The Replacements and The Stooges Headline Riot Fest Toronto

by Shaun Roncken

Riot Fest, a festival that seems like it was curated by a blind man who threw a handful of darts at a wall covered in band posters, is taking place at Fort York on August 24-25.

Saturday will feature a host of pop-punk and hardcore acts, headlined by A Day to Remember and Pierce the Veil. In a break with the festival’s skate-punk roots, Sunday will feature a wide range of acts from noise-makers Single Mothers and indie darlings Best Coast to Gen-X stalwarts Dinosaur Jr.

The highlight of the night is most certainly going to be the stage prowling of Iggy Pop, a spectacle that puts the dozy performances of fellow rock dinosaurs The Rolling Stones to shame. Iggy claims to have aped all of his best moves from Mick Jagger, but Mick and his 5,000-piece band could learn a trick or two from The Stooges’ stripped down theatrics.

The worst kept secret of Riot Fest is the triumphant return of The Replacements, a band that has been dormant for 22 long years. This Sunday marks their first performance since they played on Independence Day in Grant Park, Chicago, back in 1991. That show began with “I Will Dare” and closed with “Hootenanny,” and I’m sure that diehards would be content to hear a set list featuring those two tracks on their own. Let us cross our fingers and hope their roadies won’t be forced to play the set’s final notes, as they were 22 long years ago.