May 18, 2016
As one of the last true punk and hard rock music festivals in North America, Riot Fest has made a name for itself by always turning out a unique lineup with full album performances. This year, the festival will take place on September 2-4 in Denver and September 16-18 in Chicago.
Despite the festival's roots, they're branching out a bit this year with acts like Morrissey, Death Cab for Cutie, and Jake Bugg, none of which would be considered anything near punk rock.
The big draw for both dates will be the reunion of the original Misfits, which was announced last week. These will be the first Misfits shows to feature Glenn Danzi and Jerry Only since the horror-rock bands initial breakup in 1983.
This will be the 12th year of Riot Fest in Chicago and they're celebrating with a lineup including Morrissey, Brand New, Ween, Death Cab For Cutie, Social Distortion (performing White Light, White Heat, White Trash), Rob Zombie (performing White Zombie’s Astro-Creep: 2000), Jake Bugg, Descendents, NAS, Deftones, Refused, Death Grips, The Specials, The Holy Steady (performing Girls & Boys in America), Bob Mould, Meat Puppets, GZA, Method Man and Redman, Dan Deacon, GWAR, Joey Bada$$, Andrew WK, Fucked Up, The Dillinger Escape Plane, and Diarrhea Planet.
Riot Fest Chicago will also feature a bunch of bands you remember from high school that should have called it quits years ago. Those include NOFX, Bad Religion, Jimmy Eat World, Motion City Soundtrack, Underoath, The Anniversary, The Hives, Glassjaw, Leftover Crack, Smoking Popes, Thursday Pepper, and Big D & The Kids Table.
The top line of the Denver lineup is pretty similar with The Misfits, Ween, and Death Cab For Cutie all performing. The weekend's exclusive performances include Sleater-Kinney, Jane’s Addiction (performing Ritual De Lo Habitual), Wolf Parade, and Tyler the Creator.
Other acts performing at the Denver stopover are NAS, Deftones, Descendents, Sleigh Bells, Vince Staples, Jake Bugg, Against Me!, Flatbush Zombies, The Dandy Warhols, Yo La Tengo, NOFX, Underoath, Bad Religion, Thursday, The Hold Steady (performing Girls & Boys in America), Suicidal Tendencies, Converge, Fucked Up, Meat Puppets, Touché Amoré, Glassjaw, Diarrhea Planet, White Lung, and many more.
Head to the festival's official website for details, ticket info and more.
Image: Riot Fest Chicago 2015 by Christopher Andrew/Stoptime341 Productions