In celebration of their 10th anniversary Riot Fest has pulled off a pretty impressive move: “10 Years. 10 Essential Albums” is the slogan given to the event on which 10 seminal bands will perform their most acclaimed productions on their entirety.

It all started with last years’ Riot Fest performance of Violent Femmes self-titled production, “During last year’s Violent Femmes’ set at Riot (…) it dawned on me that if we ever did an album play thing at Riot, we should make it something that the fans would remember years from now,” said Michael Petryshyn, Riot Fest partner.

So, I literally was walking back to my trailer after their set and it hit me… 10 Years. 10 Essential Albums.

Riot Fest’s success has allowed organizers to move from a Chicago-based event to a multiple cities gathering featuring the best alternative/punk acts from all over. This year the Riot will take place in Denver, Toronto and Chicago with ridiculous line ups for each event.

9 out of the 10 bands to celebrate the anniversary have been announced and they will perform these sets in Chicago or both Denver and Chicago:

Jane’s Addiction: Nothing’s Shocking (Chicago)
The Offspring: Smash (Chicago)
Weezer: “The Blue Album” (Chicago & Denver)
Slayer: Reign in Blood (Chicago & Denver)
Samhain: Initium (Chicago)
NOFX: Punk In Drublic (Chicago & Denver)
Descendents: Milo Goes To College (Chicago)
Naked Raygun: Throb Throb (Chicago)
The Get Up Kids: Something To Write Home About (Chicago)

A separate announcement for the remaining band is expected, in the words of Petryshyn …”it wouldn’t be Riot if we didn’t tease a little beforehand”.