Highlights from Chicago Open Air’s Two Day Sonic Rage

This past weekend, Chicago Open Air Festival brought the best of heavy metal and hardcore to SeatGeek Stadium, staking out space in Bridgeview, IL, a town around twelve miles southwest of downtown Chicago. After a year hiatus, the 28,000 capacity stadium filled to the brim with attendees for headliners System of a Down and Tool, in addition to other big names like Gojira, In This Moment, Meshuggah, Fever 333, and more.

On Saturday, a rough downpour hit the area early in the day as fans waited to enter the stadium, a dense shower that lasted two hours and forced three opening bands— Vein, Knocked Loose, and Code Orange— to get cancelled and moved to a late show at the north side’s intimate Metro.

Hardcore band Beartooth officially kicked off day one at 5:30 pm as people trickled into the arena and made their way to the front. It was a stark contrast to Beartooth’s last Chicago show, a non-stop frenzy of head banging, thrashing, and personal confessions at the iconic House of Blues in October. Despite the change up, it didn’t seem to phase vocalist Caleb Shomo in the slightest, screaming his way through “Bad Listener,” “Aggressive,” “In Between,” and others while maintaining a fury of continuous energy.

Meshuggah took the stage after, a Swedish band with significant influence on modern metal, most recently known for their 2018 Grammy nomination of “Clockworks” under the Best Metal Performance category. The critical acclaim is warranted. Drummer Tomas Haake played with precision, raging through unconventional rhythms and rapid-fire time signature changes like it’s nothing. The ground nearly shook as sludgy guitar riffs and pounding bass blasted through stage amps. Meanwhile Jens Kidman clinched his teeth so hard it appeared his face might actually crack and break off, somehow finding time in-between to growl and shout lyrics for each song.

For those unfamiliar, Kidman eerily looks like the bassist of Taking Back Sunday, Shaun Cooper, with a harsher facade and way fewer smiles.

Performing for a full hour, Ghost— another band that hails from Sweden— showcased their eccentric on-stage presence, a mastery which secured them a 2016 Grammy for Best Metal Performance on lead single “Cirice” off Meliora. Another great act.

System of a Down closed out day one with a brutally elegant set, playing nearly everything under the sun: “Toxicity,” “Sugar,” “Lonely Day,” “War?,” “Hypnotize,” “Lost in Hollywood,” “Chop Suey!,” “Aerials,” “Prison Song,” and eighteen other tracks that are too long to name. Serj Tankian is a vocal beast through and through, with a range of over four octaves and an incessant spew of vocal harmonies, shouts, falsettos, and controlled yelps around every corner. Needless to say, they did not play an encore.

Since they formed in 1994, System of a Down have sold over 40 million records worldwide, with four Grammy nominations and one award secured for “B.Y.O.B.” in 2006. Their singles “Aerials” and “Hypnotize” both reached number one on Billboard charts, along with three out of five studio albums.

On Sunday, New Zealand’s heavy metal band Alien Weaponry killed it at 2:30 pm, followed by The Black Dahlia Murder and LA’s Fever 333. Just two years ago Fever 333 performed an impromptu pop up show in a U-Haul truck in their hometown, kicking off their journey as a three-piece and quickly garnering recognition. Debut album Made an America came out in 2018 and subsequently earned them a Grammy nomination. Seems to be a theme here.

While we were disappointed that no one climbed up a 100-foot vertical totem and dangled in the air mid-set— which guitarist Stephen Harrison did at Riot Fest last year— they nearly lit the stage on fire with their antics. Vocalist Jason Aalon Butler threw himself in every direction, jumping into the crowd as photographers scurried to catch up, while Aric Improta leapt off his drum kit seat every chance he had. Earlier that weekend, Butler was seen tearing up the stage in sheer abandon at Sonic Temple in Columbus, dumping a trashcan with garbage over his head and crowd surfing in an empty road case.

The festival’s only female fronted band, In This Moment, put on an incredible, dynamic performance. As soon as charismatic vocalist Maria Brink appeared stealthily in the middle of the stage with a long black robe and her commanding, roaring voice, it felt like a significant production. Heck, it was a significant production. All the way down to the high-powered wind machines, disturbing masks, and flawless Blood Girls acting out the themes in each song.

French heavy metal band Gojira is arguably one of the greatest in metal, their swelling guitars and melodic screams filling every inch of the stadium. The pyro flames during Gojira were scorching— huddled together before entering the photo pit, photographers were carefully instructed to stand against the barricade, a solid seven feet from the stage. Guitarist Christian Andreu was blasted in the face by flames that caught wind at Sonic Temple the day before, which interrupted the set for a few moments before he jumped back into the song with singed eyebrows and a burnt face. Pretty badass. Gojira have received prior Grammy nominations as well, one for Best Rock Album for Magma and one for Best Metal Performance for “Silvera.”

Finishing off the weekend of mayhem and chaos, The Cult took the stage for nearly an hour, followed by Tool with a haunting show that brought in fans from Rhode Island, Oklahoma, and other far off states. They played ten songs total, opening with “Ænema” and ripping through “The Pot,” “Descending,” “Part of Me,” “Jambi,” and more. Chicago, bang bang indeed. Maynard James Keenan’s vocals were enough to ignite fights in the calmest of mosh pits, full beers and vodka lemonades flying through the air as the set stormed past 10:00 pm. Having collected their fair share of Grammys along the way, Tool recently announced a much-anticipated new album coming on August 30th— their first album in over a decade.

All in all, it was another successful Chicago Open Air lined with accomplished bands at the forefront of metal, a genre that is a mere 50 years old. Outside of the brilliant performances, SeatGeek Stadium offered an array of enticing food and drink, including spicy fire mac and cheese, Italian beef, wraps, flatbread pizza, and salad. And don’t forget about that spiked lemonade. We were a bit preoccupied searching out the gigantic ice cream nachos in-between sets, to be honest.

After attending Back to the Beach in California last month— a fiery ska and punk festival with a surplus of tiny fans under twelve— we were a bit surprised at the lack of kid friendly spaces on location, a move that would boost sales and draw in a wave of young parents. Bands can often see a drop off in attendance once their fans start having kids, which could be solved by festival organizers’ willingness to create an inclusive environment.

Nevertheless, Chicago Open Air gives metalheads another reason to visit the Windy City outside of hot spots like Kuma’s Corner, Delilah’s, and Cobra Lounge, and we look forward to what they have in store next year. Be sure to keep up with bands from this year’s lineup, and check back in six months for information on 2020.