And predictions revisited
As promised about 75% of my predictions (and hopes) were wrong, getting 6 out of 23 guesses. However two were no-brainers (GWAR and Andrew WK). But I got two of the headliners correct with NIN and Devo (though Devo probably won’t rate as a headliner).
Stoked to get both of them as well as NOFX. Devo fits into Riot Fest’s legacy act slot very well. NOFX is the 90s punk act. Nine Inch Nails fills that metal need. Faith No More is both legacy and metal. Very well rounded. Plus some other great adds like the Bosstones, The Lawrence Arms, Dinosaur Jr., Motion City Soundtrack. More, many more. Pretty awesome. I’m already stressing out about conflicts and headliners keeping me from aftershows.
Surprised to miss out on Rise Against (local Chicago band) as well as The Offspring. I thought they were locks. Also Dropkick. Rumors are the promoter of Aftershock (Danny Wimmer Presents) has a non-compete clause keeping bands out of festivals they don’t promote. Which kinda sucks. All three of these are at Aftershock. Same with Machine Gun Kelly but I’m fine he’s not at RF opening up a spot for others. Though Anti-Flag is playing both, it’s surprising there isn’t more of a rollover, so there may be some truth to it. Why can’t we all get along?
Frank Turner was a possibility as he’s playing the following weekend in Vegas and he just did an album with NOFX. And as it’s a solo show he travels pretty easily. Would not be surprised to see him join NOFX on stage.
There will be more bands announced next week so there may be some hope for some. And there’s that Thursday preview show which may not include anyone on the poster yet since it’s invite only.
Also note there are four bands from the latest poster that didn’t make this one: L7, Don Broco, Boston Manor, and Chubby and The Gang. Don Broco and Boston Manor show on their website as a Thursday date for Riot Fest. This makes it possible they are part of the Thursday Preview Show and will be revealed at that time. Could be the same for L7, though they were on Aftershock also and have been dropped from that lineup so something else could be going on with them (unless they were dropped from Aftershock because they will be at RiotFest…)
Talking about Thursday, this preview is new so no one knows what to expect….times, how many acts, etc. It’s possible it’s just the couple listed above. It’s doubtful it’s a full day’s lineup. Probable is something in between. One thought is it will be local Chicago acts and if that’s correct the biggest rumor is the Rise Against will show up on Thursday, which would be awesome (Aftershock conflict set aside for speculation). They skip Chicago on their current tour which made them likely for Riot Fest and a surprise to not be in the lineup. Anyway, we’ll probably find out this week as RF has announced daily tix go on sale and they always reveal the daily lineups at that time (not the times and schedule). We’ll see soon.