For the past nine years, the Riot Fest has taken place in Chicago. For its tenth year, the Fest is tripling in size, also expanding to Denver and Toronto, with The Cure headlining all three. There are over 100 bands playing the festivals, some of them metal. But the biggest surprise is one addition to the bill in Chicago, taking place from September 12-14: GWAR. When we asked the band’s publicist what was happening, he stated “Riotfest is keeping our spot warm, and something is going to happen.” That would mean that the band is soldiering on without frontman Dave Brockie, aka Oderus Urungus, who died in March.
Does that mean that the band will be playing with an array of guest vocalists, like the Suicide Silence tribute for Mitch Lucker? That remains to be seen, but Slayer, Jane’s Addition, Mastodon, Bring me the Horizon, Clutch and Andrew W.K. are among some of the many heavier acts playing the Chicago festival, many of which have toured and/or had a friendship with GWAR. Hell, even Macaulay Culkin’s band Velvet Underground tribute band The Pizza Underground is playing. It’s hard to imagine GWAR without their larger than life frontman, but just about anyone (albeit someone with tons of charisma) can put on the Oderus armor and carry on. It’s important to remember that while he was the heart and soul of the band, there’s more to the band than just Brockie.
There are tons of bands playing the festivals, which will take place in Toronto on September 6-7, Chicago September 12-14 and Denver, September 19-21. Here are all of the heavier bands playing the festivals:
Slayer
Clutch
Jane’s Addiction
Primus
Glassjaw
Bring me the Horizon
Mastodon
We Came As Romans
Of Mice & Men
The Used
Samhain
