Riot Fest have announced the addition of Anti-Flag, Propaghandi and the Circle Jerks' Keith Morris' new band OFF!, who will join the list of punk superstars who'll rock Chicago from October 6th – 10th at multiple venues.Previously announced headliners include Bad Religion, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Circle Jerks, Articles of Faith, Snapcase, Less Than Jake, The Lawrence Arms, Bouncing Souls, High On Fire, Corrosion of Conformity, Riverboat Gamblers, Red Oktoberfest with Propaghandi, "Busted at Oz" Reunion, Cro-Mags, FUN., Negative Approach, Smoking Popes, Bhopal Stiffs, The Meatmen, Agnostic Front, Off With Their Heads, Brendan Kelly, The Toasters, Roy Ellis a.k.a. Mr. Symarip, Righteous Fool and many more
Fans should be ready for new announcements of another batch of heavyweight bands in the coming weeks – Riot Fest is by no means done announcing major additions to this hoard of punk rock royalty.
Riot Fest is revered for reuniting classic bands from years past (last year the UK's Cock Sparrer electrified audiences in two sold out shows). This year is no exception. Snapcase plays their first show outside their hometown of Buffalo in years, Articles of Faith play with their original line-up for the first time in 25 years, Bhopal Stiffs reunite for one Riot Fest show only, New York crossover giants Cro-mags return and Negative Approach play a rare show. Corrosion of Conformity will return for their first show with the original three-piece "Animosity"-era line up of Mike Dean, Reed Mullin and Woody Weatherman, performing songs from "Animosity" and "Technocracy".
An extraordinary array of punk bands will take the stages at Congress Theater, Metro, House of Blues, Double Door and Subterranean. There will 17 shows over five venues (not including secret shows), making 5 day passes extraordinarily economical. With more headliners than ever before, Riot Fest saw the need to make traversing the city easier and answered the call – 2010 will find shuttle buses running from Cobra Lounge (there is ample free parking nearby) to each venue and back, where rumor has it that late-night free shows will be going down. A series of official Riot Fest secret shows will be announced via RiotFest.org; they'll take place undisclosed locations over the summer and fall.
Now in its sixth year, Riot Fest has come a long way in a very short time. When Mike Petryshyn launched Riot Fest in 2005, only two of the bands he really wanted to play agreed to do so. In the first five years, 25,000 fans have attended to see over 200 bands.
