Really cool line-up! I love when niche fests expand in ways that are logical without making massive jumps. I could definitely see Head Automatica, Further Seems Forever, and Gorilla Biscuits on the bill. Gorilla Biscuits would be a stellar Rebel Stage closer, TBH. Taylor Acorn, Narrow Head, Scowl, Militarie Gun, and Anxious would be great "early day" add as well! Musically, they definitely stand out. But no more than some of the other bands they have this year/have had in previous years that play poppier, melodic punk (e.g., New Found Glory, Bouncing Souls, Knuckle Puck, Relient K, Lagwagon). It is really odd to see them in a headlining slot. But that also speaks to what Mike has been saying the last few years about their willingness to play festivals. It has to be the right slot for the right money on the right day to get them to do it. And them getting this slot here could probably help them get a better slot at other festivals too, TBH.
Absolutely, when they dip theirs toes in they crush it- ETID, glassjaw, the bled, Madball, & misfits of course. Needs more. surprised bands like converge, gorilla biscuits, terror, death by stereo haven’t played before
Especially with this new crop of bands in that soundspace blowing up, it seems silly not to capitalize on the wave, ya know?
I think the biggest issue with booking "more hardcore" is where they'd be slotted in. You could obviously slot most of them onto Rebel at any point, but beyond that...You're limited to 1-2 slots on a bigger stage that would make sense for the majority, unfortunately. They don't "theme" Rebel the way they do the bigger stages but I remember in 2017 they had a day that was mostly "street punk" bands leading up to GWAR which was kinda neat. They could do something similar. TBH, this is a great argument for going back to a two-stage Rebel area set-up. That was really rad and I'd love for them to bring that format back! They played Denver in 2016, but haven't ever played Chicago.
Absolutely loved the split set up for the Rebel section. Was a nice area to lay low, have a bite and watch some bands I hadn't heard of before, found a couple artists I wouldn't have tried if not for that.
I think someone mentioned this before, but having Rebel being a hardcore stage for one day with no barricade would be a cool idea, but also I can see this going wrong, someone getting hurt and Riot getting into problemd because of it
https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/0...ighbors-fought-to-boot-it-from-douglass-park/ Well, there goes one of them this year.
For me, I just think Riot missed the boat with hardcore. They could have partnered with the Rumble to do something cool where more hardcore was mixed in throughout the lineup going back to 2015 or 2016 and growing it in the festival as the genre had a resurgence. Revisionist history, but at this point they are just missing out on one of the more exciting and inclusive genres going. I get the overall Riot vibe and get not wanting to lean too hard into indie or radio rock, but hardcore is different when discussing punk. Just a wild miss to me.
I’m not from the area, just an enthusiast. Anyone know if Northerly Island has anywhere big enough to host this thing? I looked on a map and it looks like a big area, but it’s hard to tell having never been.
The only festival I've ever seen held there is North Coast for one year. The way that worked was they opened up the lawn area and had tent stage back there. And then the front area of the main stage was like a specific ticket that was needed, otherwise you could only view the stage from the lawn area. I assume Heatwave is going to be kinda similar to this, maybe squeezing one more stage in somewhere and hopefully keeping it entirely GA. This is only for the pavilion/official venue itself though. I'm really not sure what the deal is with the park area on the south part of the island, but my gut tells me that this is more of a nature preserve than a park, so I think it's doubtful to see the whole area opened up for a festival. I don't think Riot would work there, but I could be wrong about any of this.
On the Tour Forum they are talking about a September tour with All American Rejects, hopefully they play on Riot as Im still bummed they cancelled in 2021
that many sell outs over 6 months away is damn impressive. Ben Gibbard giving the people what they want.... HIM
Nice my date also has Warpaint! Although honestly all four of those openers are awesome, I would've been stoked on any of them.
Need The Beths at Riot, and since their tow Thalia shows this Friday/Saturday are sold out I feel like coming back for a festival is likely. (They can do an aftershow at Cobra and make up for the canceled Riot Fest Presents show they were going to do there during COVID)
Yeah, it's just bland "festival indie" that's pretty dime-a-dozen at this point. Car commercial music or whatever. LOL Definitely more of a Lolla act.
This is what I'm talking about! And them doing Furnace the weekend after bodes very well. I could see them in a 2-3pm slot on Radical/Rise with this as an album play (plus an aftershow!) I remember seeing them do this album back in 2012 on a tour with Polar Bear Club, Owen, and Aficionado. It was such a fun night.