Riot Fest 2026 will be remembered for two things: the mud, and a 95 year old man starting a metal band.
Let us start with the weather, because it deserves its own headliner slot. Three days of rain turned Douglass Park into a swamp. Sets got shortened, Saturday closed early, and somewhere out there are shoes that will never be found again.
The music still delivered. Tool played a shortened set in actual daylight, which is the most cursed sentence I have ever typed, with Maynard weeks out from hip surgery and performing without makeup. Nas refused to let a drizzle stop him. Iggy Pop did all hits. Patti Smith played through heavy rain like the legend she is. And Morrissey actually showed up, which at this point counts as a headline.
But the story of the weekend is William Shatner. Ninety five years old, debuting his metal band The *uckers, with a GWAR intro video, fire breathers, and covers of Crazy Train, Ace of Spades, and Enter Sandman. The originals were not half bad either. Captain Kirk is a metal frontman now. We live in incredible times.
Oh, and Angine de Poitrine, a mysterious act performing in a secret language, somehow drew a bigger crowd than the headliners. Only at Riot Fest.
Photo: Photo by Danik Prihodko via Pexels
Source: Consequence
