Gallery: Riot Fest 2019

Ween’s Dean Ween

One half of the offbeat alt-rock group Ween, Dean (aka Mickey Melchiondo) pays constant tribute to his Hendrix influences by primarily rocking a Strat onstage. His Frankenstein Strat’s cavity has a ’57 route with a dowel cut in half-lengthwise and glued to the outside wall to receive the extra screw hole for a ’62 or later pickguard. It was refinished Dakota red in the early ’90s, and its neck plate dates to 1962. The guitar has a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup in the bridge and Fender Lace Sensors in the middle and neck positions. The band played The Mollusk in its entirety.

Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano

The folk-punker heading up the Violent Femmes since 1980 enjoyed most of the set with his Fender Custom Shop Thinline.

Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie

Known for his warm, plunky bass tones, Brian Ritchie has been a longtime subscriber to the ’70s Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic 4-string.

Testament’s Eric Peterson

On “The Pale King,” the shredder depended on his Dean Z.

The Struts’ Adam Slack

During the opening number of “Primadonna Like Me,” the Struts’ lone axeman went with his No. 1—a Gibson Custom Shop Mike McCready Collector’s Choice 1959 Les Paul Standard. During our recent Rig Rundown, he told us that he landed on it after a marathon guitar-tasting session at Chicago Music Exchange.

Testament’s Alex Skolnick

For “More Than Meets the Eye” (a fitting song for a player that does more than just sweep arpeggios), Skolnick dazzled with his signature ESP LTD AS-1FR FM that has a set-neck construction at 24.75" scale, mahogany body with a flame maple top, rosewood fingerboard, and high-end components that include Grover tuners, Dunlop Straplocks. The LTD AS-1FR FM is outfitted with a Seymour Duncan SH-1 neck humbucker and a TB-4 Bridge humbucker.

Against Me’s Laura Jane Grace

Laura Jane Grace and her compadres in Against Me! were one of the acts listed as playing an album from front to back (a Riot Fest tradition), but not to be outdone by their contemporaries, the band ran through not only Reinventing Axl Rose, but they torched the crowd with Transgender Dysmorphia Blues. As for LJG’s beautiful, black Ricky, it’s a rare, three-pickup 370 model that’s been upgraded with a Mastery bridge. (Learn more about it in our 2014 Rig Rundown.)

American Football’s Mike Kinsella

Eventually becoming one of the heralded math-rock and emo bands of the late ’90s with their self-titled release, American Football only had a four-year run in their early years before dissolving in 2000. But the boys from the heartland resurrected the band in 2014 and have since put out two albums, including a 2019’s LP3 that was celebrated at Riot Fest. Much of the hard work by guitarist/singer Mike Kinsella was done on his Fender American Player Telecaster.

Anthrax’s Jon Donais

The newest member of Anthrax gets to work during the fan-curated setlist. Here, Jon Donais is using his signature Legator Ninja Reverse 300-Pro that has Fishman Fluence humbuckers. In a 2016 interview with PG he said this about his signature: “Right now I’m with a company out of Burbank called Legator. I love those guitars. I’ve been playing them for almost three years. They’re so easy to play. They sound awesome. I like the shape of them—they’re real thin. It’s light but it still sounds monstrous. I love everything about them.” And the interview concluded with asking Jon his thoughts on joining the legendary thrash band: “It’s just a dream come true. I still look out to the left of me when I’m playing onstage and to see these guys—it’s crazy. I listened to them and they were a huge influence on my playing. All I can say is it is amazing. I get along with them great. I have a fun time. I love playing their music and I can’t complain about anything.”

Anthrax’s Scott Ian

Anthrax’s main man Scott Ian pulled double duty on Saturday during Riot Fest where he played an afternoon set with his side band, the Damned Things (featuring members of Alkaline Trio, Every Time I Die, and Fall Out Boy), and then later played a dusk set with his thrash partners in Anthrax. The bearded maniac is seen here hammering away on one of his Jackson Custom Shop King Vs. On his hard-hitting ways, Ian had to say this to PG in 2016: “Back in the ’80s, in interviews for guitar magazines, I said my style was “fascist guitar playing”—because there’s no room for improvisation, there’s no room for anything. When you’re playing at speeds like that, it is what it is. It’s mathematical. There’s X amount of notes that you can fit into a measure and you’ve got to hit all those notes perfectly, and that’s it. There’s no room for anything else. Granted, the songwriting style has changed over the years. We’re not playing exactly how we used to play in 1987. But still, on the new record I’m playing exactly the same—especially on the thrashy stuff like “Zero Tolerance,” “Evil Twin,” or “For All Kings.”

Watch the Rig Rundown:

Bikini Kill’s Erica Dawn Lyle

Although not an original member of Bikini Kill, Erica Dawn Lyle brought the ’tude and bravado to close out the festival during the band’s headlining Sunday slot. Lyle is seen here using a Gibson SG reissue.

Slayer’s Kerry King

Kerry Fucking King gave the crowd one final beatdown, much in part to his 2nd generation signature B.C. Rich that’s loaded with his signature EMG KFK 85 in the bridge and a Sustainiac in the neck (which he uses on the intro to “Dead Skin Mask”) along with a Kahler 2315 trem. This guitar is also loaded with a switchable preamp, but according to King in our Rig Rundown, he doesn’t use it that much because he prefers the boost/10-band EQ built into his signature Marshall head.

Bikini Kill’s Kathi Wilcox

Bikini Kill’s founding bassist used an Olympic white Fender P to power her and the band’s empowering riot grrrl message with a 25-song set that included “Suck My Left One.”

Bloc Party’s Russell Lissack

Bloc Party brought the rockin’ dance music to Riot Fest and most of the swinging was instigated by Russell Lissack’s 2003 Fender Tele that he purchased with the band’s first record advance when they were signed. He told us in 2016 Rig Rundown that he swapped out the original bridge pickup for a Seymour Duncan single-coil and uses Ernie Ball Super Slinky .009–.042 strings on all his guitars.

Bob Mould

The former frontman/guitarist for groundbreaking punk trio Hüsker Dü brought the fury during his solo set that was anchored by a bevy of 1987-’89 Fender Strat Plus models, with late-’80s Lace Sensor Blue pickups in all three positions. In a 2016 interview with PG, he said this about these particular Strats: “I have four more—grey, black, seafoam green, and sunburst—that are almost identical. They’re all pretty much late-’80s Strat Plus factory gear, but I’ve swapped out the pickups for the Lace Sensor Blue pickups because I prefer the original Blue ones.

Now that they’ve got so many variations, I can’t keep up. I just bought one of the newest hot Blue ones, which I think are supposed to sound like Hüsker Dü. I think it actually says that in their catalog, but we’ll see [laughs]. They’re a little fatter and gnarlier sounding, and those are in one of the two guitars that I used on the record. The green Strat has the new hotter pickups, and the grey one is exactly like the blue Strat—same pickups, same wires, and everything.”

Cherry Glazerr

Clementine Creevy had a one-two punch of quiet (jab) and the heavy (uppercut) during her Riot Fest set. She rocked her Fender American Professional HSS Shawbucker Strat (also featured on her newest album Stuffed & Ready) for the whole set. It’s modded to have nothing but the bridge ’bucker (wired straight to the output jack), which is the only thing living inside the guitar. She explained during our 2019 Rundown: “I ripped out the guts, basically, and all that’s left is a volume knob. To me, it sounds much better, as well as being lighter, which is nice when you tour as much as I do. But mostly, I did it because I don’t use the tone knobs. I was always keeping the guitar on my humbucker pickup. So, I just have one humbucker and a volume knob. It sounds very cool. It sounds a little bit louder and a little bit tougher and clearer to me.” The lone axe stays loaded with Ernie Ball Power Slinky (.011–.048) strings and she hammers away with Dunlop Tortex .73 mm (yellow) picks.

Slayer’s Gary Holt

Original member of Bay-area thrashers Exodus, Gary Holt took over guitar duties in 2011 for Jeff Hanneman before his untimely passing. A man of the V, his most recent signature with ESP took a more traditional approach with a Les Paul-style body that features a mahogany body with set-neck construction. The neck sports a thin-U profile and an ebony fretboard with 24 extra-jumbo frets.

Cock Sparrer’s Mick Beaufoy

Starting all the way back in 1972 within London’s East End neighborhood, founding lead guitarist Mick Beaufoy is still laying down the punk ethos in 2019 thanks to his loyal 6-string friend (at least on this day): a Gibson Les Paul Standard T goldtop that did much of the heavy lifting during the band’s mid-afternoon set.

Slayer’s Tom Araya

The bass-hammering, metal-screaming leader of the metal juggernauts Tom Araya primes Chicago-land with one final howl as they perform their last show in the area. About the bass, we found this about his No. 1 during a Rig Rundown: “Unless something goes wrong, bassist Tom Araya relies on one bass—his signature ESP model. It includes active EMG pickups, an alder body, and an ebony fretboard. His current main has an EMG HB in the bridge and a P in the neck, while his backup has a set of single-coil Ps. After Tom’s recent neck surgery, his brother and tech Johnny created a custom harness that connected to the back of the bass to support most of the weight. He uses standard Jim Dunlop Heavy .050–.110 strings on all his basses.”

The Damned Things’ Joe Trohman

Better known as the lead guitarist for Fall Out Boy, Joe Trohman spent some quality time with his limited edition Zemaitis A22MFP NT while playing a hometown gig with his “supergroup” that includes Anthrax’s Scott Ian, FOB bandmate Andy Hurley, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley, and Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano.

Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba

The emo rocker showed his technical prowess while working hard on his Nash T52 and honoring the band’s past by playing 2001’s The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most in its entirety.

Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath

During a hometown show for Rise Against, their leader laid an ear-to-ear grin upon the audience before getting back to business on his Gibson ES-Les Paul that’s been upgraded with an EverTune bridge.

The Flaming Lips’ Michael Ivins

The experimental psych-rock weirdos’ cofounder and bassist Michael Ivins split duties between his faithful Fender J and keyboards while spotlighting Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

The Flaming Lips’ Derek Brown

The multi-instrumentalist jams on his worn-and-torn Fender Jaguar.

The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne

While legendary frontman Wayne Coyne didn’t spend time in his bubble during the performance of 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, he did perpetually flash his trademark grin throughout.

The Get Up Kids’ Jim Suptic

Lead guitarist Jim Suptic takes a solo (and has fun doing it) on his Fender American Professional Telecaster Deluxe Shawbucker during “Action & Action.”

The Get Up Kids’ Matt Pryor

The man who writes lyrics that cut to the heart belts out his best rendition of “I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel” alongside his Epiphone Sheraton.

The Get Up Kids’ Rob Pope

Earlier this year, Rob Pope announced his departure from Spoon after 13 years, but his days in the Get Up Kids with brother Ryan on drums date back to the mid ’90s when the band formed in Kansas City, Missouri. Here he’s posing with his beloved ’70s Fender P during “Satellite.”

Glassjaw’s Justin Beck

While he told PG in 2018 that his main studio guitar for Material Control was a Les Paul Deluxe, Glassjaw’s Justin Beck admits that his go-to stage guitar is a Music Man StingRay RS, seen here while the band played through the 2002 album, Worship and Tribute. And as for the reason the band decided to write new material after 15 years, it was simple, but we’ll let him explain: “Because I’m running out of music to hear. I’m running out of shit for me to listen to, and no band does what I want to hear. So it’s a complete selfish, personal conquest and hobby. I like to hear the music in my head that nobody is doing.”

Ride’s Mark Gardener

For Ride’s song “Leave Them All Behind,” Mark Gardener relied on his scarlet Rickenbacker 360.

Guided By Voices’ Bobby Bare Jr.

The son of famous country singer/songwriter Bobby Bare handles rhythm guitar duties for GBV with his trusty 1964 Gibson SG. In our Rig Rundown, he explained that the guitar is all stock (aside from the upgraded Badass bridge), although he doesn’t know anything about the mysterious hole through its top.

Ride’s Andy Bell

The shoegaze torchbearers only played eight songs, but their performance was filled with plenty of guitar theatrics and spacy moments aided by Andy Bell and his Gibson Trini Lopez.

Guided By Voices’ Doug Gillard

The band’s lead guitarist since 1997, Doug Gillard spends most of his time playing this 1976 Gibson Les Paul Custom with a mid-’70s DiMarzio Super 2 humbucker in the bridge and an unknown brand humbucker in the neck. He told us in our Rig Rundown that the guitar is strung with D'Addario XL .011–.052 strings.

Gwar’s Pustulus Maximus

The band's newest guitarist, Brent Purgason, slayed on his Dean ML during the theatrical metal band’s hilarious (and messy) set. His guitars are strung with D’Addario (.010-.046) strings.

Rancid’s Tim Armstrong

Guitarist and co-frontman Tim Armstrong gets busy with his bastardized ’70s Gretsch Country Club model that’s painted black and flipped to accommodate his left-handed playing.

Gwar’s Balsac—the Jaws of Death

In his typical awesome fashion, Mike Derks donned his oversized monster suit and played his signature model Schecter Balsac the Jaws 'o Death 6-string during the whole hilarious set in Chicago. Nicknamed “Jaw,” it’s a jagged version of a classic V-shape body loaded with a Seymour Duncan AHB-1 Blackout pickup.

Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan

Taking their name from famous German-American author/poet Charles Bukowski, the punk rockers from Gainesville, Florida, brought their fiery tales to life, much in thanks to Ragan’s Les Paul Custom that has a lone humbucker in the bridge.

Jawbreaker’s Blake Schwarzenbach

While many lefties struggle to find any guitar selection in stores and online for their “peculiar” needs, the Jawbreaker leader has no such troubles as he went with a few Gibson Les Pauls during the band’s second headlining set at Riot Fest in three years.

The Raconteurs

The boys from Detroit raised hell with their guitar-laden set that included fan favorites “Steady, As She Goes,” “Bored and Razed,” and “Broken Boy Soldier.” As seen here, during “Old Enough,” Brendan Benson is on his goldtop J-45, Jack Lawrence with his P, and Jack White is ripping on a Telecaster. In a recent interview, here’s what he said about his move to favoring that iconic slab of wood: “That Telecaster with the B-Bender and all the contraptions on it: It sort of has everything I need. It also doesn’t have a Bigsby on it. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to conquer these Hipshot G- and E-Benders that I’ve put on there. They’re tricky. It’s a whole new thing. It’s almost like a pedal-steel guitar, really. I’m trying to give myself these challenges to see if I can come up with something that I haven’t done before, to find out what parts I like. It may end up turning into a Bigsby by the end of the tour. I don’t know.”

Lucero’s Brian Venable

The Memphis rock band’s lead 6-stringer was quite partial to Teles in our 2015 Rig Rundown, but as you can see here, he played most of the sunset gig with this matte-finished Gibson SG.

Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge

Hands down the most looming punk rocker to take the stage at Riot Fest was Pennywise’s axeman, who has a six-foot-eight-inch frame. The SoCal rocker uses his custom-built Ibanez that is 1.25 the size of a normal RG420.

Lucero’s John C. Stubblefield

On any given night in a sweaty, sticky club, you’d see the Lucero low-ender rock three different classes of instruments—an upright, a semi-hollow, and a solidbody. For this outdoor barn-burner set full of rockin’ tunes, he went solely with his 1978 P that he bought off former Against Me! bassist Andrew Seward back in 2011.

Patti Smith

The godmother of punk rock brought the Riot Fest to a standstill when she walked out onstage, and by the end of it, she brought them to their knees with an 11-song set that ended with her beloved jam (penned by Bruce Springsteen) “Because the Night.”

Lucero’s Ben Nichols

Quite possibly the man who writes the saddest songs at Riot Fest kicked his feet up and had a helluva good time with his dancing partner—an Epiphone Sheraton II. In our 2015 Rig Rundown, we found out that: “At the end of the day, Nichols appreciates how it sounds, how it plays, and that if something ever were to happen to it, he could go to a local guitar store and replace it without taking out a loan. He actually records with the Sheraton II rather than the higher-end, fancier cousin ES-335. Like Venable, he uses Ernie Ball Slinkys .011–.048 strings.”

Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull

If something appears missing, your eyes aren’t deceiving you: Manchester Orchestra’s guitarist/vocalist Andy Hull has stripped everything from this Fender Telecaster except the Seymour Duncan Little ’59 bridge humbucker. In our Rig Rundown with Manchester Orchestra, we reported that: “All the other wiring, switches, and pots have been removed so the signal is as pure as possible. And for what it’s worth, Hull has said that the surgery has resulted in making the Tele 25 percent louder.”

Patti Smith’s Band’s Tony Shanahan

Playing the 4-string with NYC-punk-rock icon Patti Smith since 1996, Shanahan laid back in the groove most the night with his Fender P.

Manchester Orchestra’s Robert McDowell

At this Riot Fest performance, which preceded a winter tour where Manchester will play 2009’s Mean Everything to Nothing in its entirety, Robert McDowell brought out “Sheriff”—a Fender ’72 Telecaster Deluxe reissue. In our Rig Rundown with him, McDowell told us that the Tele originally belonged to bandmate Andy Hull, but McDowell fell in love with it while Hull was falling out of love with it.

Patti Smith Band’s Lenny Kaye

Patti Smith’s longtime guitar foil played this single-pickup Strat for most of the set that was littered with covers including the Stones’ “I’m Free,” Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” Them’s “Gloria,” and Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?”