Riot could easily get away with booking two metal headliners. If they ran the layout like they did in 2018 and 2019 no one would question it. I’m not fully sold on Slipknot but let’s say they brought in System of a Down or whatever.
Depends of the band, more than anything it's just overkill - I think you could get away with System, Rage or Tool (who aren't playing!) - but bands like Pantera (who aren't playing!), Slipknot, Metallica (who aren't playing!) would all be overkill for me on the same bill with Slayer
The list of potential metal headliners are slim but given the chance I’d say it’s completely possible.
I just read that Slipknot are doing guided tours of stuff the day before they perform at Knotfest which leaves only Sunday for them to play which is when Slayer is performing.
But even in those two years, the top three are different genres. I could see them making an exception for punk bands, but it isn’t enough of a metal fest to have two metal headliners.
https://www.tasteofrandolph.org/ Lineup / schedule for Taste of Randolph. I’m playing Friday with Pelafina, opening for The Beaches and Friko! A few potential Riot Fest acts probably out based on this, namely Phantom Planet.
Man, I forgot how jealous I get this time of year. Chicago and its multitude of music festivals... Other than Boston Calling (which hasn't been to my taste for a long while now) all we get around here is like, festivals centered around beer and/or clam chowder.
Sincere If it's free (site says "suggested donation"), it doesn't affect Riot.. I think Sincere Engineer are playing a suburb show with Smoking Popes in June.. but I'd be surprised if they weren't at Riot? It's also right on the 90 day radius
Also you do know Riot is very flexible on this 90/90 clause.. it's the other venues like Tinley or festivals like Lolla that are more strict Less Than Jake played House of Blues in July & were advertised for Riot in 2022 in May
Why do I read the comments on the Riot Fest Facebook group? Stuff like "Taste of Randolph is free so the bands likely aren't getting paid so these bands will all likely play Riot too" is so silly.
I never said they weren't getting paid, but free festivals usually don't have clauses (at least the ones I've dealt with).. I'm not even sure Riot has them for all but the headliners Also for your sanity, I'd just avoid most of Facebook and Reddit
That group is worse than Reddit at times. A lot of people who are (for whatever reason) hyper-invested in certain bands playing Riot Fest even when they clearly aren't. And people throwing misinformation around who I'm not sure are really just misinformed or willful trolls. ...I know at least one of them is pretty much an Internet troll who does aggressive engagement farming on X. So that only fuels things. Haha.
Also if on some other planet (maybe the one named after that Train song), Riot got both Slipknot & Slayer to play Sunday... wouldn't they have announced it by now or at least some point today
besides here and reddit, i used to love the SOLO riot fest group as a place to talk and speculate about it year round, i was one of the main people pumping tour posters and other festival line ups and keeping track of who is likely and all that, but then that group started having weird drama i wanted no part of so i left it before last years fest. thought to myself ill migrate over to the main general group and start doing the same- just putting up information (tours and other fests)... but i learned real quick after 2 or 3 posts that i want no part of that either becasue people just get really defensive/angry/trolly/elitist (while also usually having no clue what they are talking about) from a simple "here's who is playing this nearby fest" type of post.. so yea, FB has become a dead zone for me... are there any smaller groups that arent as terrible?
Yeah the Facebook group is awful sometimes. I'll never forget when, in 2020, amidst the uncertainty of the festival happening that year, people tried comparing the George Floyd protest to the festival (saying if the protests can happen then so can Riot Fest and basically saying a bunch of shit about the protests) Everyone I have met at Riot Fest has been really nice and everyone in this thread is nice, but for whatever reason that Facebook group brings out some of the worst Riot Fest attendees sometimes.
Not sure if it was announced today, but The Aces are playing Friday. Their tour dates are through the Midwest with no Chicago date Riot Fest weekend.
I honestly hadn’t pegged them as a possible act to play but the routing sure makes it seem like a lock.
The only time I ever saw The Aces was when they played a free show at Millennium Park and I went because I had recently discovered them plus my friend is a big fan and wanted me to go. It had rained the entire day and literally maybe 100 people at most showed up, with the lawn and most of the seats there completely empty. I felt really bad for them. They have come back a few times since then (I have been unable to go) and it seems like they draw well, or much better than that one time (probably an isolated incident due to the weather that day), so I think they will draw a solid crowd at Riot Fest.