Weezer turns “Blue,” The Beach Boys bring John Stamos to Riot Fest, plus All Time Low, James

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

The second helping of Riot Fest’s 20th anniversary celebration also brought a cross section of superstars and underground heroes to Douglass Park, which was once again packed with a practically all ages audience.

A major reason was surely headliners Weezer, who are always a draw no matter what’s on the menu, multiplied by a front to back treatment of 1994’s “The Blue Album,” preceded by the remaining hits and rarities.

They included the scream-a-longs “Hash Pipe,” “Beverly Hills” and “Island In The Sun,” building towards the main event’s melodic perfection of “My Name Is Jonas,” “Buddy Holly,” “Undone- The Sweater Song” and “Say It Ain’t So.”

Though Rivers Cuomo and company cranked up at least a couple of those as surprise guests of Olivia Rodrigo at Lollapalooza, catching all 40-ish glorious minutes in original running order was nothing short of an “Only In Dreams” experience.

Speaking of figurative fun in the sun, despite battling drizzle, The Beach Boys, or perhaps most accurately, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mike Love’s touring edition of the brand, nonetheless nailed “The Sounds Of Summer,” such as “Surfin’ Safari,” “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Kokomo” and six-plus decades of smashes.

They were joined by longtime collaborator John Stamos on guitar, vocals, drums (and a larger than life statute made of butter) after relentless requests from Riot Fest for the A-list actor to attend the annual event, who was certainly worth the wait as he winked along while possessing legitimate performance chops, especially when taking the lead on “Forever” in the tradition of Uncle Jesse on “Full House.”

Fresh off “The Weather,” All Time Low keeps adding to its count of over five billion streams and featured several of the pop/punk anthems responsible for those staggering statistics, including “Monsters” and “Dear Maria, Count Me In.”

England’s James struck similar Britpop gold throughout the 1990s thanks to “Out To Get You,” “Born Of Frustration” and “Laid,” each vibrantly displayed alongside some similarly “Yummy” post-2000s tunes and front man Tim Booth taking a lap around the crowd.

Indie rock meets folk punk players The Front Bottoms were “Back On Top,” to quote the title of an additional acclaimed album repeated in its entirety, which marked the group’s 2015 beginning of a fruitful and still active partnership with the legendary Fueled By Ramen label.

Yet another landmark project earned total treatment in the form of Helmet’s “Betty,” an alternative metal/noise rock masterpiece from 1994, featuring “Milquetoast” and many others, that since laid the groundwork for much of the nu-metal movement and gave Riot Fest fans an extra set to savor on the way to the closing festivities.

Click here for more photos of Riot Fest at Douglass Park.

Riot Fest continues at Douglass Park through Sunday, September 21. For additional details, visit RiotFest.org.