From that Furnace Fest line-up, I would love to see... Koyo, Haywire, Origami Angel, Circa Survive, and/or Angel Du$t pop up on the Riot Fest line-up. But man, seeing these bands as options and remembering we don't have the Rebel Stage anymore is such a bummer. A day on that stage with Angel Du$t, Haywire, and Koyo would hit. Haha.
My biggest request, every year (besides a second water station): Get rid of Riotland or whatever and go back to six stages with the small Rebel Stage in its old spot.
Riot seriously needs to go back to six stages. It’ll help with traffic flow. I’d rather have more music options. I don’t give a rat’s ass if I can buy a slim ice cream sandwich in a convenience store pop-up from a movie I don’t like.
Random (that’s actually not so random) headliner thought: Phoebe Bridgers She is clearly gearing up to release her next album and is arguably one of the few indie headliner level acts that could fit in at Riot, just on aesthetics and general appeal amongst folks who go to Riot Fest and listen to Riot Feat-esque music, and would definitely drive a lot of ticket sales whatever day she headlines There are years where Riot leans a little more indie (like when they booked Waxahatchee and Dr. Dog for example) and years where there is less, so who knows, but just a thought I had.
Definitely agree. The first year it made sense and was an interesting change of pace and it made sense but... The gimmick is over and that area felt like wasted space last year. Bringing back Rebel would make more space for smaller artists and open up room for 1-2 of the mid-afternoon artists to play later, play longer, and in a smaller space. They could still have that and just move it somewhere else, TBH. I just miss having that smaller area where they could slot in certain acts later in the day who might not play otherwise... Maybe not the best example but if Strike Anywhere were to play? They would probably be slotted in for 30 minutes at like, 12:30 or 1 on Radical/Rise. But with Rebel they could 35-45 at 4-5 in the afternoon.
i actually enjoy the riot land stuff, so id be down for putting the small stage back but move those attractions to other areas in the fest, like where that huge convenience store tent was last year or integrate it into the riotmall stuff, or when looking at the riot/roots stage, along that left wall
I've been thinking about this too. It would be a weird fit but it could work really well with the right support (e.g., Bright Eyes), counter-programming, and so on. That said, I just don't see her bothering TBH. The random shows she's doing seem to be on the smaller tip and if she wanted to do festivals she'd probably be doing Lolla. Cynical take, I know, but unless Conor were to literally call her up and tell her she should play I don't see that happening. But hey, Riot has pulled off weirder stuff. LOL
I'd like the clustered "town" feel more if it was something they updated/changed every year. But since they probably won't do that, I kinda just want them to disperse it all elsewhere and plug a stage back in. Putting it where the Riot Mall stuff was would be a nice option, actually. I like that idea. Not sure we'll ever see it but... Would be nice to get the smaller Rebel stage back!
That would be great if it was the Rebel stage. The last year they had it in 23 seemed like it was the best year they have utilized that stage. It's a great way for bands that gain a lot of buzz after the lineup drops or a legacy mid card act to headline.
Not quite the same thrill as that Souls/H2O lock from last year but neat to see, regardless! For sure! Off the top of my head, in the past they've slotted Face to Face and Streetlight Manifesto in there as headliners for that stage. But that last year you're talking about was well utilized too... H2O is a much better example of what I was getting at, actually! They played that stage late in the afternoon but were on at like, 1pm this time around. A subtle difference but an important one in terms of timing. There's a few bands that I think would just work perfectly there and make booking them an easier sell (e.g., MxPx).
i do hope line up is this week because i want to drive to columbus just for Sunday of sonic temple, but would save the money if riot end ups geting any amount of the ones im excited about on that day (tool, dragon force, alestorm, castle rat, spiritwolrd, thrice, amon amarth, dethklok)
I think Pixies are officially a lock. Merch designs for their 2026 tour were shared at the beginning of the month which lists all shows for 2026 on the back of each shirt. One of the cities is Chicago, they’ve yet to announced a Chicago show and it lines up with their already-announced shows for the year (unrelated note: but Dana Point is also a listed city and Ohana Fest is announced tomorrow, so they’re a lock for that too)
Eagle eyes Sammy over here! Good catch. Looks like they'd be on Friday (9/18) because they've got Borderlands in NY on Saturday and Sea Hear Now on Sunday.
Don’t thank me! Someone on the Ohana subreddit gave me the tip about it. I looked at the shirts out if my own curiosity and couldn’t help but notice Chicago!
Semi-related: I could see Pixies and Sugar being on the same stage. An 80’s/90’s indie/college rock stage would rule