What Bands Are The Riot Fest Artists Most Excited to See

Our daily schedules are out, which means now is the time you decide which bands you’re actually going to see on each day. To help you out, we thought we’d turn to the musicians themselves.

We asked artists on the lineup one simple question: Which bands are you most excited to see this year? From Tegan and Sara to Plosivs and more, check out what they had to say.

Kim Gordon, Screaming Females and Aquadolls for sure 🙂

On the day we are playing I know we are all excited to see The Breeders, Quasi, and Quicksand. We have been lucky enough to share the stage with The Breeders before and they are just an amazing band to see and they continue to release such great albums. I’m also personally very excited to catch Parliament. I missed P-Funk at Woodstock 99 because I was watching Korn and it is a mistake that haunts me.

The lineup is so sick, that I wish we were there for every day.  Riot Fest was able to pull together some of my favorite bands of all time.  I usually use festivals as a way to check out some artists that I normally wouldn’t get to, because they are out of our genre. 

So far, I have my schedule set for Tegan and Sara, The Breeders, Code Orange, Braid, and a few others.  I have actually never seen the Foo Fighters, so I will be there for sure.  Any time you can in the company of legends, you gotta be front and center.  Some of the other bands I have seen a bunch, and have been friends with for a long time, so I am excited for the backstage experience with Bayside and Silverstein. 

I’m most excited to see Say Anything. I’ve been listening to this band since 2011 and haven’t had the opportunity to see them live yet.

The Cure is right at the top of the list. They’ve been one of my favorite bands since I was little. We had a chance to tour with them and I’m hoping I get to say hello again. The truth is that they never disappoint. Robert Smith sounds better than he did 20 years ago and the new material I’ve heard is fantastic. 

Without a doubt it’s Sleep Token.  I’ve never seen them and what they’ve done in their relatively short career has been absolutely amazing.  Who are they?  Who cares.  They rip. 

Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Death Grips, The Breeders, The Postal Service, Death Cab For Cutie, Mr. Bungle, The Dresden Dolls

Insane Clown Posse, Viagra Boys, The Cure, Kim Gordon, Jehnny Beth, Queens of the Stone Age

Insane Clown Posse and Earth Crisis

Even if I just concentrate on our day there’s a tonne of amazing acts… I’m gonna see Snapcase for the first time and I’m buzzing about that. I saw Rival Schools last week at a festival here in the UK and cannot wait to see them again at Riot Fest, they’re obviously complete legends in the game and United By Fate was one of the albums of my early teenage years. I’m looking forward to seeing what both 100 Gecs and Death Grips do live. And looking forward to catching up with our friends Frank Turner and Casyette. High Vis are a great new UK band worth checking out too.  

Death Grips, Kim Gordon, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and our mates, in the Jehnny Beth crew. We’re gutted we’re missing the other Irish act Just Mustard, they’re fucking lethal.

 Plosivs – absolutely love all the bands these guys have been in before, this is their new project, it rips on record, can’t wait to see it live.

Easily most excited to see P-Funk closely followed by Turnstile

Foo Fighters, Turnstile & P Funk is gonna be so wild I am so excited!

Hard to say but looking at the lineup Id be most excited to see Ride and The Cure –  honorable mentions Corey Feldman, The Breeders, Kim Gordon, Quicksand, Death Grips, Foo Fighters, White Reaper, Drain, Nothing, High Vis, Earth Crisis, Fleshwater, Balance And Composure, The Exploited and a bunch more 

The Cure & The Breeders

Ready for all three of Walter Schreifels’ sets this year? Listen to the playlist below for samples of each band and get your 3-day ticket while they last!

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The Related Rabbit Hole

The Riot Fest 2023 Lineup’s Favorite Songs By The Cure The Riot Fest Lineup’s Favorite Foo Fighters Songs Riot Fest 2023: Friday Photo Gallery

Justine Fisher

Justine Fisher is a writer and journalist, originally from Los Angeles. She loves listening to music and writing about it... as you may have already gathered. See more of her articles on PAPER, LA Magazine or The Daily Northwestern.