Okay. Y'know what? Given that they're coming off the Foo Fighters and the Cure this year? It's definitely a possibility. And I have a feeling we might see a more general tour routing well ahead of the Riot Fest line-up drop to give us a sense of how likely/unlikely it is. At least that's what I hope... So the wait isn't too agonizing.
I guess Blink-182/Twenty One Pilots/The Story So Far is potentially a thing in stadiums next summer, so if truethat will give us an indication of how likely they are based on if there's a Chicago stop and if not if there is a Lolla gap.
Most of what you jotted down feels reasonable but I wanted to highlight some of these. For various reasons. Trying to keep it positive and/or neutral... Garbage: I've been thinking a lot about them as a possible Riot act recently. They could work really well alongside pretty much any of the bigger alt-rock acts but I could also see them slotting perfectly as support for somebody that might close out Radicals/Rise like CHVRCHES. I don't know why but I can't get that idea out of my idea. Hole: When Courtney Love did Marc Maron's WTF in late 2022 I'm pretty sure she said "no way" still. But hey. It'd be rad. Rage Against the Machine: Same logic as your Foos quote. I think booking them and drawing as well as it did means Green Day and/or Rage are now an option whenever either wants to do it. Smaller/younger hardcore acts: I think Scowl, Militarie Gun, and Gel would be great as would Soul Glo. I'd also put MSPaint, Drug Church, Soul Blind, Risk, Regulate, and End It into the mix. I suspect they won't steer away from a single genre because of something a single band did (especially when there were several bands from that genre who didn't do that this past weekend LOL).
Yeah at this point, I think Green Day and Foos are pretty much on point popularity-wise. I mean, we went the longest time thinking Foos would never play Riot since they played stadiums… but that changed this year
I think Foos are bigger than Green Day. When Foos headlined Lolla in 2021 they were #1 overall on the poster but when Green Day headlined in 2022 they were #4. For a band that plays stadiums (Green Day), they were billed below two acts that, at the time, were only playing arenas (Dua Lipa and J Cole).
Fall Out Boy / Green Day / Paramore feels a little too specific to a single scene/era, but it’s pretty much my ideal top line. My usual wishlist for the undercard: The Weakerthans / John K. Samson The Mountain Goats Spanish Love Songs Strike Anywhere I Am the Avalanche Signals Midwest Broadway Calls Further Seems Forever The Forecast Ruston Kelly Jenny Lewis Future Teens
Not even worried about headliners rn but I’ll say it’s high time they book Knocked Loose. also still on that CRJ train. I discovered the Chicago pop band Better Love from the Fest lineup and think they’d be a great opener on CRJ’s stage. I agree they need to get back to having some rap representation- I could go for the return of the Wu Tang Clan. There’s also a young group called Cost Contra that’s kinda blowing up on social media rn who would be a great early day act for a Wu Tang fan base to check out. love that hardcore finally got on the bill, we need to keep that up. Incendiary, Trapped Under Ice, Scowl, Spaced, Bane, Magnitude would all be very nice for me personally.
Ten year anniversary of No Coast (my favorite Braid album) next year, but I also really want to see Hey Mercedes.
So there’s obviously been lots of chatter about the park moving locations but I wonder if they would ever consider moving dates/weekends? I only say this because I’ve seen quite a few people complaining about the whole Mexican Independence chaos and suggesting the dates be moved. Now, the easiest solution to this is to just take the subway but the subway is already packed as it is (hence why some folks just drive down and back or take Uber there and back) so telling more people to take it probably is not the best idea. The second solution is the city does something about the Mexican Independence celebrations but we all know that is unlikely. The third solution is to move dates but the festival has been this weekend for so long that I don’t know if such a big change would even be possible/worth it/etc. but it is a sentiment I have seen growing over the years and it’s been the loudest this year, especially since the Mexican Independence festivities were the biggest this year (which is a big feat because they were big last year)
Would honestly welcome if they changed weekends. Every year I have to fight between going to Riot Fest and finally doing TIFF and every year Riot's won because it's easier to get to and more predictable of an experience.
I'd be fine with it changing weekends. Coming from the west suburbs, I've found parking in Cicero and taking the Pink Line to be a great system for Friday/Saturday, but doesn't really work for Sunday because of the parade in Cicero.
Simply speaking from my own experiences, I haven't found the Mexican parade stuff to be any more difficult to navigate lately. Most people going to Riot Fest are repeat attendees at this point and should know that those celebrations coincide with the festival. I think it comes down to managing expectations. There were some changes with Uber/Lyft drop off and pickup locations, but other than that I thought things were really smooth and reminded me of the pre-pandemic years more so than the last two years. In terms of moving the date, I would not be opposed to it in a vacuum, but I feel like that stuff is always a bigger deal behind the scenes than simply doing it a different weekend. I would guess most bands they try to book would not be impacted too much beyond summer tour routing. I think booking headliner and close to it level bands would potentially be a little more difficult, unless they were still doing it after Lolla. I think the festival has gotten into a pretty good groove with the park. I really only seeing it move down the road to say, over by Soldier Field whenever the Bears leave. Any location outside of the city I think would have some diminishing returns, both in the people attending and the bands doing after shows. Things can and will change, but I just don't really see it right now.
I have no problems with it happening the same weekend as Mexican Independence Day celebrations. I also have no problems with how people celebrate it, either, but I also don't live downtown. However, I do believe most of the complaints about how it's celebrated from city residents has a certain high pitched whistling tone, if you catch my drift. Moving weekends is tough. Weather starts to get a bitch dodgy a weekend later (although this upcoming one looks great), weekend before already has other events booked and you can't do Labor Day weekend. They might be stuck.
I think if you move weekends you are looking into May, June, and late August, which all have some different hurdles of their own. July would be tough with Pitchfork and the 4th (especially with Nascar the next few years).