What is even happening with this year's Riot Fest lineup? Who is it for? What was the booking philosophy? Riot Fest started off as a punk-centric event and then grew into one of the country's biggest straight-up rock festivals, so this year's newly unveiled festival lineup might make sense from a distance. But It's truly jarring to see so many of these names on the same poster.
Consider this year's festival headliners: Tool, Twenty One Pilots, Pierce The Veil, and Alanis Morissette. These four are all very popular rock acts, but they don't have much to do with one another or with any historical notion of punk rock. And if you look at the festival poster, especially at the names of the sequential ordering of the acts, you might drive yourself insane. For instance: Are the All-American Rejects really a bigger draw than Morrissey? Should Mom Jeans be above Iggy Pop? The current version of the Sex Pistols, with three original members plus replacement singer Frank Carter, will play the festival, but so will actual Pistols singer John Lydon's band Public Image Ltd. How's that going to work? Questions abound.
In any case, Riot Fest has many, many stages, so you can certainly curate an experience for yourself where you'll only see great bands and avoid Pierce The Veil entirely. And there are lots of great bands on the bill! Including pretty much the entire lineup of this year's returning CBGB Festival! It goes down Sep. 18-20 at Chicago's Douglass Park.
In addition to all the names mentioned above, you've got legends: Social Distortion,. Bad Religion, Nas, Descendents, Elvis Costello, Pixies, Patti Smith, Tricky, Gwar, Slick Rick, Bratmobile, Melt-Banana, Burning Airlines, Murphy's Law, Insane Clown Posse. You've got reunited acts: The Format, Sugar, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Jejune, Algernon Cadwallader, Twin Peaks. (Do Twin Peaks count as a reunion? They haven't been doing much lately.) You've got exciting newer acts: Angine de Poitrine, the Beths, This Is Lorelei, Fleshwater, Yard Act, Destroy Boys, Show Me The Body, Haywire, Soul Glo, Whispers, Glixen, the Callous Daoboys, Greet Death, Remember Sports, Cardinals, Nobro, Kiwi Jr. You've got the Chats and Chat Pile. You've got 3OH!3 and Bowling For Soup! You've got Afroman! You've got Violet Grohl! You've got it all, baby!
Other acts that I haven't mentioned yet include Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Taking Back Sunday, Pennywise, Bright Eyes, Santigold, Gogol Bordello, Pup, Motion City Soundtrack, Brian Fallon & The Painkillers, Mariachi El Bronx, and Foxy Shazam. Look, I don't know. I can't make sense of it for you. You'll have to do that for yourself. Details here.
We're excited to be included in this year's Riot Fest, but more excited to witness Patti Smith get sprayed down with Faygo.
— Chat Pile (@chatpileband.bsky.social) 2026-05-28T15:15:53.559Z
