Reddit did not invent the internet message board. However, it seems like the platform has done more to consolidate the vast world of online communities than any of its competitors. This is the “house-hold name” for message boards. It’s fully engrained. This is where people go to discuss everything and anything. I personally do not Reddit very much outside of the occasional visit to the pro wrestling boards and of course, the various pages for music festivals I like to attend.

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Lollapalooza’s Reddit activity seems more concerned with practical topics (such as whether or not they will be checking bags for Juul cartridges or something). The page for Pitchfork Music Festival seems populated with music nerds trying to one-up each other’s familiarity with the more obscure bookings (reference the over the top “you’ve probably never heard of them” vibe people had when the promotion booked This Heat for 2018’s lineup.)

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Riot Fest is a slightly different animal. Riot Fest as a promotion is one of my favorite companies in the world. They put on a fantastic festival. They run a solid website featuring hilarious content. They contribute greatly to the local community and support animal-rescue, suicide-prevention and numerous other commendable actions. This is an organization with a self-awareness that is refreshing compared to the overly-corporate Lollapalooza and obnoxious “holier than thou” Pitchfork. It’s also not Spring Awakening or North Coast which do little for their brand/fans outside of the three days a year they let a bunch of kids do drugs and ruin a public park.

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Music Festivals should mirror their fan base (the conversation about whose on which side of said mirror is a different preachy blog post), and Riot Fest does this better than any other promotion. While they book some rising acts and a few of their bands have received “Best New Music” by Pitchfork, their festival exists to give nostalgic people what the want. People want to hear the hits, so Riot Fest books album-plays. People want to hear music from their teenage years, performed by the band from their teenage years, so Riot Fest gets the band whose bassist took a 20-year hiatus from music but now needs money to avoid having to work for his father-in-law. Their fans love 90’s hip-hop, so Riot Fest books some variation of Wu-Tang Clan every single year. Riot Fest doesn’t take itself too seriously, so they bring in GWAR and the Aquabats. Riot Fest believes in community and identity, so Andrew W.K. brings his motivational-speech disguised as a rock-and-roll set every single year.

Riot Fest also has the single most loyal fan base in the industry. It’s comprised of nerdy, self-aware, punk-ish people from many walks of life. They are generally friendly, self-deprecating and poorly-dressed. These people watch Adult Swim. Many of them are hardcore wrestling fans. More than a lot of them drink craft beer. Most reflective of the festival itself: none of the fans are interested in chasing trends. These people buy Riot Fest tickets to go to Riot Fest, not just because of the stellar lineup. There is a community to Riot Fest that you do not see with other festivals. I think a lot of that has to do with the company being active year-round. They put on (mostly) punk and emo shows throughout the year at various venues throughout the city. Their online magazine is active and their social media is about as interactive as you can get. All of these things go into inspiring the continued loyalty of their  fanbase.

The digital hub of this community is Reddit. Their fans fervently check in throughout the year. From the festival recap all the way to the “Predictions for 2019” page that will certainly include someone saying “Op-Ivy and Fugazi or I’m not going next year.” Well that dude will end up going to Riot Fest 2019, unlike Operation Ivy and Fugazi. These fans obsess over the subtle hints and theories about who is playing, when, and why. They wonder whether Riot Fest Denver will ever come back. They wonder if it’s the year Outkast plays the festival. Every day someone posts on that board. When it’s 23° out and Riot Fest 2017 is closer than Riot Fest 2018, someone will ask if Arcade Fire are too big for Riot Fest.

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With all the love coming Riot Fest’s way from this board, there is certainly a polar opposite for when fans feel spurned or let down. 2018 has been a challenging year for every person involved in the event. So much went wrong this year that it’s a miracle that the event is happening in a few short days. Elvis Costello had severe health problems. Regular bookings NOFX, the Orwells and Brand New had career-threatening PR issues (all of which were self-inflicted and inexcusable). Apparently Bauhaus was supposed to play but one of the dudes lives in Turkey? Headliner Blink 182 had to drop out due to health issues. Their ticketing company Eventbrite was hacked. All of these issues went into the company’s long-delayed communication to its fans. It had to be a stressful year for the RF crew.

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On the other side of the screen is a fanbase (with its own career/family/health stresses) that looks to Riot Fest as an escape. Because of the memories they’ve had and the ones they look forward to creating, that one week in September means a lot to them. Even in February when the weather is horrible and their career is a drag, scrolling through the “Lineup Speculation Part 8” page can provide a little boost to their day. And then in spring when Riot Fest actually starts announcing bands? Having things to look forward to is a joy for anyone. When that excitement is pushed back 3-4 months with no explanation? Add the uncertainty that silence brings when people hear about high-profile artists going through health issues. When you’re not sure the festival is happening or if there will ever be more bands added, the customary snark of the Riot Fest Twitter account starts to seem less funny.

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Some people DEPEND on the Festival to communicate certain things so they can take work off, book flights/hotels/dogsitters/babysitters/put extra cat food in a bowl and all other logistics that go into attending a music festival. I can guarantee you at least one chick broke up with a guy she was on the fence about so she didn’t have to miss Sum 41 to go to her boyfriend’s cousin’s wedding on September 15th. Timely communications matter. And not just to bands, organizers, aldermen and vendors.

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Every Tuesday (historically a day when lineup waves are announced) it was “this is the day.” That went on for months, all the way up until a week before Riot Fest. Oh and then some smaller promotion called LouFest was cancelled days before it was supposed to happen because of money issues and an apparently biblical storm slated to demolish St. Louis that weekend.

That is how you end up with this:

That was part 2 of a long thread of fans commiserating about Riot Fest’s downfall and how they got screwed.

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And this:

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I am sparing you MANY of the more extreme examples because you’re reading this on the internet and can probably go find them pretty easily. I’m not judging because I understand the anger. Our hard-earned money and faith is going towards the promoters. Even so, there are some pretty ugly things on these boards. I mean, not 4chan bad, but not pleasant.

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In the end, the Riot Fest team should be rightfully stressed out. Much of 2018 seemed to go against them. The Riot Fest fanbase should rightfully feel slighted and ignored. Some people were not able to make it to the festival this year because of way the information was rolled out. I can honestly say that this is a loss felt both by the festival goer and the festival promoter. Attendance will be down this year, it has to be. The trust for all of the most loyal fans who bought tickets early might be shaken. That is something Riot Fest will have to work hard to earn back. Hopefully people have a great time and all is forgiven, usually it’s not that simple.

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For better or worse, the festival will happen this weekend. I’m just glad phil26687 posted this: