Riot Fest’s Three-City Lineups

Lineups for all three Riot Fests come with the caveat “more to be announced.”

We start in Chicago where Riot Fest devotees will gather at the event’s new Douglas Park location Sept. 11-13.  Grab your favorite drink and perhaps a snack because you’re going to need plenty of cerebral energy to make it through the lineup.  Ready?  Feast your eyes on the following:

No Doubt, Modest Mouse, Faith No More, Iggy Pop, Snoop Dogg, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Motörhead, Rancid, Tenacious D, Billy Idol, Ice Cube & Guests, Alkaline Trio, Coheed And Cambria, Taking Back Sunday, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Drive Like Jehu, Merle Haggard, Flogging Molly, Slightly Stoopid, L7, Alexisonfire, Thrice, The Dirty Heads, Stephen “Ragga” Marley, The Academy Is…, The Lawrence Arms, Kongos, Cypress Hill, Echo & The Bunnymen, Bootsy Collins’ Rubber Band, The Devil Wears Prada, Yelawolf, Pennywise, The Airborne Toxic Event, Manchester Orchestra, Eagles Of Death Metal, Anthrax, De La Soul, The Damned, Andrew McMahon, In The Wilderness, New Politics, Mayday Parade, Jimmy Cliff, Against Me!, Babes In Toyland, OK Go, Bayside, Mest, Andrew W.K., Desaparecidos, The Joy Formidable, The Dead Milkmen, Fidlar, Atreyu, Millencolin, American Nightmare, Swervedriver, Lee Scratch Perry, Gwar, Less Than Jake, The Expendables, Living Colour, The Thurston Moore Band, Morgan Heritage, Lifetime, Benjamin Booker, Fishbone, Death, Doomtree, Hum, Tarrus Riley, Mariachi El Bronx, Civ, Joyce Manor, Every Time I Die, The Movielife, The Dwarves, Tommy Stinson, Steve Ignorant & Paranoid Visions, Real Friends, The Dear Hunter, Kevin Devine, Mustard Plug, The Ataris, Jo Mersa, Into It. Over It., Alvvays, The White Buffalo, Black-Am-I, Skip Marley, Knuckle Puck, Post Malone with FKI, Jazz Cartier, Chef’Special, Marmozets, Modern Life Is War, Fit For Rivals, Barb Wire Dolls, The Coathangers, Flatfoot 56, Teenage Bottlerocket, Prayers, Chon, Counterpunch, Have Mercy, Speedy Ortiz, Superheaven, White Mystery, Foxing, Direct Hit!, Main Attrakionz, Ground Up, Skinny Lister, Beach Slang, Cayetana, Alex Wiley, Heems, Dirty Fences, Blis,  Sleep On It, The Brokedowns, Meat Wave, Psalm One, Northern Faces, Dreamers, Souvenirs, Elway, Indian Handcrafts, Skating Polly, Signals Midwest, Modern Chemistry, Faulkner, Pears, Gateway Drugs, Tasha The Amazon, Foxtrott, Twin River, Clowns, Indian School, Die Selloutz, and The Municipal Drainage Project.

But not all artists will take the stage only to offer standard concert sets.  Some acts will perform entire albums.  Right now the plan has Snoop Dogg giving a start-to-finish rendition of Doggystyle; Ice Cube & guests offering Straight Out Of Compton Remix; Rancid performing … And Out Come The Wolves; The Academy Is … diving into Almost Here; and The Dwarves presenting Blood Guts & Pussy.

Riot Mike and his crew will also unveil the Riot Fest Speaks Stage featuring interactive panels that will be somewhat similar to last year’s hosted discussion featuring members of Russia art collective Pussy Riot, moderator Henry Rollins and musicians from Bad Religion and Rise Against.

Riot Fest will also present something sure to tug at your nostalgia strings.  The festival is dedicating a stage to The Rock-afire Explosion, the animatronic rock band featured at ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants during the 1980s.

Other attractions include miniature golf, a video arcade and the Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow Revue.

Three-day passes are now on sale. 

Riot Fest & Rodeo sets up at the National Western Complex in Denver Aug. 28-30.  Here is what organizers have cooked up so far:

Modest Mouse, Pixies, Snoop Dogg, Tenacious D, Ice Cube & Guests, Run DMC, Rancid, Motörhead, Flogging Molly, Coheed And Cambria, Drive Like Jehu, L7, Explosions In The Sky, Kongos, Cypress Hill, Alkaline Trio, Thrice, Cold War Kids, The Airborne Toxic Event, Iration, Bootsy Collins’ Rubber Band, Yeawolf, Babes In Toyland, Anthrax, The Damned, Eagles Of Death Metal, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, GZA, OK Go, De La Soul, Testament, Desaparecidos, The Dead Milkmen, Nada Surf, The Lawrence Arms, Reverend Horton Heat, Andrew W.K., Gwar, The Black Lips, The Get Up Kids, American Nightmare, Bayside, Swervedriver, Millencolin, The Vandals, Less Than Jake, The Joy Formidable, Doomtree, Cloud Cult, 7 Seconds, Off!, Benjamin Booker, Joyce Manor, The White Buffalo, Post Malone With FKI, Jazz Cartier, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Bunny Gang, Speedy Ortiz, Pup, Beach Slang, The Hotelier, Prayers, Fit for Rivals, Direct Hit!, The Moth & The Flame, Elway, Main Attrakionz, Cayetana, Broadway Calls, White Mystery, Skating Polly, Souvenirs, Northern Faces, Dreamers, Pears, Meat Wave, Rozwell Kid, Sleep On It, Faulkner, Gateway Drugs, Daye Jack, and Indian School.

Denver’s Riot Fest also includes performances by the Rock-afire Explosion and Hellzapoppin Circus Sideshow Revue.

Three-day general admission tickets and VIP passes are on sale now.

Riot Fest and Exposition is scheduled for Toronto’s Downsview Park Sept. 19-20.  While the lineup is similar to Denver and Chicago you’ll also find plenty of differences between the Canadian Riot Fest and its U.S. counterparts to make the Ontario event unique.  Here is the list as it stands today:

Alexisonfire, Wu-Tang Clan, Rancid, Motörhead, All Time Low, Tyler, The Creator, Coheed And Cambria, Atmosphere, Drive Like Jehu, Echo & The Bunnymen, Thrice, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Eagles Of Death Metal, Against Me, Babes In Toyland, Yelawolf, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Joy Formidable, The Dead Milkmen, Andrew W.K., Bayside, Gwar, The Thurston Moore Band, Fidlar, Doomtree, Jazz Cartier, D.O.A., Moneen, Die Mannequin, Heat, OBGMs, Wildlife, Nova Rockafeller, The Dirty Nil, Indian Handcrafts, Like Pacific, The Dying Arts, Foxtrott, Partycat, Willa, Tasha The Amazon, Safe To Say, Rarity, Twin River, Black Mastiff, and Tomahawk Love.

Having sold out of its early bird tickets, Toronto’s Riot Fest & Expo promises to put more passes on sale when it announces its full lineup June 16.

Although Riot Fest covers three festivals in two states and one province, organizers keep it simple by giving you one single World Wide Web address – RiotFest.org. 

And don’t forget to revisit Pollstar’s 2014 interview with “Riot Mike” Petryshyn via this link.