Yeah, genuinely no clue what this thing Riot Mike is talking about could be. Whatever it ends up being I'm excited to see though. Also re: price hike, very glad we've had our tickets for a while now. I do think something should be said regarding that because it does seem like a pretty drastic increase, even given the wild circumstances of the past couple years..
I thought that Sunday was kind of weak for me at first, probably because I’m less worried about the top bands than the other days. But I feel like that is made up for by having numerous bands I’ve never seen that I’m really excited to see. So I am pretty happy with this line up. And I feel like it being broken down by day already makes it look less impressive to people than it would if it was all listed together.
And I look forward to looking into the lower bands I don’t know. I have definitely discovered some great sets and music from bands I never knew existed before they were announced for Riot Fest.
Ah hah I think you missed my opinion. I hate it. I feel like this lineup caters to a very specific type of rocker and I am not that rocker sir. Its too indie rock/new wave/hipster centric. Nine inch nails is like the only 90s alt band I don't care about. And im not a placebo, sunny day, bauhaus, sleater Kinney, yeah yeah, Portugal, bleachers fan...and thats essentially the lineup. Even the bands that aren't that, also happen to be bands im not a super big fan of. I think for a certain fan, I can see why this is the best lineup ever. Alas. Im dissapointed.
The price increase is a bit ridiculous, especially when a ticket to Pitchfork is less than this (which is arguably a steal for what a three day pass is at P4K) and a ticket to Lollapalooza is $350 (before fees though, but still), where you get more acts and bigger headliners.
I definitely did! Sorry about that. Haha. This is legit the response I expected, though... What's interesting is that I see exactly where you're coming from and agree with you on the indie/new wave/hipster bands. But part of the appeal is that I know there's at least one stage each day that I don't have to worry about major conflicts at, HAH! And they did go super "tight" on the "melodic punk" this year. I just happen to be a huge fan of the bands they did book (Bad Religion, Descendents, Lagwagon)... Or I've just never seen them before (Lunachicks) or only a few times (RFTC, 7 Seconds) so I'm making them a priority. Can also see how some people might roll their eyes at it too. Anyway, maybe next year for you!
Oh of course there isn't 0 bands I like. My chem, misfits, decendents, less than Jake, lagwagon, Linda Linda's (that would be a blast), midtown, lucky boys confusion. But obviously I can't justify the $1k it would cost me. You ended up being right about Avril too!
To sate my own curiosity, here's a quick and dirty look at a full lineup poster not broken up by day:
And ANOTHER year of no Suicide Machines, Goldfinger. Reel big fish or mxpx The suicide machines not being at riot is the most shocking. I can't imagine they're hard to get or wouldn't be interested.
I remember in 2016 Bucket O Blood ran a promo where if you bought $100 worth of records they’d give you a 3 day pass. I spent $200 and snagged 10ish records whilst securing passes for me and my buddy.
Hah! TBH, I had given up on that because it seemed super likely she'd be in the mix. But I still stand by her being an incredibly odd booking that really wouldn't fit if you ignored the bondage pants. Yeah, I don't quite get it either! I mean... I understand MxPx and Goldfinger to a degree. But RBF and the Suicide Machines feel like no-brainers. Both would be exceptionally perfect for the Rebel Stage or a mid-day main stage set.
Okay so I've recounted after Less Than Jake was moved from Friday to Sunday.... Friday: 28 (Hot Mulligan isn't listed in the daily schedules if you scroll down on the website but they're on the admat at the very top) Saturday: 30 (no changes) Sunday: 30 (Less Than Jake added) So even after that, Friday is short. Unless they did that on purpose so no one plays against MCR
Your comment about the genres that they leaned into this year recalled what I was thinking last night - they need to lean into that area more as Lollapalooza no longer caters to having an indie heavy festival (yes, there’ll be some acts but it’s not like how it used to be) and some of these acts have outgrown Pitchfork. With interest in punk and pop-punk seemingly stable or possibly even slightly decreasing along with other related genres taking in aspects of post-punk, emo, and punk…this was only a matter of time.
We have decided not to go this year. The lineup whilst good is lacking something i can't quite put my finger on. The main reason is the cost of Chicago. Hotels and flights are more expensive than New York. I am gutted but should be able to get my money back in reselling the tickets.
Furnace Fest had 90 bands on 3 stages last year (99 on 4 this year), so you could argue that Riot Fest could probably have another 30-40 bands still to be announced with the 2 additional stages already planned. Unless sets are traditionally much longer for the undercard than typical at a fest. Definitely going to be keeping an eye on this to see if I want to swing a double festival weekend (My Chem is also playing Music Midtown much closer to me that weekend, so I may be doing a double anyway).
This is a perfect song: They're playing Bottom Lounge in a couple weeks and one of my bands is opening.
LBC was a band I just assumed I'd never get to see, so even among the reunions and the cool big acts, they're maybe the thing I'm most excited about
Isn't Friday generally a little shorter, anyway? It doesn't start that much later than the other days, but if I recall it generally has fewer bands on the whole. (But this is based on memory and I've only had 1/4 cup of coffee so far today so... Take that as purely anecdotal with a massive grain of salt as I've done no counting, haha.) I'd imagine Riot Fest has longer sets than most Furnace Fest bands. I'd imagine most bands on that fest get 30 or so. At Riot, with the exception of Rebel where most sets are 30 minutes throughout the day, most bands get anywhere from 45-60 minutes with the headliner getting anywhere from 75-90. I never got huge into them, but they definitely have a bunch of bangers. They do an incredible cover of "Anything, Anything (I'll Give You)" that I think is worth checking out.