On one of the most beautiful music festival days I’ve ever experienced, with highs in the low 80s and overcast skies keeping the atmosphere pleasant, Riot Fest kicked off its 20th anniversary Friday in Douglass Park by handing the mic to “Weird Al” Yankovic, renaming the Rise Stage the Weird World Stage complete with an offbeat lineup hosted by comedian Emo Philips.

Even acts on other stages paid tribute. “Give it up for ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic,” Touché Amoré’s cheerfully screaming frontman Jeremy Bolm said toward the end of an afternoon Roots Stage set that brought headliner energy as it delivered a full serving of melodic, anthemic punk. “Can’t wait! This is for him,” Bolm added as he started singing “Reminders”:

When it’s all too much to take
I’m at capacity
A failed system sings on the background TV
To my shotgun mouth and apathy

Which reminds me: This is not normal. America, I mean. Earlier this week, the federal government began actively suppressing viewpoints with which the current president disagrees. When business leaders such as Michael Eisner and political leaders such as Sen. Ted Cruz, neither of whom is known for radical leftist views, raise the alarm, it is clear the nation is in a constitutional crisis.

This state of affairs gave Riot Fest something of a “Cabaret” vibe yesterday, like we were all enjoying the last taste of something about to be lost. But if you were watching the bands yesterday, you’d never know anything was amiss.

This is not the festival’s fault, but these bands (let’s give the goofballs on the Weird World Stage a pass) failed to meet the moment. Not a word in defense of democracy or the First Amendment. And these are punks playing a festival called Riot Fest. The vibe can’t all just be marketing, can it?

To be fair, quiet capitulation seems to be the rule of the day across many cultural institutions. This is the ballgame, folks. America is being tested daily, and we are failing. Even the frogs know the water is boiling at this point.

Music is always one of the forces that can turn the tide against autocracy. There was a glimmer of defiance Wednesday night when The Damned ended their tasty pre-fest Riot Fest aftershow at the Vic by saying, “We’ve enjoyed tonight more than usual because five fucking Limeys have taken you away from American politics for the night. The left and right are two cheeks of the same fucking arsehole!”

Though there was precious little political fire on display Friday–the Gen Xer sporting a Deport Fascists t-shirt excepted–this was a banquet of musical delights. After Touché Amoré, I cut over to the tiny Rebel Stage to the north for the first album play set of the fest, California punks Samiam doing Astray.

It was a totally fine, workmanlike performance like some guys getting together for a garage jam after playing 16-inch softball. Vocalist Jason Beebout seemed to acknowledge as much, noting the “slow jams in the afternoon” vibe before the band fired up an energetic version of “Bird Bath.” That’s it, fellas. Ultimately, they sounded a bit like Everclear but without the hits.

My first dip into Weird World was to take in another California band, Camper Van Beethoven, who, decked out in straw hats and laidback attitudes, immediately settled into a perfect groove for a warm Chicago afternoon.

The infectiously goofy ‘Take the Skinheads Bowling” was a highlight of their set, turning into a raucous singalong, as was that tasty earworm guitar riff on “Pictures of Matchstick Men.”

I did detect a note of bitter irony in the band’s delivery of a key lyric in “Good Guys and Bad Guys” after a verse touching on Russian censorship:

So just be glad you live in America
Just relax and be yourself
Cuz if you didn’t live here in America
You’d probably live somewhere else

Someone said recently on social media that MTV should launch a channel that exactly replicates every day of programming through the early music-video years. This Camper Van Beethoven set was proof that’s a good idea.

Next up was a tough choice between album plays by The Hold Steady (Separation Sunday) or Agnostic Front (Victim in Pain). If ever there was a day to pick the hardcore punks over the storytellers, this was it, but The Hold Steady started up right next to Camper Van Beethoven, so I stayed for a couple songs. It was okay, but when it comes to aughts rock operas, I’ll take Green Day (which headlines Sunday, so there’s that).

On the way to Agnostic Front, I was pulled into the Harms Way set at the Roots Stage. The bass and drums literally shook my chest midway back on the lawn, in a good way, as shirtless, be-tatted singer James Pligge cookie monstered his way through a strong set, inspiring a giant washing machine mosh pit that spun without mercy.

During the set, the crowd cam showed a guy holding up an “ICE is a terrorist organization” t-shirt, but again not a word from the stage.

Speaking of Pligge, you know that guy in the action movie the hero punches in the face with everything he’s got and the guy just shakes his head and smiles before throwing the hero across the room into a concrete wall? That’s him.

I pulled myself away to catch the last 15 minutes of Agnostic Front’s set, which ended with a kick-ass tribute to the Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Frontman Roger Miret heaped praise on the band, saying Agnostic Front would not have existed without them, and maybe hardcore punk as a genre wouldn’t have either.

Next up at the Rebel Stage, the punk pride of Mattoon, Illinois, Didjits gave a shout-out to the late, great hometown hero Steve Albini. Frontman Rick Sims said,  “He made the Didjits, for better or worse,” before dedicating an energetic “Who’s Ready to Get High” to him.

Over on the Riot Stage, local stars Alkaline Trio cruised through an album play of Maybe I’ll Catch Fire before introducing a strong new song, “Oblivion,” that somehow feels like it could work equally well on Q101, XRT and 95.5 while probably not getting played on any of them.

I cut out after that to catch what turned out to be the main event of the night for almost everyone: “Weird Al.” I gave myself 10 minutes to walk the couple hundred yards and needed every second of it as there was a human clog on the west end of the grounds the likes of which I haven’t experienced since Lady Gaga headlined Lollapalooza. Call it Weirdstock. (Do not take the brown gummies.)

The man of the hour did not disappoint. I say this as someone who saw Al on his first solo tour, at a fairgrounds in Montana way back in 1984. Some 41 years later, he’s a legit pop-culture icon and his 90-minute set was a thing of pure joy, with the numbers broken up by collages of some truly hilarious video from throughout his storied career to give him enough time for the costume changes.

“Smells Like Nirvana” (pictured above) was an early highlight, the grunge parody perfectly matching the festival vibe. Also killer: “Amish Paradise” and the closing two Star Wars parody numbers, “The Saga Begins,” sung to the tune of “American Pie,” and “Yoda,” which riffs on the Kinks’ classic “Lola.” Both songs showcased his incredible lyric-writing chops and inspired the rapt audience to sing along in full voice.

Hard to top that, even though Blink-182 was the biggest headliner of the night. My throbbing knee would not enable me to stand through their set (remember, I saw “Weird Al” in 1984), so I hobbled back to the Roots Stage to sit on the metal bleachers near the food court and listen to The Pogues for a while, which was a pleasant way to close out Day One.

Day Two is minutes from kicking off as I finish this review. Will these musicians meet the political moment? Well, The Damned are headlining the Rebel Stage tonight, so there’s a decent chance. Meanwhile Jack White will close out the Roots Stage. Fingers crossed!

Riot Fest runs through September 21 at Douglass Park.

Photo by Rachel Zyzda