William Shatner Riot Fest coverage starts with a concrete weekend: on Saturday 19 September 2026 the 95-year-old Star Trek icon debuted his heavy metal band *The uckers** at a Riot Fest aftershow at Chicago’s Park West, then faced the official festival stage at Douglass Park on Sunday 20 September. If you are searching who played, what they covered, and what album is coming on Cleopatra, this BREAKING Music guide sticks to Rolling Stone, Riot Fest, Blabbermouth, and setlist.fm—no invented quotes beyond attributed lines.
What happened at Park West on 19 September
Rolling Stone’s Daniel Kreps reported on 20 September that Shatner’s loud journey began at Park West as a warm-up ahead of the festival proper. The six-song set mixed metal classics with new material from the forthcoming Cleopatra album What the F Is Heavy Metal?. Covers confirmed across Rolling Stone, Blabbermouth, and setlist.fm: Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades,” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
setlist.fm lists the Park West order as Crazy Train; Rage (live debut); Ace of Spades; Sky (live debut); Enter Sandman; One Fear (live debut). Rolling Stone framed three of the night’s songs as album previews; Consequence and related advance coverage have also named album-era titles such as “Damn Old Age” and “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” in the wider campaign—treat those as album-side reports unless they appear on a given night’s verified setlist.
Who is in The *uckers
Riot Fest’s July announcement and Blabbermouth’s post-show report name the same core: Marcus Nand (guitar / musical director), Phil Soussan (bass), Britt Lightning of Vixen (guitar), and Fred Aching (drums; Kings of Thrash / Dead Groove). Soussan told Blabbermouth ahead of the date that playing with a childhood Star Trek hero was a “bucket list type of event.”
Album, label, and guest list
What the F Is Heavy Metal? is the Cleopatra Records project behind the Riot Fest push. Rolling Stone and Blabbermouth both cite guest appearances including Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Queen’s Brian May, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, and Slayer’s Dave Lombardo; Blabbermouth also lists Disturbed bassist John Moyer. Shatner has said on social media, as quoted by Rolling Stone and Blabbermouth: “I have explored space. I have explored time. Now … I explore distortion.” Billboard remarks cited by Rolling Stone describe heavy metal as “the rhythm of life” after he “come to understand what heavy metal is.”
Blabbermouth recounts Shatner telling The Moynihan Report that the album title came from his first reaction when Cleopatra suggested a metal record—“What the F is heavy metal?”—before he fastened on passionate emotion as the genre’s core.
People also ask: was Park West the official Riot Fest set?
No. Park West on 19 September was the late-night / aftershow warm-up. The official Riot Fest booking—announced 16 July 2026 after “years of persistent letter writing,” per Riot Fest—was Douglass Park on Sunday 20 September. Treat the two rooms as one weekend story with two stages, not interchangeable setlists.
Why this spikes Music live / pop searches
Dual-geo queries split between “William Shatner Riot Fest” (US festival intent) and “Shatner metal album / The *uckers” (catalogue curiosity). Lead with the festival primary keyword; keep album guests and setlist covers in H2s so both intents resolve without twinning other live Music hubs. Update path: if Cleopatra posts a street date or Coachella 2027 is confirmed beyond Shatner’s July CNN aside, revise the album H2 first.
Related Sunday Profile coverage
Deepen the Music live / pop cluster with our Fontaines D.C. Dopamine Chamber (https://www.thesundayprofile.com/fontaines-dc-dopamine-chamber) ADVANCE and Ed Sheeran Macklemore Gaza Philadelphia (https://www.thesundayprofile.com/ed-sheeran-macklemore-gaza-philadelphia) BREAKING—same live-scene desk, distinct primary keywords from Shatner’s metal debut.
Sources: Rolling Stone, Daniel Kreps, 20 Sept 2026; Riot Fest org announcement, 16 July 2026; Blabbermouth, 20 Sept 2026; setlist.fm, Park West 19 Sept 2026.