if the poster is standard issue 3 headliner and then the rest, feels like we know a ton from lines 2 and 3 already but not much else with all the high level classic punk (sex pistol, social D, decendents, PIL) + rise against & alk 3 and now the format
The Format and Sincere Engineer both feel like solid locks to me. I'm with @troyplaysbass on TGUK though.
My two cents is that if TGUK are already going to be in the Midwest then I don’t see why they wouldn’t play…and I don’t think they are a big enough band that would deter people from seeing them twice. I could be wrong though.
What's always interesting about Riot is the undercard is pretty unpredictable. There's always shit nobody was talking about or considering in the mix. Haha. I am also anticipating that we might see some of the undercards we're considering "locks" drop out or maybe the full tour not being booked. I could easily see PIL not being on the final poster for some wonky reason that we'll never know about. LOL Also interesting to have like, 4-6 possible headliners in the mix who I think will influence the undercard. When I first saw that Mars Volta tour poster I was like "oh look, direct support for Tool." Obviously not happening but yeah... Exciting times. And announcement should be sometime in the next couple weeks based on last year!
I could see TGUK going either way. Since they’re opening that JEW show, I’d like to think they could get away with being on the lineup seeing as they are only an opener on that show. At the same time, there have been a couple instances in which it seems a tour opener is set to be on the lineup, but then wind up not being included at all. Using TGUK as an example again. When they did their Four Minute Mile tour in 2022 with Sparta as an opener, we all expected Sparta to be on the lineup solely because they would be on that tour, but they weren’t included. They did get added, but that was only because a different band (I don’t remember which) dropped off the lineup.
I think it goes understated how often the full tour doesn't get on the bill. The opener is often left off and direct support isn't always a direct lock either. It's more frequent but not 100%. I could see Riot saying "no" because they were just in the city. I could also see the Get Up Kids saying "no" because they were just in the city. Some of these older bands try to be real careful about how often they play certain places to maintain the same slotting on festivals, venue sizes, etc. The Descendents just played Chicago a few weeks back. So yeah, it does still feel likely they would be on. But I can also see a scenario where they aren't in play because of that (outside of the radius but playing the same city twice in a given year isn't that band's M.O. at this point).
If they can book Hayley and Bright Eyes doing I'm Wide Awake then I honestly do not care who they get for the 3 headliners. I'm itching for this lineup to drop!
Forgot about Bright Eyes as a possibility, TBH. Given that he cancelled last time around I'd assume he'll be in as a make-good.
Email today says the lineup announcement is coming soon. Clearly a push to get early bird tickets going but still... Feeling like we're gonna get an announcement within the next two weeks. Interestingly, last year they announced the lineup drop on this date. Hah. And it came on April 23rd. So I'm just gonna go ahead and lock in Wednesday, April 22nd as my guess for the announcement.
This date or the following Wednesday would make some sense if Hayley truly is on the lineup. But I hope you’re right!
Honestly, given how sold out that entire tour is if she's on the line-up I see no reason why they would have to wait on that. Hayley would be such an awesome add to the festival for a bunch of reasons. I'm thinking it's a toss-up as to whether or not she's on the line-up... Simply because the trajectory she's on as a solo artist now seems outside the realm of Riot at this point. But Riot is silly as hell if they didn't at least try. LOL
I’m so happy it is that time of year where we start over analyzing how quiet or active the are on social media to try tongue as when the announcement is coming!
The real tell will be next week when they start aggressively calling people losers on Facebook and in the IG comments for asking about the line-up or whatever.
someone on the reddit speculation thread claiming insider info, but reads very spaceballs to me: From a friend of mine: “I have some insider information about Riot Fest this year. My mom works with Adam Jones brother (Tool lead guitarist) and they are going to be the headliners Sat. Sept 19th.“