The Replacements ended the final day of Riot Fest not a moment too soon.
Frontman Paul Westerberg -- clearly enjoying himself -- yelled "we've got all f---ing night!" only to have crews cut lights as the skies opened up on the festival's final day.
The relentless rain that put an appropriately emo damper on Sunday's sets, leaving the festival grounds a muddy, puddle-filled mess. The depressing weather seemed to keep more than a few fans away early in the day, despite acts likeQuicksand, Best Coast, Bob Mould and Against Me! on the bill.
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Waterlogged fans take in Twin Peaks' set during the final day of Riot Fest. (Kim Bellware/Huffington Post)
Compared to Saturday, the crowd was thin and meandering, with the weather devastating attendees' normally outrè fashion. Those who braved the rain sported limp-looking liberty spikes, running eyeliner and decidedly un-punk umbrellas (that, by the looks of it, were clearly boosted from a floral-loving senior citizen).
The Replacements (or at least some of them) were among the few bands spared from the downpour, perhaps a cosmic gesture of good will for returning to the city where they broke up onstage 22 years ago.
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Tommy Stinson and Paul Westerberg of The Replacements perform on stage on Day 3 of Riot Fest and Carnival 2013 at Humboldt Park on September 15, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images)
Founding members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson played a vigorous 25-song set that mixed equal parts punk, "country-'Mats" and reliable hits like "Alex Chilton," "Can't Hardly Wait" and "Waitress In The Sky."
Westerberg gleefully smashed the time clock that counted down to the band's curfew just a few songs in, first turning it toward the audience and then swinging the clock by its cord before tossing it into oblivion with a "f--- you, clock!"
The band kept their banter was warm and upbeat, copping to lyric gaffes and asking the audience for song requests. More than a few (dozen) grown men buried their face in their hands and openly wept with joy before the lights went dark after "I.O.U."
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Black Francis of The Pixies performs on stage on Day 3 of Riot Fest and Carnival 2013 at Humboldt Park on September 15, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images)
The Pixies, another formerly broken-up band from the '80s playing short a founding member, had slightly less success on an adjacent stage. Frontman Black Francis slogged through the beginning of the set looking and sounding like he couldn't be less excited to play songs like "Indie City" and a cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On."
The set picked up steam at "Wave Up Mutilation" but still wavered on and off until "Debaser." Ending a few minutes early with "Where Is My Mind," the group was among the most anticipated acts of the fest that never quite hit the expected highs.
Local bands Twin Peaks and the flame-haired brother-sister duo of White Mystery were able to goose some excitement out of the waterlogged crowd during their respective late afternoon and late evening sets. At 19, the Chicago rockers had to be the youngest artists of the fest but were quick studies in Riot Fest rowdiness: At the end of their set one of the band members chucked a 40-oz into the audience as an aggressive "thank you."
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Hunter Burgan, Davey Havok, Adam Carson and Jade Puget of AFI perform on stage on Day 3 of Riot Fest and Carnival 2013 at Humboldt Park on September 15, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Redferns via Getty Images)
AFI served up a scream-filled, angsty set -- to the total delight of fans, many of whom poured in after Brand New wrapped their show.
Despite the rainy finish, Chicago's Riot Fest has nothing on Colorado: The roving festival and carnival heads next to Boulder, which has been hit hard by floods in recent days.
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