Reggie And The Full Effect Proves Their Riot Fest Return Was No Fluke (And Tease Out Possible Riot Fest Appearance)

By Katie Karpowicz in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 13, 2014 8:00PM

When Riot Fest revealed its lineup last spring, this writer did an exaggerated double take upon seeing Reggie And The Full Effect amongst the other bands listed. I knew the solo project from James Dewees of The Get Up Kids notoriety was Kickstarting its way to a new album, but it had been years since Reggie had taken the stage. It was real though. Reggie was back in full effect.

The momentum continued earlier this winter when the band announced a U.S. headline tour once that Kickstarted album, No Country For Old Musicians, was finally released. While the band's Riot Fest set felt like that joyous but somewhat awkward experience of seeing an old friend after many years and my previous time seeing Reggie (on an outing with, groan, My Chemical Romance in 2005) was nothing more than a quick opening act slot, last night's performance at Subterranean finally felt like the full, uninterrupted musical variety show fans needed.

The truth is that I would pay to see James Dewees on stage just for the stage banter and his drunk uncle vibes. The self-proclaimed "Gandalf of emo" is every bit as entertaining when the music's going as he is after it stops. It wasn't until midway through the set that we learned the day before Dewees had been diagnosed with what was maybe, probably, most likely strep throat. He didn't give us any reason to doubt his voice or energy though as he blasted through "Girl, Why'd You Run Away," "Congratulations Smack and Katy" and new songs like "Kanji Tattoos...Still In Style?"

Of course, Reggie And The Full Effect wasn't the only headlining act last night. Dewees' additional alter-egos—white Brooklyn rapper Floppy Disk-O, new wave singer Fluxuation and Finnish death metal act Common Denominator—all made appearances. At some point while watching a 37-year-old man having a ball running around a tiny stage making costume changes and scrambling to find props, the internal debate started to set in: Is it possible to have too much fun at a rock show? Of course not.

OH, by the way, Mr. Dewees may have given us our first Riot Fest 2014 lineup reveal last night when he disclosed information that The Get Up Kids had been offered a slot on the festival bill. The coy thumbs up that followed all but spilled the beans. This town hasn't seen the last of Reggie, James, Klaus—whatever you prefer to call him.