Riot Fest celebrated its 20th anniversary its 20th anniversary this year and the mostly-punk festival had all kinds of familiar faces from all throughout punk history on the lineup, but it also had some things you might not have expected, like Mike Love’s version of The Beach Boys and “MMMBop” hitmakers Hanson. The Beach Boys and Hanson helped Riot Fest achieve their longtime dream of having John Stamos play the festival–the longtime Beach Boys collaborator joined them on day 2, and Stamos then joined Hanson on “MMMBop” the next day–but The Beach Boys didn’t otherwise tailor their set for a punk festival. Hanson, on the other hand, decided to bring out Descendents guitarist Stephen Egerton for a rendition of the Descendents classic “Hope”! I cannot say I saw this coming.
Even more interestingly, the Hanson collab was the second time that Stephen Egerton joined a band to play “Hope” at Riot Fest this year. He did the same with Friday’s headliners blink-182, who have been covering the song at every stop of their current tour and played it a bunch of times back in the early 2000s. blink-182 have long talked about the Descendents as a massive influence, but this is the first I’m hearing that Hanson are fans. Who knew!
Watch Hanson’s Descendents and John Stamos collabs from Riot Fest, and see pictures from Hanson’s set by James Richards IV below…
