After being postponed in 2020, the Chicago-based Riot Fest is officially back and the first batch of 2021 September Late Night Shows have just been released. They are set to take place September 17-19, and artists such as Mr. Bungle, Thursday and Dinosaur Jr. will play at various venues across the Chicago area.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Riot Fest was forced to be cancelled and postponed until further notice. In June 2020, it was announced that Riot Fest would return with an all new line up in 2021 with headliners such as My Chemical Romance, Run The Jewels, Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins. Other artists would include Lupe Fiasco, Sublime, The All-American Rejects and Jawbox. 

On May 14, it was announced that Nine Inch Nails would be replacing My Chemical Romance as headliners at the upcoming punk rock-based music festival. On that same day, Riot Fest fans saw the addition of artists such as Faith No More and NOFX added to the lineup.

Earlier this year, My Chemical Romance postponed their 2021 reunion tour due to concerns about the ongoing pandemic. “We are deeply sad, but those emotions are only a fraction of the depth of feeling  we have all experienced watching the suffering and loss of the past year,” the band tweeted. “We want to be as sure as we can be that everyone is safe.” Their 2021 postponement means that they cannot play at Riot Fest this year. 

The bands Taking Back Sunday and Thursday will also be playing at this year’s Riot Fest. The two groups have just announced that they will be going on tour together in the fall of 2021. The tour is set to kick off on September 17 at Crofoot in Pontiac, Michigan, just a day before Thursday and Taking Back Sunday play their sets at Riot Fest September 18 and 19. 

Though My Chemical Romance are not headlining at this year’s festival, Riot Fest has them scheduled to be a headlining act in 2022 alongside The Original Misfits.

Tickets for Riot Fest go on sale Friday, June 25 at 12 p.m. CST. Riot Fest will announce more artists for the upcoming 2021 festival on a later date. 

Photo Credit: Marv Watson