Gallery: Riot Fest 2015

Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba

Following in the footsteps of Seattle’s greatest grunge anti-hero, the Chicago-punk frontman played most of Alkaline Trio’s set with his HH Fender Jaguar.

Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull

The Atlanta-based frontman/guitarist brought the intensity during their set when he played “Shake It Off” with a red Fender American Standard Telecaster (with neck pickup, control knobs, and pickup selector removed).

Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Prince

Recently joining the band before recording 2014’s Cope, Prince comes from a long line of musicians and rocks a mashed-up Fender P bass to honor his low-end loving grandfather who rocked a similar 4-string, but the younger Prince had to add some flair by outfitting his with gold hardware.

Every Time I Die's Jordan Buckley

One-half of the ETID's guitar assault takes flight during the opener "We'rewolf" with his ESP Truckster James Hetfield signature that is loaded with EMG 81/60s.

Less Than Jake’s Chris DeMakes

The Florida ska-punk guitarist balances between clean upstrokes and rock riffs during LTJ’s good time set thanks to his Electra Omega model that features the company’s MagnaFlux Coil Split pickups.

Dwarves’ Fresh Prince of Darkness

The masked man shown here lets the breeze hit his man regions all during the Dwarves set dedicated to their seminal classic Blood Guts & Pussy that was released in 1990. The luchador madman played his Fender Tele the whole set.

Gabriela Quintero

Some bands need volume and distortion to rock, but that’s not the case for Rodrigo Y Gabriela who owned Riot Fest by serving up beautiful ballads and fingerstyle metal-worthy covers of Metallica, Megadeth, and Led Zeppelin.

Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock

The fiery frontman played a good chunk of the festival’s last set Sunday night with his Wicks Custom 6-string that has a solid mahogany body, a five-piece maple neck, a “Tree of Life” inlay on the pau ferro fretboard, a custom-made Calaham trem, and Wolftone pickups.

Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace

The punk-rocking frontwoman strums her completely stock Rickenbacker 360 during the band’s performance of “True Trans Soul Rebel.”

Less Than Jake’s Roger Manganelli

The longtime pogo-jumping bassist for the ska-punkers from Gainesville, Florida, has been a big user of Sterling by Music Man low-end machines. He’s shown here with a SBMM Ray34 that has a single alnico humbucker he played on “The Ghosts of Me and You.”

Dwarves’ Nick Oliveri

The desert-rock bass master celebrated the Dwarves’ 1990 ripper Blood Guts & Pussy by playing it in its entirety with his reliable Fender P bass.

Manchester Orchestra’s Robert McDowell

The band’s lead guitarist gets into the brooding “Pride” with his Fender ’72 Telecaster Deluxe that has Ernie Ball 2220 Power Slinky .011–.048 strings on it.

Rodrigo Sanchez

The other half of Rodrigo Y Gabriela played the entire set with his NTX1200R that has a solid Sitka spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, an African mahogany neck, and Yamaha’s A.R.T 2way preamp.

Anthrax’s Frank Bello

Giving a big hello the Douglas Park crowd, Anthrax bassist helped the thrash titans cover Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time” with his ESP Frank Bello signature that has an alder body, maple neck, ebony fretboard, and EMG JX and PX pickups.

Bootsy Collins

When it was time to get funked up, Riot Fest knew what they were doing when they welcomed former Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins to Douglas Park. Heâs shown here with his Warwick Custom Shop Signature Star Bass that has a swamp ash body, maple neck, tigerstripe ebony fretboard, and five EMG J pickups with MEC onboard electronics.

Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez

Claudio was barking at the moon during Coheed’s jammer “Devil in Jersey City” on Friday afternoon. He’s seen here with one of his beloved Gibson Explorers that’s been altered with a Bare Knuckle Nailbomb in the bridge and stock neck pickup. The finish is sanded off the neck for speed, the electronics are upgraded with sealed pots, and the headstock has been broken and fixed.

Coheed and Cambria’s Travis Stever

Adding a little vibe to “You Got Spirit, Kid” is guitarist Travis Stever who is playing a Gibson Traditional Les Paul goldtop that’s tuned a half-step down for other songs like “The Afterman” and “Wake Up.”

Eagles of Death Metal’s Dave Catching

The bearded wonder is Eagles of Death Metal lead guitarist Dave Catching who is jamming hard during “Don’t Speak (I Came to Make a Bang!) with his Echopark Guitars Albert V that’s closely based on the iconic 1958 Gibson model.

Desaparecidos’ Conor Oberst

The indie icon took a rest from Bright Eyes to get down with his edgier-and-heavier band Desaparecidos for Riot Fest 2015. For most of the band’s dynamic and energetic set, Oberst used his trusty 1973 Les Paul Junior.

Desaparecidos’ Denver Dalley

The band’s lead guitarist has a penchant for unusual 6-strings as he described to us in a recent Staff Picks: “The Gibson RD is such a cool guitar that they briefly made in the late ’70s. I have four of them and I’m always looking for the next one.”

L7’s Donita Sparks

Celebrating their recent revival, Sparks and her crew of badass broads put their stamp of rock ’n’ roll all over Riot Fest. Her No. 1 is a Gibson 120th Anniversary model Flying V that she’s outfitted with a Kahler trem bar. She digs this one the most “because it’s a couple pounds lighter than my other Gibson and Epiphone Flying Vs.”

Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes

Boots Electric boogies down with his signature Maton MS500 that features lightning bolts instead of f-holes and custom-wound humbuckers that Hughes digs "because I donât use pedals live, so when theyâre paired with my Orange heads they get right to the edge of distortion without losing any clarity or heft."

Every Time I Die’s Andy Williams

The offensive line-sized guitarist beats and batters his 1981 Gibson Les Paul that he played during the fist-pumping anthem “Thirst.”

Faith No More’s Billy Gould

FNMâs original bassist relies on his signature Zon Sonus bass that has an onboard preamp designed with Greenhouse Effects Roy Zichri so Gould doesn't need any effects onstage. The bass also has proprietary-designed Bartolini pickups first put in his basses in the early '90s.

Faith No More’s Jon Hudson

The most-unlikeliest rockstarâwhen the band broke up in 1998, Hudson dropped guitar and hit the housing marketâis shown here playing a 2000s Gibson Les Paul Traditional during the song âBe Aggressive.â

Gwar's Balsac—the Jaws of Death

Mike Derks donned his monster suit and played his signature model Schecter Balsac the Jaws 'o Death 6-string the whole hilarious set at Riot Fest. Nicknamed "Jaw," it’s a jagged version of a classic V-shape body loaded with a single Fishman Fluence humbucker. His backup guitar (shown here) is identical, except it has a Seymour Duncan AHB-1 Blackout pickup.

Gwarâs Pustulus Maximus

The bandâs newest guitarist Brent Purgason slays on his signature Blakhart model, the Whargoul Pustulus Maximus. Even though the guitar takes a beating every night, Purgason says heâs only had to make minor adjustments. His guitars are strung with .010-.046 DâAddario sets.

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani

While she didn’t play any guitar at Chicago's Douglas Park, No Doubt's Gwen Stefani was the belle of the ball and led the band through hits like Talk Talk's "It’s My Life," "Spiderwebs," "Just a Girl," and "Don’t Speak."

Iggy Pop’s Ben Ellis

The Scotsman brought the fury during Iggy’s set because of his 4-string Gibson Thunderbird.

Iggy Pop’s Kevin Armstrong

The band’s lead guitarist and musical director handled most of the set with his beautifully (and organically) aged Fender Telecaster. Armstrong has been a longtime Pop collaborator while also working with Morrissey, Sinead O’Connor, and David Bowie.

Iggy Pop’s Seamus Beaghen

The former Madness member leaned heavily on his Gretsch Duo Jet for Pop’s Saturday night set that included a cover of Johnny O'Keefe & The Dee Jays’ “Real Wild Child (Wild One).”

Iggy Pop

The legendary frontman owned the stage Saturday night as he closed Riot Fest with three Stooges songs: "No Fun," "I Wanna Be Your Dog," and "1969."

Tenacious D’s Jack Black

The actor-turned-rocker partied with his Martin HD-28 all night including the epic rendition of their classic “Tribute.”

Against Me!’s James Bowman

During most of the band’s afternoon set—including “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong”— Bowman kept it simple with his 2005 Gibson Les Paul ’57 Goldtop reissue with Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups and Ernie Ball Cobalt .010-.046 strings.

Tenacious D’s John Konesky

The D’s lead guitarist opened the set with his beloved Duesenber Starplayer that has D’Addario .011–.052 strings.

Anthrax’s Jon Donais

The former Shadows Fall shredder fired up and down the fretboard of his signature Legator Ninja R300 Pro that features mahogany body with a maple top, a five-piece maple-and-walnut neck, and he outfits this one with Zakk Wylde’s signature EMG 81/85 pickups.

Merle Haggard

Oklahoma badass Merle Haggard blasted through his hits—including “Mama Tried,” “Fighting Side of Me,” “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” and of course “Okie From Muskogee”—with the help of his signature Fender Custom Shop Telecaster that boasts a maple center block, alder wings with tone chambers, a laminated, figured maple top, a figured maple neck and fretboard, and Texas Special pickups.

American Nightmare’s Tim Cossar

American Nightmare (aka Give Up the Ghost) showed the Midwest festival what East Coast hardcore is all about thanks to Tim Cossar and his Fender Jazz bass.

American Nightmare’s Brian Masek

The band’s lone guitarist kept the volume and speed at a high as he raged with his Gibson Les Paul Traditional.

No Doubt’s Tom Dumont

Ska-pop-punk guitarist Tom Dumont works through most of No Doubt’s set with his GJ² Hellhound is made up of a basswood body, maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, and Habanero pickups.

No Doubt’s Tony Kanal

Longtime bassist Tony Kanal has relied on Yamaha basses since the ’90s. He’s seen here playing a neck-through BB3000. Here’s what he’s said about the transition from a BB1600 to the 3000: “I wasn't slapping much anymore, and the beefier, more even sound of that bass made more sense for our music.”

Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge

Hands down the biggest punk rocker to take the stage at Riot Fest was Pennywise’s 6-stringer Fletcher Dragge and because of his six-foot-eight-inch frame, he uses a custom-built Ibanez that’s 1.25 the size of a normal RG420.

Pennywise’s Randy Bradbury

The SoCal punkers’ lone non-original member—he joined in 1995 after founding bassist Jason Thirsk committed suicide—digs into his Fender P bass during the band’s sunny afternoon set.

Rancid’s Matt Freeman

The east-bay bassist rips through … And Out Come the Wolves opener “Maxwell Murder” on his signature Squier Precision bass that’s based on his 1977 model.

Rancid’s Tim Armstrong

Guitarist and co-frontman Tim Armstrong gets busy with his bastardized ’70s Gretsch Country Club model that painted black and flipped to accommodate his left-handed playing. The band played … And Out Come the Wolves to celebrate 20 years since the release of that influential record.

Anthrax’s Scott Ian

Metal’s most-beautiful beard belongs to Anthrax’s Scott Ian and he brought that and his USA KV2 King V that he thrashed on during the opener “Madhouse.”

Thrice’s Teppei Teranishi

When most of the band’s songs were record Teppei used his 1985 Les Paul Custom, but since they reformed and started touring again he’s swapped that Gibson out mostly for his newer ES-335 that he’s shown here playing during “Of Dust and Nations.”

Thrice’s Dustin Kensrue

The post-hardcore frontman brings the heavy during “The Artist in the Ambulance” with his Fender Baritone Jaguar.

Thurston Moore Band’s Debbie Googe

The My Bloody Valentine bassist recently joined forces with the former Sonic Youth main man Thurston Moore and the introduced the eager crowd to his new-but-familiar sound of noise and melody. Googe is seen here using a 4-string that looks like a mash-up of a Mosrite bass and her First Act Custom Shop Delgada bass.

Thurston Moore

The award for the longest-shortest-set had to go to Thurston Moore and his band who played for almost 55 minutes, but only played three songs—he played them all with this vintage, battered Jazzmaster—“Speak to the Wild,” “Forevermore,” and “Grace Lake.”