William Shatner Reveals Riot Fest Rider, Which Includes Adoptable Puppies

Mary Varvaris

"Nothing unreasonable here as far as I can see," Shatner quipped on social media.

William Shatner
William Shatner(Credit: YouTube/Riot Fest)
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William Shatner will debut his heavy metal show at the annual Chicago music festival, Riot Fest, this September. What should have been a joyous occasion for event organisers, however, has taken an unusual turn.

“After years of persistently — and perhaps annoyingly — writing letters to William Shatner about performing at Riot Fest, it appears that he was finally compelled,” said Riot Fest co-founder Mike “Riot Mike” Petryshyn, per Consequence of Sound.

Petryshyn added, “I for one cannot wait to see Shatner get heavy. But that Shatner Rider… wasn’t expecting that today.”

As for his performance, Shatner’s artist rider requirements include “many” fire breathers, an introduction video created by GWAR, and the typical golf cart that transforms artists across the festival grounds be replaced by a DeLorean. And there’s plenty more where that came from.

For the “hospitality” section of his rider, Shatner wants his dressing room renamed to “Shatner’s Shag Shack,” four feet of Polish sausage, a Montreal Canadiens jumper signed by John Stamos, eight pallets of Faygo, which he says “isn’t to be shared with Insane Clown Posse,” a bowl of ready-to-eat sauerkraut backstage, plus “an assortment of adoptable puppies.”

Shatner’s demands don’t end there. In fact, he wants the City of Chicago to rename a boat in his honour (“so he can captain a ship again”), a classic Chicago food item named after him, and to sing Take Me Out To The Ball Game at a Chicago baseball game are just some of the requirements.

He said of the rider:

So now that my appearance in Chicago at @RiotFest is known I want to start acting like the Heavy Metal Rock God that I am. 🙌🏻 So... I have a few demand ... err🤨 ... requests for Chicago.☺️

Should this go to @ChicagosMayor or maybe @GovPritzker ?🤷

Nothing unreasonable here as far as I can see. Hopefully you can find @JohnStamos - I have heard he's hard to pin down. 😉

You have a couple months here to get this together. I know Chicagoans can make me happy.

Come see me at https://RiotFest.org and worship your new Heavy Metal Rock God! 😝

Live long and Rock on!

Check out the rider in its entirety on the Riot Fest website. Shatner will perform at the festival on Sunday, 20 September, where he’ll be backed by his metal band, The *uckers.

He joins a line-up that includes Iggy Pop, Rise Against, Pixies, Twenty One Pilots, Tool, Alanis Morissette, Pierce the Veil, Morrissey, Social Distortion, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, and many others.

Earlier this year, Shatner announced that he’s working on a heavy metal album, which features special guests such as Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore, Henry Rollins (Black Flag, The Rollins Band), Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), and Wayne Kramer (MC5).

Shatner said, “Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud. This album is a gathering of forces — each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”

So far, he’s announced that covers of the Judas Priest classics, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ (featuring the band’s frontman, Rob Halford) and Living After Midnight (featuring Motörhead and Scorpions drummer Mikkey Dee), will feature on the album.