Riot Fest turns ten this year and it returns to Humboldt Park in September with a pretty fantastic lineup: the Cure, Jane’s Addiction, Slayer, Weezer, Wu-Tang Clan, the Offspring, and Patti Smith are just some of the big names that are at the top of the bill, but those are hardly the only names worth mentioning. It’s honestly difficult to focus on a single portion of the list, which is jammed with reunited acts (Hot Snakes, Mineral), beloved old-school groups (Buzzcocks), indie crossovers (Tegan and Sara, Metric), perennial picks (Andrew W.K., Descendents), and a cornucopia of fourth-wave emo bands (Hotelier, Modern Baseball).
The name that first caught my eye is that of feminist Russian group Pussy Riot, which is billed as Pussy Riot (Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina); to dilute the group’s history to hyperbole in a festival announcement is a little cheap, but it’s hard to express the gravity of what the band has done in the name of free speech, feminism, and punk in its homeland’s unsympathetic cultural environment. It’s certainly odd seeing the group on a festival lineup that also includes the gimmicky Pizza Underground, but I’m certainly excited about getting to see at least one of these bands.
Gwar is another act I wouldn’t have expected to see on the bill. Front man Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, passed away earlier this year, and although they’ve rotated through members through the decades Brockie had been the group’s guiding force; all Gwar performances are “must sees” simply because of their theatrics, but I imagine this one will be particularly symbolic. As always I’m looking forward to checking out the local groups slated to perform, which includes My Gold Mask, Archie Powell & the Exports, ShowYouSuck, the Orwells, Naked Raygun, Rise Against, and Cheap Trick (I’m counting Rockford as “local”). The folks behind Riot Fest plan to announce even more acts leading up to the blowout (fingers crossed American Football is one of them), but Gossip Wolf managed to correctly guess six of the acts currently on the bill: the Get Up Kids, La Dispute, Mudhoney, Andrew W.K., Weezer, and ShowYouSuck.
The three-day fest kicks off September 12. Check out the full lineup below, which includes links back to old Reader pieces on many of the groups:
The Cure
Jane’s Addiction
The National
Rise Against
Weezer
The Flaming Lips
Social Distortion
Slayer
The Offspring
Wu-Tang Clan
Descendents
Tegan and Sara
Metric
Samhain
Cheap Trick
Pussy Riot (Nadya Tolokonnikova & Masha Alekhina)
Patti Smith
Taking Back Sunday
Die Antwoord
City and Colour
Paul Weller
The Used
Bring Me the Horizon
NOFX
Dropkick Murphys
Gogol Bordello
Of Mice & Men
Mastodon
The Afghan Whigs
Naked Raygun
Cock Sparrer
Dashboard Confessional
Superchunk
Billy Bragg
Blue Meanies
Lucero
New Found Glory
Saosin with Anthony Green
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Murder City Devils
Mudhoney
Failure
Hot Snakes
Dandy Warhols
Thurston Moore
Circa Survive
Get Up Kids
Motion City Soundtrack
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes
Streetlight Manifesto
Clutch
Gwar
Buzzcocks
Andrew W.K.
Bouncing Souls
Stiff Little Fingers
Face to Face
Kurt Vile & the Violators
Marky Ramone with the Bouncing Souls
Wavves
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
We Came As Romans
Senses Fail
The Orwells
ALL
Mineral
Title Fight
La Dispute
RX Bandits
Samiam
7 Seconds
Anti-Flag
The Menzingers
The Front Bottoms
Silverstein
Emarosa
Citizen
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Bad Suns
Pizza Underground
Hotelier
Nostalghia
In the Valley Below
Radkey
Pianos Become the Teeth
Modern Baseball
I Am the Avalanche
Skaters
Laura Stevenson
Cerebral Ballzy
Red City Radio
Pup
Dads
ShowYouSuck
Unlikely Candidates
Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas
My Gold Mask
The Bots
Broncho
The American Scene
Baby Baby
Restorations
Wounds
Plague Vendor
Team Spirit
Somos
Rose’s Pawn Shop
Chumped
Archie Powell & the Exports
Ex Friends