# Check out William Shatner and his metal band’s outrageous Riot Fest rider demands

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/check-out-william-shatner-and-his-metal-bands-outrageous-riot-fest-rider-demands/
- Published: 2026-07-17T09:08:04+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-17T10:13:54+00:00
- Original publisher: NME
- Original article: https://www.nme.com/news/music/check-out-william-shatner-and-his-metal-bands-outrageous-riot-fest-rider-demands-3957439?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=check-out-william-shatner-and-his-metal-bands-outrageous-riot-fest-rider-demands
- Topics: Americas, Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Shatner shares comically extravagant rider ahead of Riot Fest metal performance
- Demands include a renamed boat, GWAR video and fire breathers
- Dressing room requests: sausages, Faygo, puppies and a signed hockey jersey

## Summary

William Shatner has published a deliberately over-the-top list of rider demands ahead of his appearance at Riot Fest in Chicago in September, performing metal material with his band The *uckers. The 95-year-old Star Trek actor shared the requests on Instagram, framing them as tongue-in-cheek conditions for the show, which festival organisers say took years of persuasion to secure.

The demands include a boat renamed after him, a chance to sing at a Chicago baseball game and to co-anchor local weather TV, plus festival-specific requests such as a GWAR-made intro video, numerous fire breathers and a DeLorean to ferry him to the stage. Backstage, he has asked for a "Shatner's Shag Shack"-themed dressing room stocked with four feet of Polish sausage, eight pallets of Faygo, adoptable puppies and a John Stamos-signed hockey jersey. Shatner said the appearance reflects his love of exploration, while Riot Fest co-founder Mike Petryshyn joked he wasn't expecting quite such an eccentric list.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.