There was a constant crowd surge crushing the people in the front. A lot of younger fans who clearly aren’t familiar with the concept of festivals camped all day with no food, water, or bathroom breaks and were dropping like flies. There was a couple of fights. I personally had someone fall into the side of my knee in the pit and dislocated my patella, turning it 90 degrees sideways.
Let’s not act like younger fans are the only ones who camp like that. I met a woman older than I currently am in 2013 who wore a diaper in order to camp for AFI. The man I helped carry out this year was not much younger than me, either. I think it was the nature of the layout and the pent up energy around this reunion.
I was front and center for MCR Friday and maybe I was lucky but I never felt that I was being crushed, I actually think that Taking Back Sundays set at Riot last year was way more crowd pressure on me then the MCR set. Also part of the reason I love Riot Fest so much is that they stock the front of stage with water and give you bottles without question all day long. This was also the only time I've ever bothered to camp out at the Riot stage, I'm usually into the Rise and Radical stage lineups. I also understand that every person in the crowd probably had wildly different experiences and I commend the band for trying to get people to back up as much as they could while still getting through their set.
Not that I seriously doubted there would be a RF 2023, but the email they just sent out for people to order 2022 merch specifically mentions an upcoming sneak peak of Riot Fest 2023 through this year's app.
Email from them just now has me feeling a lot better about 2023: "If you downloaded the Riot Fest app this year, don't delete it! We're fixing some bugs and working on some enhancements for next year based on the feedback we received. Starting this week, we'll be doing upcoming show announcements, secret giveaways, contests, exclusive content, merch sales, and a sneak preview of Riot Fest 2023, all through the app! "
Felt like they did a lot less of the notifications than previous years with the app. But maybe I just never had service to get them lol. Hope next year's app doesn't require service to even see the schedule!
Im hoping/assuming Bauhaus will be back for next year would love to see Pup too, and maybe(?) a longshot but Ghost would be great
Op Ivy on Friday. Blink or Fall Out Boy maybe on Saturday. Greta Van Fleet or something I don’t care about on Sunday.
So many wishlist bands came up during bauhaus/placebo discussion so I’m just rehashing some comments but some here’s a bunch, not official guesses: the makeups: faith no more, mr bungle, pixies, bauhaus, placebo Upper lines: Joan Jett, iggy pop, ghost, Alice Cooper, kid cudi, nofx (final Chicago show) silverchair (reunion), deftones, garbage, mane skin, idles, the interrupters others: goldfinger, pup, Amyl and the sniffers, the vines, finch, story of the year, debut show for whatever band the non-Keith guys from ETID do, cancer bats, tsunami bomb, sleigh bells, spiritbox, skatune network, the skints… I’m sure I’ll think of more, my brain hurts after first day back at work
If the blink with Tom rumors are gonna end up being true I wonder if lolla tries to go after them. Supposedly they are on the Brazil lolla lineup for early next year
Non-headliner wishlist: The Weakerthans / John K. Samson Strike Anywhere Broadway Calls Further Seems Forever (either possible vocalist but I’d prefer Carabba) The Promise Ring Rilo Kiley / Jenny Lewis The Mountain Goats Hey Mercedes Signals Midwest Cartel Armor For Sleep
I’d love some smaller indie punk type bands, such as: Diet Cig Charly Bliss Illuminati Hotties Soul Glo Enumclaw Bartees Strange Remember Sports Chris Farren Speedy Ortiz Hop Along Thank You, I’m Sorry Prince Dadsy & The Hyena Home Is Where Ogbert the Nerd Origami Angel Macseal Soccer Mommy Rozwell Kid DEHD The Beths (ok more indie pop but they were scheduled to play a Riot Fest presents show before the pandemic hit)
I was surprised armor for sleep wasn’t on this years lineup since they are touring and just put out a new album
I think they’re a long shot since this kind of festival doesn’t seem like their style, but they’re on my list anyway. Jon Wurster has played Riot before and they’ll be touring their most rock album in years. They’d be a great early evening on the Radicals stage band.