Riot Fest is gearing up to announce the second wave of bands on June 16th but before we get there, we’d like to talk about 5 acts from the current wave that we’re excited to see.
ALEXISONFIRE
I’ve never seen ALEXISONFIRE live, I know, I’m sorry! I’m so excited to have been given the opportunity. The St. Catherines band is doing a few select reunion dates and I’m so happy that Riot Fest is one of them.
RANCID
I’ll always have a touch of punk deep down in my heart. Rancid reminds me of old times, good times. Ruby Soho, Time Bomb, Fall Back Down, Radio, I could go on and on.
Wiki is listing current band members as… this works for me.
- Tim Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar (1991–present)
- Matt Freeman – bass, vocals (1991–present)
- Lars Frederiksen – guitars, vocals (1993–present)
- Branden Steineckert – drums, percussion (2006–present)
MOTÖRHEAD
What can you say about Motörhead? They’ve been doing this since 1975, have had five different labels and 23 albums. With Lemmy as a constant we really already know what we’ll get, it’ll be loud and it’ll be fast.
ANDREW W.K.
If anyone knows how to get the crowd up on their feet it’s Andrew W.K. Things you might not know… Andrew is an amazingly talented musician. Did you know he played all the instruments on The Wolf? He’s an accomplished writer and self-help motivational speaker. True Story, but we all want to Party Hard.
THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT
Maybe not at the top of your list, they’re at the top of my list is The Airborne Toxic Event. I love this band and any time they come to Toronto I’ll be there. I’m always surprised at how small the turnout is for this band. They’re huge in the US and I can’t believe how lucky we are to get to see them up close and personal. They’re super talented and it amazes me that they’re even better live than they are in the studio. Not an easy feat. They’re amazing musicians and if you’ve never heard them, you should check them out. You can read my review of their show at The Danforth Music Hall here.
September is a long way away but we’re already excited for this great festival. We’ve got more preview posts coming up and of course we’ll let you know when the next wave of bands is announced.
