Riot Fest 2021 (September 17-19, Chicago IL) Tour • Page 196

Yeah why not?!

 

I was expecting Taking Back Sunday and Andrew W.K. with AWK opening the whole evening. So hearing that he has a date on the 17th has me bummed out. Haha.

I'm honestly not expecting GWAR. Just because of the set-up that would be required.

 

I could actually see Cheap Trick doing it. They've played the festival a few times and have relatively broad appeal. Like, most people would be into it if they hopped on-stage.

 

Local Chicago band... Hasn’t played Riot since 2014... I think it’d be a fun get!

 

They are opening for Rod Stewart with a Chicago date, so I doubt it

 

Yeah, I considered him a lock when his initial tour dates got announced, then they added that one a week later. It could still happen though, maybe he does a solo set, or is the party MC? I wouldn't count him out, but it's not the guarantee I thought

 

I mean, he could arguably MC the whole thing. Or do a DJ set or something, which would be a bummer TBH. Haha.

 

I say this unbiased because I almost definitely won’t be going to an after show because I just get too tired during them: Does anyone else feel like they are going to announce them much sooner than normal? NFG was making it sound like they would be announcing a club show soon. And Riot Fest mentioned them as something to keep an eye out for while waiting for them to put more tickets on sale (which you would think they would do as soon as they can after they have a final number on transfers and refunds). If they announce them earlier, then I hope they announce the schedule earlier too!

 

I agree that I can't see something like Bright Eyes for Thursday. And it's definitely weird Rise Against doesn't have a Chicago date yet, but I think even they're a stretch just because I don't know if I really see Riot going that big. I could be off but I also feel like they're going to keep Thursday as a more light hearted night.

My guess is we're more on track with guesses like Descendents, Naked Raygun, Alkaline Trio, the Offspring, etc. for the Thursday exclusive. Something that will be agreeable to the average Riot Fest attendee without being a weekend gamechanger.

 

Oh shit I’ll take Descendents please

 

See, I think Rise Against not having a Chicago date and saying they have "something planned" for Chicago that hasn't been announced yet is kind of a pretty big red flag to me that it could be Riot. In a vacuum, I agree that they would be a bit bigger than Riot might go for for this... But I could also see Riot being able to convince them to do it if they are off that weekend, anyway. Especially if they pulled in other bands from the area. They aren't necessarily the #1 act I want, but they're the one I'm most expecting.

The Offspring are free that weekend, but I'm really not sure what the motivation would be for them to fly-in for a single, limited ticket show. I kinda have the same feeling about the Descendents too, unfortunately.

I think it'll be bands with close ties to the festival, a random act or two from the main line-up, and the headliner is going to be somebody Chicago-centric.

 

So, I'm guessing they're going to be announcing the album plays sometime within the next month or so? That IG statement makes it sound like all of that is going to be announced before the next wave of single day tickets goes on-sale. Which makes sense this year, given that they seem to already have two bigger shows on lock.

Roll out the album plays in the second week of June, roll out the after shows early the next week, release the new tickets later that same week. And put the after shows on sale the next week or something like that.

And sporadically drop a hint about whose playing Thursday to keep the momentum/social media hype going.

That would bring them to early July. With plenty of time to keep hyping and selling tickets if the next wave don't go as quickly as they're probably hoping they do (which is a possibility).

 

They should do a weird teaser video like they did in 2016 for the bands playing the Thursday pre-party

 

I'd love that. Weird, Bamboozle-style riddles would be fun too.

Do we have any idea/sense as to how many stages this is going to be? Or how many bands?

Keeping my expectations managed, I'm anticipating three bands across two of the main stages (Rise/Radicals). Plus 3-4 on Rebel with shorter sets.

 

I didn't realize they said that, but that actually kind of makes me think it will be them even less. It seems kind of weird to tease your fans about a show that they actually won't end up being able to go to unless they happened to buy a Riot Fest ticket a year ago. There's still plenty of other things they could be doing: a Lolla aftershow at the Metro with a regular Chicago tour date announced after, something with WKQX, or even opening for someone big at Wrigley or something.

 

I kinda figured they’d want to keep the party all together and not have to book that many acts for it, so I assumed they would probably either all be at one stage or go back and forth from Roots to Riot with the barricade down the middle of the two stages not yet built. I say anywhere from 4 to 8 bands that night.

 

What if some of the Thursday bands are the ones that got removed from the line-up like All-American Rejects and Jawbox?

I really wanted to see Jawbox :(

 

I think Jawbox cancelled all plans for 2021. And I'm not sure AAR had anything other than Riot Fest planned... But I'd love to see either on Thursday! I've never seen Jawbox, so I'm really bummed they dropped off. And the one time I saw AAR at Warped Tour they put on a super fun show.

I just don't think it's very likely. Jawbox is a pretty niche act. And AAR would be an incredibly random band to pop on Thursday and not the main festival. That and it would be real shitty of the festival to sell tickets with them on the bill for nearly a full year, pull them from the main festival, and stick them on a "special" night.

 

Yeah, I think it is more likely that they just pushed their plans to 2022 and will be on next year’s line up instead.

 

Jawbox was announced for Primavera next year, so I expect this as well

 

I was more bummed about Jawbox dropping off the lineup than I was MCR, tbh

 

i know august burns red hasn't played riot fest since like 2012 but their new tour they just announced has a stop in chicago and its a riot fest presents show

 

Found out a guy in a Discord server I'm in is also going and so we started chit chatting and he said there was a "strong rumor" Pup was playing Cobra Lounge on Thursday

 

Good looks and great find! Did they let anything else "slip" that you picked up on? (I'm sure you would have posted that too, but figured I would ask.)

 

Nah that's all the goods I got but still looks like I'm giving up a taping of Wait Wait.