Riot Fest Remains Chicago’s Best Music Fest

John Rose | Posted on October 01, 2019

Riot Fest

The “little fest that could” continues to highlight great music

I have been to four music fests this Summer: Bonnaroo, Pitchfork, Lollapalooza, and Riot Fest. Riot Fest remains the best of the four. The primary reason for that is its emphasis on the music. Bonnaroo is fun, Pitchfork usually has an interesting mix of music, and Lollapalooza was once great, but sadly has gone down hill in the last few years. Riot Feat remains as the least expensive fest with the best musical selection.

This year I was able to see sets by Nick Lowe and the B-52’s on the same day- artists that have been around for 40 years now, but I had never had the chance to catch live. Last year I was able to see Jerry Lee Lewis for the first time, and in past years there were great sets by Merle Haggard, The Replacements, and Iggy Pop. Riot Fest also allows artists to play past albums in their entirety such as Ween’s “The Mollusk” this year. You don’t see that at other fests.

You get all of this for a three-day ticket that only costs $149. Not to mention that the September date makes the weather much nicer than the hotter Summer fests. For all of these reasons Riot Fest is the best music fest in the area, and certainly my favorite.