Michael Petryshyn

In 2005 — before he was known to many as “Riot Mike” — Michael Petryshyn was a relatively unknown promoter kid from Buffalo, NY. Trying to make waves in the Windy City and against all odds, he held the first Riot Fest at the Congress Theater. In the 15 years since, Riot Fest’s daily attendance has grown from 900 to over 50,000. In addition to entertaining fans of cutting-edge punk, rock and hip-hop, Riot has also made worldwide headlines by reuniting such white whales as The Replacements, The Misfits ands Jawbreaker. Riot Fests have been thrown all over North America, but Chicago will always be home for the festival, which has managed to remain fully independent to this day — a special rarity in the current music industry climate.

Outside of the Riot Fest, Petryshyn is a partner in Concord Music Hall and Ruido Fest, a Latin rock festival also held in Chicago.