Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Music / Riot Fest Riot Fest announces its first wave of acts for 2018
Posted By Leor Galil on 05.30.18 at 08:00 PM
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Related Riot Fest finalizes its daily lineups—though the big new acts were announced yesterday
Riot Fest finalizes its daily lineups—though the big new acts were announced yesterday
Yesterday we learned that Weezer, Run the Jewels, and Taking Back Sunday were replacing Blink-182 at Riot Fest. Today organizers added seven more bands, and single-day tickets went on sale.
Bleader
Today Riot Fest made its first lineup announcement for 2018, and the 82 acts in this wave include Blink-182, Cypress Hill, Blondie, Pussy Riot, the Jesus Lizard, Atmosphere, and Beck—as well as the Killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis, the only artist at the fest who was putting out records way back in the 1950s.
As you'd expect from Riot Fest, there are the usual suspects (Andrew W.K. and Gwar) and several repeaters, among them Chicagoland pop-punk heroes Alkaline Trio (whose front man, Matt Skiba, will pull double duty in Blink-182). Riot Fest gets much of its charm from the bonkers juxtapositions on its bills—artists who'd never cross paths out in the "real" world, many of them big enough to headline their own shows in front of thousands of people, can end up playing across the park from each other. Who else would cram together new-wave master Gary Numan, pop-rock auteur Cat Power, indie-pop darlings Bleachers, and Bay Area punk legends the Avengers? Riot Fest has also done its Chicago roots proud by booking two artists who changed pop-music history here in the 90s: Liz Phair and the Jesus Lizard. Phair is touring behind the 25th anniversary reissue of her breakthrough debut album, Exile in Guyville, which I hope she plays at Riot Fest—tickets to next month's Empty Bottle show where she's doing that sold out in a flash.
For this year Riot Fest hasn't yet announced an earth-shattering reunion or trophy headliner—nothing like Jawbreaker in 2017 or the original Misfits in 2016. But even the portion of the bill that's been announced is so dense with acts I want to see that I'm already preparing myself for the inevitable cross-bookings, when the festival schedule forces me to pick between two sets I consider equally unmissable. Maybe at least a band I love will get booked to play opposite indie-rock meme Father John Misty, which would at least mean I didn't have to hear Father John Misty.
Riot Fest runs Friday, September 14, through Sunday, September 16, in Douglas Park. These are all the acts that its organizers announced today, linked to previous Reader coverage where relevant. Three-day tickets are on sale already.
Adolescents
Alkaline Trio
Andrew W.K.
Aquabats
Arkells
Atmosphere
Audition
Avengers
Bad Religion
Badflower
Beach Bunny
Beach Goons
Beck
Bleachers
Blink-182
Blondie
Bombpops
Bouncing Souls
Bullet for My Valentine
Bully
Calpurnia
Cat Power
Clutch
Cobra Skulls
Conflict
Cypress Hill
Digable Planets
Dillinger Four
Direct Hit!
Districts
Dropkick Murphys
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Exploited
Face to Face
Father John Misty
Fear
Fever 333
Flogging Molly
Flor
Frights
Front Bottoms
Gary Numan
Gwar
Health
Hobo Johnson & the Lovemakers
Hot Snakes
Incubus
Interpol
JD McPherson
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jesus Lizard
Johnny Marr
K. Flay
Kevin Devine
Killing Joke
Lagwagon
Liz Phair
Lower Class Brats
Mannequin Pussy
Matt & Kim
Mom Jeans
Moose Blood
No Small Children
Piebald
Pronoun
Pussy Riot
Reignwolf
Save Face
Speedy Ortiz
Spitalfield
Suicidal Tendencies
Sum 41
Superchunk
Swmrs
Total Chaos
Twin Peaks
Underoath
Voidz
Wonder Years
Wolfmother
Young the Giant
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