My context for that tour was a sold out 2k+ venue without a barricade. It was pretty wild. Not just the crowd reaction on-stage but they had a non-stop line at their merch table the entire night. But I never know how that translates outside of MA or if it's just a local thing... And I don't really trust crowd reactions at hardcore festivals. Regardless, really excited for them and hoping it goes off. Has a strong possibility to be a very memorable set.
I missed the Dropkick and Drain tour when they passed through so banking on the Riot booking was quite the gamble. I still think Drain holds the title of rowdiest set at Riot ever, but Haywire may overtake the title this year.
full article, wonder if it was a time zone thing, riot is announcing at 10 central (6 mins from now) and the online magazines put it out at 10 Eastern? WILLIAM SHATNER To Bring His Heavy Metal Vision To Stage With All-Star Band At RIOT FEST 2026
haha, damn yea they did, got the first 3 right then went off a cliff. bad AI or just bad fact checking
Heavy Consequence is reporting this too. Something about this all coming out via news sources rather than the festival itself, though, feels a little odd... As does the articles not specifying the day he's playing and the lack of a quote from Riot Mike. I'm skeptical on this one until we hear from the fest directly.
sounds like only a press release from shatners camp so far, which is definitely valid, but yea, riot making it official with an updated poster would be welcome, hopefully with other updates as well, haha
Sad state of affairs when the brain goes: "These articles are probably all just AI hallucinations." Haha. Also a bit odd that it's not being picked up by Rolling Stone, etc. As of late June they were talking about maybe doing a show (or some shows) so nothing's impossible but the way the news is coming out at this moment and the quotes in that press release feel very strange to me. EDIT: Maybe Shatner's camp jumped the gun and other pubs are following instructions better but... Yeah. Just odd.
I really hope Shatner playing is true. I’m a fan of OG Star Trek and his filmography is such a guilty pleasure. This is the fun out-there stuff only Riot can do.
95-Year-Old William Shatner to Play Riot Fest with Metal Backing Band I’m guessing it came from a press release from his team or record company.
Shatner playing would be super fun and is 100% the kind of thing Riot Fest would do. But there's way too many red flags for me to buy it without hearing something directly from the festival at this point (notably, Riot Fest has been posting about diarrhea salads on their socials today so clearly they aren't in announcement mode LOL).
Honestly if he wasn’t booked, they may go and add him now. Why not if he is down for it. Edit: assuming he isn’t wanting a ridiculous amount of money or anything that makes it a no-go.
Could just be the way Shatner's people wrote about it but the entire press release just read like every AI slop article I've ever read with fake news about a band. But it's pretty obvious Riot fans would be into it! And back in late June, Shatner said he'd consider bringing that show to the stage. So maybe Riot caught wind of that and reached out? Either way, something's not right... But also: What if Riot posting about shit lettuce is just a lead-up to them making a SHATner joke?
Shatner on the lineup would be cool and fun but considering he is 95...I don't know. Then again Willie Nelson is 93 and still out there touring so I guess age is meaningless for touring/playing shows haha.
To be fair Shatner went to outer space 4 years ago and was already 90+ years old, so I think playing a 30min set is doable. I want whatever he’s been having, sheesh. Some people are built different.
Pretty happy to be wrong! Looks like the story is up on the Cleopatra Records web site. I'm pretty positive they jumped the gun and had AI write half of that cornball press release but... This is legit enough for me to buy it. LOL
It's got "pop by and see a single song just to say I saw it" energy for me. I'm sure it will be cool/fun and I am legit excited that Riot Fest is doing this because Shatner's an icon and it fully fits the brand but... I don't see myself skipping an artist I love unironically for it. EDIT: Another sign? Riot isn't roasting people posting asking about it. Haha. They're just letting the comments sit.