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Jawbreaker's Blake Schwarzenbach almost played guitar for Cap'n Jazz at Riot Fest

Imagine for a moment living in a world where Jawbreaker hasn't announced their Riot Fest reunion yet. It shouldn't be that hard; we all lived in that world a few months ago. Before Jawbreaker's monumental return was known, Cap’n Jazz was also planning to reunite at Riot Fest. However, guitarist Davey von Bohlen didn't want to play the reunion, so Tim Kinsella asked someone else to fill in on second guitar: Jawbreaker's Blake Schwarzenbach. And he told AP all about it in our Riot Fest Oral History.

Read more: Riot Fest turned New Found Glory, Against Me!, more into Garbage Pail Kids trading cards

The story of how Kinsella found out about Jawbreaker's reunion is quite funny. After hearing that von Bohlen wouldn't be returning to play with Cap’n Jazz, Kinsella says “my first idea was, 'Okay, I will ask Blake.'”

He continued, “The last time I saw him, he was super-in love with this woman who was a big Cap’n Jazz and Joan Of Arc fan. So I was like, 'Oh man, if he is still with that woman, maybe he will want his girlfriend to think that he did this really cool thing. Maybe there is actually a chance Blake will play second guitar for us.'

“So I put out some feelers to the appropriate people and they were like, 'Ummm, maybe you should hold on a second…'” 

It turns out, Schwarzenbach couldn't play for Cap’n Jazz because Jawbreaker's reunion was already in the works. 

Kinsella adds, “It is crazy, man. The stage [on the day that we are playing Riot Fest] goes Cap’n Jazz, Dinosaur Jr., Jawbreaker. When I showed that to my brother [Mike Kinsella, who also plays in American Football] he actually wept. He didn’t cry. He wept.

While we'd love to see Schwarzenbach play with Cap’n Jazz, we can't be too upset because, instead, we get to witness punk history in the making with the reunion of Jawbreaker.

To read the entire Riot Fest Oral History series, click here for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Watch more: Reporting from Riot Fest 2013 – APTV interview with The Lawrence Arms