Somebody start a band called Minor Threat Reunion and get booked for Riot. (Idea inspired by Jawbreaker Reunion.)
Riot Fest just shared a "#TBT" pic of Laura Jane Grace from Riot Fest 2019. Cue a Reddit thread about how she's a Riot Fest secret agent who was told to confuse people with Operation Ivy posts because they are actually playing.
Good news guys... Andrew WK seems to be playing. Didn't see that coming Andrew W.K. U.S. Tour Dates Sept. 10 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom Sept. 11 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Bimbo's 365 Sept. 13 - Seattle, Wash. @ Neumos Sept. 14 - Portland, Ore. @ Revolution Hall Sept. 19 - Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Spirit Hall Sept. 21 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club Sept. 22 - Boston, Mass. @ Royale Sept. 23 - New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom Sept. 24 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Theatre Of The Living Arts Sept. 26 - Birmingham, Ala. @ Furnace Fest (**festival date)
Shocking. And it looks like he's free pretty much the entire week. Guessing we have a decent shot at him performing on Thursday too!
I know they’ve kinda become a meme act the past few years (thanks Eric Andre) but I could totally see 311 playing, especially if they’re not doing their usual summer tour this year
This is a great example of what I was talking about when I said that calling an artist a "meme" act isn't dismissive. TBH, though, I think 311 has leaned into the "meme" of it all pretty hard these last few years and are totally cool with it. And yeah, they tick all of the intangible Riot Fest criteria for an act they'd book. Not a favorite of mine, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't check the SummerFest set list and try to time catching bits of their set with specific songs I'd hope to see.
Ben Folds is playing the Ravinia Festival in North Chicago on 9/18, so he's out, which makes me very, very, very sad.
Lame to say, but 311 puts on a really good show for guys who have been doing it for like 30+ years. They don't always play every hit but you'll get some combination of "Down" "All Mixed up" "Amber" "Love Song" etc, with a few deep cuts for the hardcore fans. No setlist is the same and I love that about bands. Plus you get a solid contact high.
Not sure what's lame about that, haha. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about their live sets over the years and the one time I did see them, they were really great as memory serves. But that was also 21 years ago; shit. Fucking Hoobastank opened that. Hah. Honestly, that sounds like a fantastic mix as far as songs go and I wish several other bands mentioned over the last year or so in this thread (most recently, the Dropkick Murphys) would do something similar with their sets. Where it's a balance of the "hits" with deep cuts.
I’m not a Ben Folds fan, but the good thing about artists playing Ravinia is you can totally see them if you’re okay with missing the evening slots at riot fest. I left early Saturday in 2019 and saw Morrissey at Ravinia and I don’t regret it a bit
Frank Turner just announced a short run of outdoor UK shows that ends on September 3rd. Given that he's on both Punk Rock Bowling and Fest already, I can see him hopping onto Riot Fest as well.
Haha I always get a side eye from people when I rave about 311 shows (they're probably the band I've seen the 2nd most). I've been a fan non-ironically for damn near 20 years and even though the last couple albums have fallen flat for me, I still love and support them. And YES! I love when an artist switches up their set night to night. I bet you could give them any song from any point their catalog and they could play it no problem. Gotta respect that.
I mean, they're an easy band to make fun of for a multitude of reasons. But for me, they fall into that category of bands that can be simultaneously corny and super earnest at the same time in a way that's almost endearing? They always have a few songs on each album that grab me. Usually the faster stuff. Or that one song on the Feldmann-produced album where S.A.'s vocals sound like the dude from All Time Low. The band I've seen most live (the Bouncing Souls) is a similar way, albeit not so extreme. Haha. Every night isn't different, but they switch up the setlist pretty aggressively from tour to tour while keeping the hits but also pulling in deep cuts. I wish more acts took a cue from that.
I drove (the only downside of which was paying for parking near the fest that day). You can take transit, but if I recall I would have had to have left the fest like 2 hours earlier if I had done that.