Riot Fest 2023 day 3 pics (The Cure, Gorilla Biscuits, AFI, Ride, Balance and Composure, more)

AFIBrooklynVegan Staff
Riot Fest 2023 day 3 pics (The Cure, Gorilla Biscuits, AFI, Ride, Balance and Composure, more)

The third and final day of Riot Fest 2023 on Sunday (9/17) got off to a late start, with a rain delay holding doors until 2 PM. Some of the bands scheduled for the early afternoon, including Free Throw, Hotline TNT, Smoking Popes, Microwave, Just Mustard, and Nothing, had their sets cut, while others scheduled for later in the day had their sets shortened or moved around. Thursday (who we unfortunately missed) wound up kicking off the day on the Radical Stage, and also performing were Balance and Composure, Fleshwater, Ride, L.S. Dunes, AFI, Flogging Molly, Gorilla Biscuits and more, wrapping up with The Cure on the Riot Stage to close out the weekend. Multiple bands throughout the day praised The Cure and talked about their influence. Chicago Sun Times called their set “the best headlining set in Chicago’s summer festival season as it comes to a glorious close”:

From the crowd favorite “Burn” (made popular in the soundtrack of “The Crow” from 1994) weaving into “Fascination Street,” additional hits like “Lovesong,” “Close yo Me” and “Just Like Heaven” and sonic sweepers such as “A Forest,” The Cure were instrumental perfection and perhaps the loudest set of the weekend. Whether that was acoustics or the fact that the attentive listeners held their breath and kept a silent lull over the park is up for debate.

Smith, too, was having a ball — making faces at the camera, cracking a few smiles and bringing all of his vocal register to play. [Chicago Sun Times]

See pictures from Riot Fest day three by James Richards IV below.

Catch up on our coverage of the rest of the weekend with Friday pictures HERE and Saturday pictures HERE.

Tags: Afi, Balance and composure, Bvhome, Fleshwater, Flogging molly, Gorilla biscuits, Heavy metal, Ls dunes, Music, Punk, Ride, Riot fest, The cure