Riot Fest 2022 (September 16-18, Chicago IL) Festival • Page 164

For the sake of us and the other bands, the best thing will be that MCR plays unopposed. I would feel terrible being the band that has to play against then

 

If they don't play unopposed, my best guess is that it's Portugal the Man going up against some of their set. With the Wonder Years maybe like, overlapping by 15 minutes or so at most.

 

I start to think The Wonder Years might not close a stage. In previous years the "pop punk" stage has been headlined by TBS, New Found Glory, Paramore and A Day To Remember. I feel they are not as big as these bands.

 

Friday is just absurd my combined must sees and want to sees almost equals the other 2 combined:
Fri: 18
Sat:10
Sun:10

 

i think MCR will be unopposed but i could see a schedule that has descendents overlapping with mcr, they are the only band on friday who can 1) headline a stage and 2) be something for the people who will just never like MCR

 

I'd watch Ska Dream over MCR

 

This feels personal haha. Is the RF Twitter person on this board!?

 

The only people I know IRL who like Portugal the Man are people who go to amphitheater concerts and festivals "for the vibe." They have plenty of fans, but they generally seem a bit less "sensitive" to overlaps than some of the other bands who are going to be later in the day.

In contrast, most people I know who enjoy the Descendents are at least marginally curious about MCR. And I know the guys in MCR are big fans.

So I'm basing this on purely anecdotal evidence and the general aesthetic of the bands but... If they want to minimize conflicts? Portugal the Man kinda feels like the obvious way to do it.

 

REVEAL YOURSELF RIOT FEST TWITTER PERSON

 

a friend of my fiance is selling us their tickets to this for less than face value, so i guess i'm going again this year :D

 

It's still weird that bands like Pinkshift, Elliott & Sparta etc are all in the middle of tours with Riot bands but not on the lineup... I'm assuming Elliott will be an aftershow, but I'd rather see them bring back the second small stage to make room for bands as such

Friday actually has 4 less bands and Saturday has 3 less bands than Sunday.. maybe it'll all add up at some point lol

 

Same with Charly Bliss

 

I'll say it again: I think we all might overestimate the appeal of playing Riot Fest for some of these bands. It's pretty telling that the bottom of the poster gets more and more "Gen Z" (ew, I hate that I just wrote that) with each year...

Bands like Elliot and Sparta are, ostensibly, legacy acts but would wind up playing at 1pm under a bunch of bands they've influenced to a fairly empty field for not a lot of money. They're also not getting the "reunion checks" that some of their more in-demand peers might get. I know that sounds bleak and it pains me to say it about a band like Elliot but... It's kinda the reality.

Charly Bliss is sorta the same thing. Do you want to play at 12 noon and make peanuts when you could... Just take the day off and hang at the festival for free? Or maybe do a headliner somewhere else? Maybe I'm leaning into what Mike Herrera said about Riot when he commented about them not paying a lot of the smaller bands decently but it would explain it some.

Pinkshift I can't begin to figure out because they're kinda in that perfect sweet spot where it would be a great opportunity for them and they'd be a super strong opener for one of the bigger stages. Maybe they just jumped on the train too late. I feel like their "buzz" is relatively new, but I'd be shocked if they didn't blow up within the next year TBH.

There's also dozens of factors that go into these things and this is all pure speculation so... I dunno. I'm not surprised that we're surprised. But I'm also not surprised. Surprised?

 

You nailed it. Riot Fest has dragged their feet on booking more relevant and contemporary acts and is playing catch-up. The legacy acts that still tour have no reason to take a small cut from Riot Fest (and possibly lose money) when they can get more from the aftershows or booking their own show on the off day or two.

Charly Bliss could play later, though, as they are bridging the gap of the Gen Z acts you mentioned but is this the audience they want to be exposed to or are they aiming for something different? If this was Lolla they would be playing without a doubt.

I haven't kept up with much and haven't heard what Mike said so if you have a source for that I would appreciate it. I fully believe him, though.

 

I just mean, Sparta for example is playing with Get Up Kids on dates immediately before and immediately after Riot.. more than likely they'll be in Chicago, maybe even walking around backstage.. I guess a day off is nice but a small check is better than no check

 

Totally! And sometimes it's better to take the rest/break than the money. Especially in situations where you might feel like you aren't being valued appropriately. I don't necessarily blame Riot Fest either.

A band like Sparta isn't going to be a major draw for the festival if they're part of a bigger tour. And for a band like Elliot, I can see why they'd avoid Riot and just do Furnace Fest instead. The paycheck is probably roughly the same, they'll get a bigger paycheck, and be surrounded by way more of their friends.

It was on the Mike Herrera Hour. Episode #417. That discussion starts around the 15:30 mark. Says they've talked with the festival in the past but it just hasn't worked out and says they would "if they got the right offer."

He says they "do not pay bands a lot of money to pay their festival... It's kind of a cool club where you just do it for less money to be part of the fest. But I imagine somebody's getting paid so that's definitely part of it. Not everything, you know, a lot of it is... It's just the right circumstances. We love Chicago. We want to come back all the time. And we do. We play Chicago at least once a year, I would say."

What I get from that is that MxPx gets more out of a headliner in Chicago than a slot at Riot. Probably more money and an overall better "feeling" from it. Pretty sure the last few times they've played Chicago have done really well. And I would imagine a near sold out (or sold out) headliner is better on all fronts than an "opening" slot at a festival.

And playing a festival will ding the numbers on any headliner you might want to do the following year, or leading up to the festival.

That doesn't necessarily hold true. If you're being offered $5k and you have a time slot that won't win you any new fans... Why bother? A lot of the bands we're talking about now feel, and frankly function, more like serious hobbies than a business.

Many of them have day jobs and they do the band thing for fun. Not sure what Sparta's deal is specifically but... I'd imagine Jim Ward is doing this because he wants to, not because he'll make a living off of it.

 

Understood, but in the past I think Riot has booked plenty of supporting acts of bands on current tours and sprinkled them about on different stages.. I'd understand it not being worth it to travel halfway across the country for a one off show for say MxPx but Elliott is playing in Detroit with Alexisonfire like 2 days before Riot so to me it seems like a win-win situation for both sides, but it is what it is (although I think they end up playing an aftershow)

and bands like Sparta & Pinkshift could easily be on standby too, because at least one band falling out on a festival seems to be the norm in today's climate

I am still standing by my opinion they need to bring back the second small stage.. especially with so many bands touring right now

 

Sure. But most of those supporting acts are on the younger, up-and-coming side of things. With some of these older acts that are literally doing it "just because" there's way more factors that weigh into whether or not they even want to attempt the discussion. Then again, to your point, they might also be on standby and/or announced for an aftershow.

Adding that second stage back would be incredible and would allow them to book some of these B- or C-list legacy acts later in the day... Which could change their willingness to play. In the rare instances they do this? I think it works out positively for everybody. I wasn't there in 2018 but I was jealous of anybody who got to see H2O and Glassjaw in that setting!

And honestly? Watching Elliot play as the sun sets, sitting on that hill in the back kinda seems perfect to me.

 

I think you brought up a good point here. Maybe some of these bands that are part of a tour package but not playing are "on call" when they're here. They're already in Chicago, they're not officially playing but if something happens, Riot has a handful of bands that are already here, with their gear ready to go instead of scrambling to get someone who will be more complicated (and likely expensive) to get here. If they don't need (for example) Charly Bliss to play, maybe Riot sponsors an after show or whips them a couple bucks (half their fee maybe?) to just hang around and fill in if they need them. Makes sense to me but I'll be the first to say I don't know shit about shit.

 

If you’re in town early and looking for a nice pre show…

 

I gave up trying to figure out shit long ago lol

 

Green Day at the Metro this Friday

(Possibly playing American Idiot in full but not confirmed)

 

Well, that's one aftershow I'm wildly jealous of. Hah.

 

MCR needs to play The Black Parade in full at a Metro aftershow now

 

Dang!