Riot Fest 2021 (September 17-19, Chicago IL) Tour • Page 216

I'd be good money we get a Real Friends aftershow.

 

There's a few odd instances this year where some decidedly "very Riot Fest" bands are on a tour and not on the festival itself. It happens every year, but it's usually the smallest opener...

Kinda makes me wonder when these tours were all put together/booked, what bands were a late addition, etc. Like, I'd be curious to know when Real Friends found that new singer and when they were booked on that State Champs tour. Because FYS was a new add from May...

Same thing with Senses Fail and the Bombpops. Bayside has been on Riot since 2020. But maybe that tour wasn't rebooked until very recently (i.e., after the line-up for Riot was already "full").

I just think the uncertainty this year, coupled with some bands being booked for an entire year and now figuring out that they want to tour around the festival... May have led to a lot of inconsistencies with touring line-ups that we don't usually see.

 

Riot Fest has always been pretty relaxed about the radius clause.

I’m sure there’s also a lot of handshake agreements to not enforce those clauses this year as a result of everyone trying to recover from 18 months of no income.

 

A lot of these Chicago shows are being put on my Riot Fest too. I just realized the Thrice show is an RF-organized show

 

Concord is heavily affiliated with them. So for sure it’s blessed and no one is trying to make a venue they partner with regularly hurt even more.

 

this is like the early '00's version of that Cruel world fest, and im absolutely here for it. this line up is fantastic. only change i would personally make is i much prefer Broken Bells over the shins as far as James Mercer bands go.

 

Tickets are kinda steep but I’d love to go. Modest Mouse and The Shins back-to-back makes me wanna go

 

Yeah, that's a sick line-up. Nothing I would personally travel for... But if it were within 2-3 hours of me, I would definitely get a ticket and go.

 

agreed and looking at it more, id want to go to see almost of this, and unless they have short sets (which would be a bummer itself) or its a realllllly long day, your missing a good chunk of these. Add tv on the radio, the kills, Hot Chip, & she wants revenge.. really blow this thing out and make it into a 2-dayer. lol

 

Looks like we had a flase alarm on Meg Myers dropping off.

 

Honestly I could see Real Friends doing the pizza party

 

Does anyone have a list of the bands that have played the pizza party in the past? I feel like it's usually been bands who can headline a 100-200 capacity room and no bigger.

 

If someone wants to start their Riot weekend since Tuesday

 

of course my city is 1 of the 2 out of 30 that doesnt have Me 1st.

 

Man, that is going to be such a fun tour! Kind of bummed it's hitting Boston on Riot Fest weekend and the Chicago stop is the day before I arrive. Jealous of anybody who gets to go.

 

You’re absolutely right, I just feel like it’s become enough of a riot fest tradition that eventually a bigger band is gonna play it just for fun

 

Damn! I’m coming in on Wednesday… (facepalm) My gf loves the Violent Femmes. This would’ve been a fun add-on to our trip

 

I think that Reddit is going to end up being really let down by the Thursday night. They seem to be convinced that there needs to be some big headliner even though Riot Fest never teased a big headliner. They also seem to not understand just because something isn’t bucket list for them doesn’t mean that it isn’t for other people.

 

I would argue that some people in this thread are going to be disappointed too, although nowhere near the degree that the Reddit folks are.

I just don't see any reason why Riot would drop a shit-ton of money on a headliner for a free party. Especially a relatively small party. Why would they book a band that needs to fly-in and would cost $$$ to book for that night when they would have gotten more bang for their buck by having them on the festival proper?

I think it's going to be a bunch of mid-level, cool/fun bands and Riot Fest calling in favors to book them cheaply. Bucket list is such a broad term that it could be an acoustic set from Bayside. Or the Circle Jerks playing a "warm-up" set on the Rebel Stage. Or New Found Glory doing an all-soundtrack covers set or something. All of these would qualify in my eyes, though none would excite me in particular.

I would love to be wrong and have us get an impressive, fly-in surprise headliner for Thursday night that has big name recognition. But I just don't see it happening. We have a better shot at the "surprise" being Naked Raygun. Chicago-based, closely connected to the festival and Mike P, etc.

 

Exactly. I could have seen them having Rise Against as a surprise band just because they are from Chicago and have a connection with the festival. But since that isn’t happening, I don’t see a band even that size being the surprise band. I think that Alkaline Trio would be the biggest possible for the surprise band at this point, and I’m not convinced it would be them either. I’m hopeful that the sets will be different or cool in some way but I’m definitely not expecting any of the bigger bands on the lineup to be playing, let alone big bands that aren’t on the lineup.

 

I would bet all the Chicago bands that are playing Riot and not on tour will be part of Thursday, like Knuckle Puck or Beach Bunny. And I would be happy with that

 

I don't necessarily think Rise is definitely ruled out, especially if it's a surprise set. But certainly less likely. I don't think it's happening; but who knows... Alkaline Trio is possible, but I don't think it's very likely just because they haven't been so active and the band isn't really local to Chicago anymore.

I'm expecting different/fun/cool sets, but nothing truly earth shattering. I'm really just hoping for sets that can prevent set time overlap stress. Haha.

I think they're both in play, for sure! I keep forgetting Beach Bunny is on the festival... And Knuckle Puck would be neat, but I honestly think that would be a very lukewarm surprise for your average festival-goer.

 

I think that’s the corner they’ve probably painted themselves into on Thursday. The whole festival draws from a pretty musically/generationally diverse crowd. How do you get cheap acts with broad enough appeal to please a smaller sample of that crowd (let alone come close to delivering on promises of “bragging rights sets”)?

 

You appeal to your core and make sure the line-up is diverse enough within that scope. Lean heavily on the 90s/early 2000s punk and emo thing, because that's effectively been their bread and butter over the years... Throw in an indie-ish act or two (e.g., Beach Bunny). Get the bands to do an album play, maybe an acoustic set, a set exclusively of older songs, a cover set or something. There's ways to do it and keep it cool and fun without breaking the bank. Just need to be selective with the bands you pull in and make sure they're the type who like to keep it interesting and have fun.

But yeah, I suspect they'll be pulling heavily from the punk and emo festival "regulars," and some of the younger indie upstart-type bands. Probably mostly from Chicago - or touring with a free day ahead of the festival.

I really think people read too much into the hyped write-up they did. In hindsight, they were probably just leaning into the fact that Thursday was something you would get to do that others at the festival wouldn't get to do. Therefore, you could brag about it.

 

I said I probably wouldn't do any after shows, but Thursday at Cobra Lounge...
I'm already getting Titus Andronicus tickets tomorrow at noon, so we'll see if I'm still able to grab a Thursday ticket.

Also, really wish Ryley Walker was playing the fest.