Could it really be Sugar though? They're doing a multiple-city tour, with multiple dates in each city. It seems weird, at least to me, that the "If I do it, I'll do it with you" would just mean that the Chicago show would be at Riot.
Whoever the reunion is likely to be an exclusive act. Which is for the best to better compete against LTL, Shaky Knees and Warped Tour. Since Warped is back, Riot should diversify and expand a little similar to 2014-2016 so it looks less like diet Warped Tour. There’s too many good acts to book these days and an extra stage may help relieve foot traffic through out the fest. 50k+ people a day with only 2 acts playing at once at times is ridiculous. But I digress lol
They should book more hip hop acts but specifically newer acts. They booked Vic Mensa in 2021 and that was cool, but there are a lot of newer hip hop acts that would fit in with the ethos/vibe of Riot Fest, such as Denzel Curry, Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown, JPEGMAFIA, Vince Staples, etc. Heck, they booked Tyler, the Creator in 2015 for the Toronto edition and I remember that going over extremely well, so it’s not like there isn’t an audience for (current) hip hop. The hip hop has either been mostly older acts (who don’t get me wrong are not bad) or non existent and I think they can and should continue to book hip hop and book more current acts.
I agree Hip Hop acts at Riot are a good addition to the festival, but it mist be hard to book them as they compete with Summer Smash and Lollapalooza. Its cool they managed in the past few years to book acts like 070 Shake, Tierra Whack and Rico Nasty, but I feel Riot will stick with legacy acts like Wu Tang and Cypress Hill
At the Denver 2016 fest they booked Tyler the Creator and 2 Chainz. I don’t see why they can’t do it again. Younger acts in general would be great. Though I do love legacy acts, but book ones that still sound great live and haven’t played before.
Riot used to be pretty good about booking newer hip hop acts. I agree it’s been pretty lacking. They did get Joey Valence & Brae in 2022. But that’s the only example that comes to mind
I'm really shocked that Riot hasn't booked Denzel Curry, Danny Brown, or JPEGMAFIA over the last few years. Would be cool to see any of them on the bill. If we get Deftones this year I could see Denzel being on that stage... That run of Franz Ferdinand US dates ends on August 15 and doesn't touch the midwest. Though they did that area in 2025 so who knows. But could see them adding Riot and a west coast run for September maybe? Weird to think that we're potentially ~6 weeks away from the line-up drop!
I don't think they booked a single hip hop artist last year and to go from what they were booking back in 2016 (see image below)...to nothing (for their 20th anniversary when it IS part of their history)...is a bit of a bummer. I feel like booking hip hop is part of what makes it a variety festival and not just centered around 1-3 genres.
I understand your point, but they had Rico Nasty on the mainstage last year, in 2024 they had Tierra Whack, in 2023 they had 070 Shake. I understand there has been a lack of hiphop at Riot in comparison to previous years, but have had booked some interesting female rappers thath deserve their spotlight as well.
There two last year: Gym Class Heroes and Rico Nasty. Could have used more but it wasn't fully absent... 2024 had Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Tierra Whack, and Souls of Mischief. 2023 had Death Grips, 070 Shake, ICP, and Eshu Tune. 2022 had Ice Cube, Action Bronson, Joey Valence & Brae. TBH, I don't know that Riot needs a full stage every single year like 2016. I think 3-5 acts works nicely across the three days if they curate it right. A full stage is awesome if they can pull something together that fits.
I mean, Gym Class Heroes kinda code as just a "Warped Tour" band rather than hip-hop. Hah. So I see how they could have slipped under your radar. And honestly I kind of like what they've done more recently where, yeah, maybe it's not a whole stage worth of artists but it works. Having the one pair of stages go from hardcore early on in the day, ending that run with Suicidal Tendencies to segue into Souls of Mischief, Cypress, and PE before the Marley Brothers just felt really cool and made sense. Last year having GCH on the FBR-type stage and Rico Nasty on the same stage as Blink had a similar vibe to it. One other benefit of having artists spread across multiple stages too: It's harder to avoid! And I always think back to myself at Warped Tour '99, not having any interest in hip-hop at all, randomly seeing Black Eyed Peas and my head basically exploding. That set unironically changed my life in a very positive way. Haha.
Lolla lineup is out next Tuesday, so we will be able to cross off some acts then. Most notably, we will know if The Strokes are not on the Lolla lineup then there’s a good chance they are 1/3 of the headliners.
Deftones and Tool might be in the mix as a possibility to get nixed too, I think, as far as headliners go. Deftones did 2024 though so less likely but still...
Nas and the Roots doing a short run of shows in late August. One in Denver (8/25) with Jadakiss and the rest are in CA (8/27-8/29) with De La Soul. Nas would be a great act to close out and to curate a stage around. The Roots too!
Butthole Surfers are teasing an announcement tomorrow. It’d be great if it’s shows. I could see Riot getting them
Hmm. That kind of seems like a "he said if he was gonna do it, he'd do it with me" thing, yeah? Could that be the big reunion?
I’m not confident that it’s the big reunion Riot Mike referred too. But I would be shocked if they’re not on the lineup this year if they’re announcing shows.
Minus The Bear out. East coast shows during Riot Weekend …unless they fly out to Chicago right after their Shaky Knees set and play Sunday
That would be four dates in a row (which they do a few times on this run). Not an impossibility but man that would be exhausting. LOL
No The Strokes on the Lolla lineup so I’d say that we have 1/3 of our headliners now. (Obviously we won’t know until the lineup is out but it’s looking likely)