We do 35 Ramones songs. We did 45 songs in Argentina – non-stop. No samples. No auto-tuning. None of that stuff. I think it’s unfair to the audience,” he said. “It’s amazing. Ramon, 70, said of the group’s almost unparalleled ability to consistently reach new generations of fans: “I am amazed that the lyrical content and the strength of the songs really attract young people. They continue to advance. What can I say?”

On a sunny Chicago afternoon, the temperature hit 80 degrees north, and the weather was perfect as a riot fest kicked off in Douglas Park on the southwest side near the city.

Does anyone have smaller sunglasses? Jokingly, Lagwagon’s guitarist Chris Rist did a ’90s punk band called “To All My Friends”. “This is the part where we tune into the guitar like we’re a metal band and play our most raucous song in Drop D,” the band joked.

Anberlin, Florida alternative rocker, performed a fun, 45-minute run Friday at the Rice Theater.

Singer Stephen Christian said, ‘This is a signal to scream ‘Speak!’ “Get off your feet!” the singer shouted, the crowd jumped in time for “Feel Good Drag” as the performance drew to a close, and the Sparta poised across the field on the Riot stage.

“Before we start, we’re called Sparta from the great state of Texas,” singer and guitarist Jim Ward said on stage Friday. Wearing a “Beto For Texas” T-shirt, the singer said calling for Texas governor candidate (and punk guitarist) Beto O’Rourke during his first political moment this afternoon.

One of the highlights was Sparta early Friday afternoon in Chicago, kicking off the events with “Breaking the Broken” before moving on to “Miracle.”

Power trios were a thing on Friday, the Alkaline Trio opened with “Time to Waste” later while fans waited for the Bleachers to start.

It’s an easy ride between the stages in Riot Fest and Portugal. The guy performed the song Feel It Still as Marky Ramone opened with “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” nearby.

But Friday night belonged to the Bleachers, a Jack Antonoff band that conjures up images of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street with a pair of live saxophonists facing off on stage, the sound of a big band moving through Douglas Park during How Dare You Do More.

Antonov stepped on a amp as “Let’s Get Married” kicked off Friday night in Chicago, slowing things down later during the touching hit “Everybody Lost Somebody.”

“I came to play Chicago!” Antonov emphasized on stage. “We’ve got a tape crawling on stage! Let’s listen to this!” said the singer as he hooked up the guitar. “Chicago is the best ever.”