Although The Silhouette is a pretty big university newspaper, the name doesn’t quite hold the same weight I like to think it does when applying for media accreditation to shows outside Hamilton.

This summer has been different in that respect — barring my heartbreaking denial from One Direction’s ACC show — with one of our number getting a pass to Osheaga. That said, I was still surprised when I got an email from Riot Fest staff saying I’d gotten two press passes. I had pondered buying a ticket earlier in the year when I heard The National were playing, but I had passed it off as an unnecessary indulgence considering I’d already seen them twice during their three-night stand at Massey Hall. With the pass taking money out of the equation, I joined the thousands of others on the subway to Downsview Park. The festival lineup was one that boasted a lot of acts that were past their prime, but that didn’t matter for those looking at it as an opportunity to see bands they used to love when they were still pubescent.

Day 1

Taking Back Sunday

After meeting up with my friend and walking past Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne (he’s also a flaming asshole) in the press tent, I walked over to the Rock Stage where Taking Back Sunday boasted a pretty large audience for a midday set. I only caught the tail end of the show, having shown up pretty late, but from what I gauged by the crowd’s temperament, TBS seemed to have aged well. The same couldn’t be said for their fans.

Brand New

Brand New was next on the docket after a break for lunch and the struggle to find a dry place to sit amidst the muddy wasteland. There was another big turnout for the emo heavyweights who could never be accused of trying to pave new ground. They’ve always made scream-heavy songs with pretentious long-winded titles, but those always found a way to weasel into the hearts of angsty teens who took themselves equally as seriously. Since I hadn’t heard them for a while, most of Brand New’s songs sounded difficult to differentiate between. Regardless of the fact that I’d moved on from such music, it was cool to see a lot of people crowd surfing and losing their minds in a good way.

Death From Above 1979

DFA was the first band I was genuinely excited to hear at the festival, and for the most part I wasn’t disappointed. I had missed their 2012 Hamilton Place show, so it was nice to finally get to see them. With a new album coming at long last this month, DFA is still a big draw off the strength of their debut alone. They played a good amount of their hits, but sprinkled in some newer material that didn’t really register with the bro-filled audience. Lead singer and drummer Sebastein Grainger took a break from proceedings to remark that “95 per cent of you are probably from Barrie or Orillia,” which to me sounded like a polite way to call someone white trash. I just wish they had played as loud as Brand New.

Billy Talent

“People still listen to Billy Talent?” I thought as I trekked across the entire park to take in the native Ontarians’ set. It turned out a good number of Riot Fest attendees still do. What’s more impressive is that guitarist Ian D’Sa is still styling his hair in the same ridiculous fashion as he was when I first discovered the band in the early aughts. As corny as most of their music is, I still found myself in the mosh pit during tracks like “Red Flag” and “River Below.” Lead singer Benjamin Kowalewicz’s constant swearing seemed more of an attempt at remaining relevant in a fast-changing musical landscape than an actual desire to say “fuck you” to any establishment.

The Cure

The Cure were really high up on my list of bands to see as I had missed their Osheaga set the previous year. Robert Smith and his rotating cast of band-mates didn’t disappoint for the most part. The audience was predominantly middle-aged and, as a result, rather subdued. I didn’t care if no one else was moving around and really let loose during “Just Like Heaven”.

The lady standing next to me had her phone out the entire set. The stark brightness of her phone compelled me to look down in annoyance. I read her latest text: “This is a photo of The Cure. My new boyfriend has taken me to Riot Fest. This whole day I have been subjected to gay band after gay band…I can’t believe he likes this crap.” Although I did have some grievances about the set — mainly that it was too bogged down by deep cuts — I wouldn’t have gone that far. Her conservative attitude was one that I think a lot of the people at the festival shared and it was quite sad to see. I left early to avoid the rush to the subway.

Day 2

The Bots

I had been looking forward to Day 2 as I was slated to interview The Bots, a two-piece rock outfit from L.A., before their early set. As their surname denotes, Mikaiah Leh and Anaiah Leh are brothers, and it showed in their impressive performance. Aptly dressed to deal with the heat in all white, both seemed to be on the same frequency as they ripped through their brief but lively set.

Mikaiah’s voice has deepened since the band’s early days and it seems that has given him a lot of confidence behind the microphone. As hard as it is to attract an audience so early in the day, the band’s talent proved to bring many to look up from their phones. The brothers showed their charisma during the quieter folksy tracks that fill out the rest of their upcoming album, Pink Palms, out Oct. 13. During those more demure, introspective tracks, wiry frontman Mikaiah kept the crowd engaged with his collected demeanor. He later won their adoration with his rabid guitar antics during ‘5:17, which spurred a circle pit to open in front of him.

Die Antwoord

No one has ever faulted three-piece Cape Town outfit Die Antwoord for not being left field enough, and they definitely stayed true to this for their Riot Fest set. DJ Hi-Tek took the stage first to spin a song whose lyrics we won’t dare print in these pages. Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er promptly joined him on stage, dressed in neon orange tracksuits despite the blazing heat. The crowd seemed like it wanted to join the two rappers in their high-spirited revelry, but the sun appeared to have gotten to everyone not in the immediate vicinity of the stage. That said, there was a good number of fans up to the task of jumping and waving their hands in the air. Power to the topless crowd-surfer. Everyone left not quite knowing what they had taken in.

Stars

I hadn’t seen Stars since last summer’s inaugural Field Trip festival, so I was happy to see them take the stage to raucous applause. As always, Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell brought their own contagious brand of utter joy to the masses as if they were put on this Earth for that sole reason. Campbell took this responsibility so seriously that he shouted “be happy” at the crowd, who obliged with little dissent. Campbell spoke his mind about Canadian politics, saying that we only had one year of Harper left and that he would hate how much fun we were having. The only disappointment the set left the crowd with was the knowledge that it had ended after only forty minutes.

Death Cab For Cutie

Seth Cohen’s favourite band was up next. The show was bittersweet for me, as my love for them had admittedly waned since my adolescence, but the knowledge that Chris Walla was leaving the band following this tour made me incredibly nostalgic and put me in a really emotional place. As others will attest to, being so emotional isn’t that great when you have to deal with the whoppingly beautiful 8-minute barrage of sadness that is “I Will Possess Your Heart”.

The rest of the show proceeded without issue, meaning I didn’t start sobbing. Frontman Ben Gibbard admonished that they were probably the least punk band on the bill before launching into a spirited rendition of “Soul Meets Body” that had everyone singing along (read: me shouting my off-key version at others). I didn’t see as many couples making out as I thought I would.

The National

The National are the band I came to the festival for. Also the band who unfortunately was not doing any press on this stop of their lengthy tour in support of the excellent Trouble Will Find Me. I’ve seen their live set so many times I can tell what song they’re going to play just judging by what guitars the roadies give to Aaron and Bryce Dessner, but the show was fantastic regardless. Matt Berningner consumed his mandatory bottle of wine onstage and didn’t bother with much banter. Instead, the band opted to squeeze as much awesomeness into their hour-long set as possible.

Why Riot Fest gave the ever boring City & Colour the headlining slot ahead of The National is beyond me, but at least I didn’t have to sit through an hour of Dallas Green’s sleep-inducing music to get to the good stuff. While the setlist was composed of mainstays — from the booming “Bloodbuzz Ohio” to “Fake Empire” — the inclusion of Boxer deep-cut “Ada” came as a incredibly pleasant surprise. Later, Berninger got the crowd going in the best way he knows how — by descending into it during “Terrible Love”. The festival’s 8:40 p.m. set cutoff time was so strict that there was no room for the acapella version of High Violet bookend “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”. I’m sure Metric wouldn’t have minded, but shit happens and the band put on the best show of the weekend.