

William Shatner will be playing the Sunday show of this year’s Riot Fest with his new heavy metal band, The *uckers, per Consequence. The three-day festival takes place at Douglass Park in Chicago from September 18th to the 20th. Shatner will join artists like Twenty One Pilots, Morrissey and Pierce the Veil as performers.
Alongside the announcement of his performance, the 95-year-old Star Trek legend has also revealed a list of wild rider demands. These demands include having a boat renamed in his honor, “so he can captain a ship again,” and a classic Chicago food named after him. He also said Riot Fest should provide him with fire breathers, an intro video made by GWAR, a four-foot Polish sausage, a dressing room themed as “Shatner’s Shag Shack” and many more absurd requests.
“After years of persistently — and perhaps annoyingly — writing letters to William Shatner about performing at Riot Fest, it appears that he was finally compelled,” Mike Petryshyn, the co-founder of Riot Fest, said. “I, for one, cannot wait to see Shatner get heavy. But that Shatner Rider…wasn’t expecting that today.”
Shatner has been working on a heavy metal album for Cleopatra Records. Some of the tracks will include covers of the Judas Priest songs “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” with Rob Halford and “Living After Midnight” with drummer Mikkey Dee.
“I’ve always believed that music, like space, is about exploration,” Shatner shared. “Riot Fest is exactly the kind of place where anything can happen. We’re bringing volume, intensity, and a few surprises. I can’t wait to share this experience with the fans.”
