I think there's a place for metal at Riot Fest. They've had metal acts before. I don't think Korn would actually be that much of an outlier on the lineup, either. There's also not much of a metal festival in the area anymore.
I had Slipknot on my initial headliner prediction. I think they’d be cool and would probably draw a lot of people who specifically want to see them and might not otherwise go to Riot.
There's a place for it, sure. But there's no real history in them booking metal headliners... When you look at the headliners since moving outside the closest they come is Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More, Slayer. And I would argue that Slayer is an exception because they played as a sub in the past and it was their final tour (too good a get to ignore). EDIT: Forgot System of a Down. Definitely metal, but I do think they aesthetically fit the festival whereas other acts that headline things like Chicago Open Air most definitely don't. I feel like they would have done that for now if they wanted to. But maybe they'll do that and this year, given the gap left by Chicago Open Air. Personally, I don't see it happening. But I guess it could? I'd be down for some of those acts (Slipknot and Korn, mostly). But I really think it would be a drastic shift from the usual format.
I think A7X works for riot, they have enough roots in warped and all that. plus we already had bullet for my valentine, and they are on par with A7X genre-wise I said this elsewhere, but my wild guess is that Sunday will be headliner by committee. Like last year where Bikini Kill was technically the headliner BUT also raconteurs and ween were sort of given big time treatment. I think something like Circle Jerks, Dolly(or weird Al), Ghost/A7X could all play across the park and split the crowd nicely.
How dare you! those are local Boston Comedians! But its true, cool for them as i know a few of them, but sort of weak to pad your line up with rows of LOCAL comedians, not even national touring headliners
Good point about Bullet For My Valentine, actually. I would still say that an artist like that is the exception, not the norm though... And I guess they could book like, A7X and put them on a stage with other (more Riot-friendly) acts. I wonder how they will lay out the poster this year. The last few years, the concept of "top three" went to shit because of the way they formatted the bigger acts. I need to re-think that. Hah. Anyway. I think the Circle Jerks are a lock, but probably not a headliner. They've been opening for NOFX in Europe... Hah! I know. I've seen Lamont Price and Will Noonan more than a handful of times each. I dig them, as well as a few of the others... But to say you have "60+ artists to announce" and ~15-20 of them are comedians and ~12-15 of them are DJs... That's a bullshit move.
My guess for the other two headliners are No Doubt playing Tragic Kingdom & the Strokes.. Deftones sub-headlining a day maybe
My friend was saying he is hoping for some good rap artists this year, so I told him some more of the lineup leaked. (he's not a fan of Lil Dicky, if you didn't guess.)
My dream would be ratm and bright eyes reunion trifecta. More realistically maybe Strokes and Gorillaz? Strokes because they somehow still haven't played riot. Gorillaz because they're about to start an album cycle. Edit: MGMT would be cool as well.
Ghost would be cool. They've said they're only doing one show this year so I'm assuming it's a festival slot somewhere and I haven't seen them on any European festival lineups so far.
Caved and booked a hotel/flight and grabbed a 3-day pass last night. Feels like a bit of a gamble, but... In looking at the line-ups over the last few years, the only one that felt a little lackluster as a whole was 2016. And even that was a strong one (that being said: some of the scheduling conflicts were brutal).
Danzig is playing Danzig II: Lucifuge in full at Psycho Las Vegas in August. I would love if Riot Fest gets this as well.
Regarding March shows in Chicago for potential Lolla headliners: Doesn't matter in the least. Many acts in the past 10 years have done Chicago shows and also headlined Lollapalooza. JUST LAST YEAR Ariana Grande played TWO arena shows the June prior to Lolla and yet headlined the whole damn lineup. Riot: A7x I'd put lots of money behind them not headlining Riot Fest. VW: If The National can headline in 2013 then VW can headline in 2020. Cooper: that Montabello fest. Wasn't that the one that was called a complete s*** show by numerous artists due to the stages and layout? I thought I recalled Dee Snider ripping it a new one. Zombie etal: IF Riot pulls in another big headliner then there's nothing wrong with him headlining a day. To me it's all relative to the remainder of the lineup.
As far as A7X, I've said it before but there is a certain X factor for a Riot Fest act that someone like System of a Down and Slayer have, but A7X does not. I could see Korn more likely, but not as natural a fit as System.
Vampire Weekend would actually be a very cool thing for Riot. It's not too far removed, but would be a bit different. But I think they would be placed like first name outside top 3 at Riot.
the Strokes have to be one of the odds on favorites as headliner 2, Danzig makes a ton of sense playing Danzig II before MCR's set on Saturday, the third headliner I guess is wide open.. System Of A Down, Slipknot, No Doubt, Operation Ivy, Smashing Pumpkins, Queens of the Stone Age, Gorillaz etc etc.. Deftones I think are booked too as far as higher placed bands, but I think they play before a headliner, sorry just meandering now