By: Kyle Brown
Highly anticipated Rock and Metal genre Riff Fest came back to Pine Knob Music Theater on September 23rd. The festival is put on by Detroit radio station, 101.1 WRIF. The fest featured two stages, with the main stage performances including Detroit’s own I Prevail, Bad Omens, Rival Sons Badflower, and Giovannie & The Hired Guns. The day opened up with performances of Des Rocs, Tigercub, BRKN Love and Frame 42 on the UVM festival stage.
Gates and access to the smaller festival stage opened at 1:30 p.m and performances began at 2 p.m. That’s the nice thing about this festival I thought, as fans can get a glimpse of the up-and-coming rock and metal bands, while also catching some of the more well known artists in the rock and metal genres later in the day.
Starting the day was Michigan’s own, Frame 42. Frame 42 was formed in 2017 with Ava Morris (vocals), Michael Greyson (lead guitar), Brock Morris (bass), Ben Dalgleish (rhythm guitar), and Lucas Jacobs (drums). The band released their EP in June, and you can listen to it here. Morris’s voice was very nice to listen to, belting notes easily and it really made the festival open in the best way possible. You could tell they all enjoyed their time on the stage, and the connection each one had. It was a pleasure to watch for sure.
Brkn Love came out next and definitely came ready to rock. The Canadian alternative rock band came to the spotlight in 2019, and have toured with groups ranging from Badflower, Highly Suspect and Big Wreck. Releasing their album, Black Box, at the end of 2022, the band has seen streams across multiple platforms rise. The album translates well to onstage performances as it allows the band to be energetic and get crowds moving. I recently discovered the band two weeks prior to this event, so I was super excited to hear “Little Black Box” live.
Tigercub are a rock band from Brighton, UK. The band is made up of Jamie Stephen Hall (vocals and lead guitar), James Allix (drums) and Jimi Wheelwright (bass). I was actually pretty mesmerized by their set and how energetic they were. The giutar riffs were mesmerizing as well. Their third album, The Perfume Of Decay released to the public in February and the band have been promoting it since.
Last on the UVM parking lot stage was Des Rocs, or Daniel Rocco. Des Rocs had a hard set to follow, with Tiger Club playing so well, but the set went just as phenomenal as the bands before him. He might have been the most energetic one that graced that stage that day. Spinning and jumping all over the stage, his energy made for a loud applause with each song. Des Rocs is an American rock artist from New York. When touring, the singer is joined by his longtime friends and bandmates, William Tully and Eric Mendelsohn. Des Rocs has toured with rock bands such as Muse, The Rolling Stones, and The Struts.
Giovannie & The Hired Guns took the main stage at 5:20pm. The band is an American country rock band from Stephenville, Texas and formed in 2017 by Giovannie Yanez, who is the lead vocalist and songwriter. Carlos Villa (lead guitar), Jerrod Flusche (rhythm guitar), Alex Trejo (bass guitar), and Milton Toles (drums) are the other band members. Festival attendees made their way to their seats and on the hill behind the seating area to watch the band play a fun and entertaining set. They appeared to love being on stage just as much as the crowd enjoyed seeing them perform. That, to me, is always a sign of success and a great set.
BadFlower came out next and this was one of the bands I was highly anticipating. This is a band I have followed for a few years now with their song “Heroin“. I have also heard about their shows as being amazing and that was no understatement. The way they move and dance around the stage, connecting with the crowd along the way showed exactly why they were on the big stage and are so popular. The band consists of singer/guitarist Josh Katz, lead guitarist Joey Morrow, bass guitarist Alex Espiritu and drummer Anthony Sonetti.
A band that has been around for a while was up next, and that being Rival Sons. The band recently debuted their seventh studio album in June, Darkfighter. The two time Grammy-nominated band, which formed in Long Beach, California in 2008, has carved a classic, unique blues-rock sound that just never gets old. The band consists of Jay Buchanan, Scott Holiday, Dave Beste and Michael Miley. Todd Ögren plays keyboard when touring.
What is not to say about Bad Omens. The band has been on the up and up for a while now, and are probably one of the hottest bands taking the world by storm. After touring with A Day to Remember, Underoath, Beartooth, among others, their fanbase increased ten-fold. In 2022, the band released their second studio album, The Death of Peace of Mind. The album peaked at #43 on Billboard’s top album sales chart for two weeks. Sadly, we were not able to photograph the set, as media was not allowed, but the set went on and was one of the best performances of the day, as expected.
I Prevail ended the night in the only way to end the night. Pyro. Lots of pyro. In the photo pit, it was a very hot three songs. The fire, and the amount of it, literally made my cameras hot to the touch. It was a homecoming for the band as well, playing in their home state of Michigan. Brian Burkheiser , Eric Vanlerberghe , Steve Menoian (guitar), Jordan Berger (guitar), and Lee Runestad (drums) made their first appearance at Riff fest, and made it a memorable one. Some of the loudest cheers came for this group, as the crowd was electric and really came to life for both them, and Bad Omens.
Catch some Riff Festival images below!
