Riot Fest 2021 (September 17-19, Chicago IL) Tour • Page 239

Sorry if I've said this before, but... MxPx has referenced a festival that sends them an offer every year or so but it never works out because the money isn't high enough and their set time would be too early in the day and it makes more financial sense for them to just headline a show in that city once every few years rather than hit up that festival. Pretty sure it's Riot because I have zero idea what other festival it could be. Hah.

Part of me just wants to be like, "But dude, wouldn't it be a fun weekend?" That band puts a lot of work into making it "work" and be the only job they have to work though so... I dunno. More power to them, I guess?

 

It's so good! It's a mix of two-tone, Elvis Costello-styled new wave, and old school soul with punk energy and attitude. Think the Specials meets Tragic Kingdom-era No Doubt played by a bunch of people who like MoTown as much as Operation Ivy.

One of those albums that you could describe as the sum of its parts, but the songwriting and playing is top-notch so it goes beyond that.

Again: Really hope they play next year. And pretty sure I've been ranting about hoping they'd play since early 2020. Hah.

 

You've def brought up before, but it’s totally cool because I actually like reading that behind the scenes stuff. It still makes me wonder how many other bands are in the same boat as MxPx. Like, I wonder if RBF gets low-ball offers too? With how much they tour in legitimately surprised they’ve never played, unless if Riot has never actually bothered trying to book them for being kinda cheeseball. But I doubt that’s the case. But who knows!

 

Why not do the 5 PM set and then an after show? Best of both worlds haha

 

And an extra pay check!

 

Good point, hah! I doubt they would be on the main stage at 5pm, though. They would probably be on around 1pm. Or late afternoon on the Rebel Stage (which I could see feeling a little weird in past years, though I think 2019 really amped up the size of the bands on that stage compared to previous ones).

 

Press conference right now with the city, talking about the impact of Lolla on COVID.

The TL;DR thus far is that there was no noticeable impact in Chicago directly. "No evidence at this point that this was a super spreader event."

 

MGK announced a new album, haven’t listened to the single as I don’t listen to him but I guess it’s more in line with the Pixies according to BrooklynVegan. Which is more in line with the Riot vibe so maybe he will fit in after all.

Machine Gun Kelly shares "papercuts" off new album with Travis Barker, 'born with horns'

 

I mean, I'm pretty sure this is a Pixies sample, right? "Where Is My Mind."

It actually sounds like that song mashed up with "Brain Stew" by Green Day. Kind of a cool combo, and I like this more than anything on that trash last album...

But this is still sort off just an embarrassing rip-off of shit other people do way better.

 

Seems pretty quick to come out with a new album. I thought he’d try to ride the WTMD train for another year or two

 

TBH, I think the thing that makes me feel like MGK is a corny fit for Riot is the fact that he's so "pop star" oriented. Like, it's not that he's on Top 40 radio or whatever. It's more that he's so very clearly just gunning for stardom and relevance. And he's willing to play music he doesn't give a true fuck about/didn't write to get it... Just throw whatever against the wall and hope that something sticks.

The pop-punk thing stuck. And I kinda can't deny that, sonically, that makes sense. A lot of sense.

And I get that we're in this movement now where we are supposed to ignore co-writers and just say "Who cares if there's co-writers?!!" but if you deliberately position something as authentic and it's not? I dunno. It's just different for me. Versus somebody like, say, Beyonce who does have co-writers but has never made it sound or feel like she doesn't, y'know?

This just feels like somebody using their bank account to try and ape a fairly prominent sub-culture (while also not actively supporting said-scene like people were thinking might happen).

EDIT: That being said, give me all the KennyHoopla. That EP is super fun and brings something new to the table.

 

Yeah, I think that’s my biggest problem with MGK. I really just feels like he’s putting a front with this whole new era of his. The music, his persona… hell, even the way he dresses. There’s something really off-putting about the whole “30 year-old dude dresses like a Hot Topic catalog” thing

That’s why I for sure thought he wouldn’t play Riot. His vibe just doesn’t scream Riot Fest to me. I’m still genuinely surprised that he got on Riot, and wasn’t officially booked for Lolla instead. I know he made that surprise appearance, but still…

 

Yeah, it's pretty clearly a front. And a lot of it seems/feels calculated. Right down to the songs he picks to cover. Is he a pop-punk fan? Maybe. But it's just in the same way that the people on my high school track team were into Blink-182 because they had the singles on CD-Rs in their cars.

Which is all well and good, until you make the genre your entire mission statement, y'know? Couple that with his current relationship status and the whole thing just feels like a stunt.

I fully understand why he was booked for Riot over Lolla this year. He had a "rock" album to promote. The Lolla crowd is locked in, anyway. He has a chance to win over new people at Riot... And he was able to sneak in a surprise Lolla set in a smaller setting, anyway (which I'm sure was a plan for a while now). It's just very, very weird. Haha.

 

sounds like a positive for the prospects of Riot, especially since its only like 1/3 the size of lolla

 

I have to believe those numbers for out-of-state visitors are a little off. They mentioned in the press conference how those were tracked (and I've forgotten) but I gotta believe it's more than seven people.

But still, even if there's error in there... Prospects are good And again: Most cases are among the unvaccinated. And hospitalizations remain relatively low.

 

Now to see how our "waiting to see how Lolla goes" theory pans out.

If it doesn't, will @sam_might_say survive another week without album play announcements?

 

No, I’m waiting for album-plays! Probably not gonna do any aftershows tbh

 

Dammit, I ruined that. I meant album plays. Edited.

 

Hey! This is a good sign!

 

Anyone else get excited when they saw an e-mail from Riot Fest only to realize it was just ticket on-sales for new club shows? (No shade to the club shows, but y'know...)

 

Okay, so Riot Fest didn't add Eve 6. But the Fest did. So. Fucking. Stoked!

(Unironically and not for the memes. But enjoyment will be enhanced because of it. That band has bangers on top of bangers beyond the singles. Great songwriting.)

 

Holy shit that’s amazing! I think Max has some 90’s punk street cred, so honestly? I think they’d fit right in to The Fest.

I think Riot should take notes and book them next year. No joke. I think a majority of the Riot/The Fest fanbase grew up with that music too, but it’s also more than just a nostalgia book.

 

Can we agree though, that Riot should step outside the box and book some of those “90’s rock/pop rock that only had a hit or two, and didn’t make much of an impact on music in general but still low-key ruled” bands? I think Eve 6 would kill it at Riot. Add in some bands like Toadies, Third Eye Blind, hell, even Better Than Ezra

 

Honestly, I think Eve 6 is the one act of that ilk that actually fits. I would argue that Eve 6 was kinda shoehorned into that whole thing when you sit and listen to the bulk of their music. It's heavier and faster than most of those other bands. By quite a bit.

And I don't doubt they'll go over well at Fest. Saying Max has "cred" is a strong statement, but he's definitely informed by Jawbreaker and Screeching Weasel in his songwriting. "Angel of the Supermarket" on the new EP basically rips off two Weasel songs at once ("Hey Suburbia" and "Angel of the Supermarket"). I think they'll go over really well and it may be a game changer for them.

But back to Riot. Eve 6 would fit. And I can see an argument being made for the Toadies. Maybe even Everclear. But hard pass on the rest of it. It's too definitively "pop-rock" to be a fit. I like Better Than Ezra just fine, but... No way. It's all too rooted in "we played a few bar shows then got signed to a major and got huge" with none of the chunky guitar riffs or "attitude" to back it up that might make them a fit.

 

Fair enough!

I also recall that Max has praised Fat Mike and NOFX numerous times on Twitter. So I thought he was in the know on that sort of thing. Haha