Rise Against

Over the last few years I’ve missed a long list of my favourite bands playing for one reason or another. Tattoo the Planet was postponed due to September 11th and when re-sheduled Pantera weren’t on the bill, and would never return to Ireland. I’ve had tickets for Less than Jake and the Deftones but I was too broke to make it to Dublin for the gigs.When Goldfinger, NoFx and Rancid played, the gigs all sold out before I knew they were even on. Pearl Jam sold out, Avenged Sevenfold cancelled, the list goes on.

Last night saw Chicago melodic hardcore punks, Rise Against, play their first ever Irish gig in the Temple Bar Music Centre. With my exams starting in just two days, a severely swollen knee meaning I could barely walk and no money to stay in Dublin, things weren’t looking good. At the same time, I don’t think I could have forgiven myself for missing them. I had bought a spare ticket, offered it to Daw, aswell as petrol money, parking money and the opportunity of a free gig. Thankfully he couldn’t resist my offer.

Rise Against are well known for their pro-vegetarian and vegan philosophies and are active supporters of Peta. The video for their latest single, “Ready to Fall’ caused some controversy as it addressed issues such as environmental degradation, animal cruelty, factory farming and sport hunting.

We arrived at Temple Bar Music Centre just after 8pm, doors opened at 7.30 but we couldn’t find parking, at least we didn’t have to queue. We grabbed a pint, collected some animal rights leaflets, I bought myself a t-shirt and headed upstairs to the rooftop beer garden for a quick smoke. I bumped into Gavin from 20BullsEach and he informed us we had already missed the first act, the Cancer Bats. It was only 8.10, they obviously run a tight ship in Temple Bar.

We went inside to the balcony and found ourselves a great spot right at the front, overlooking the entire venue, just as Californian 5-piece the Bronx began their set. I’ve only started listening to them since I heard they were supporting tonight and have yet to really get into their music. Their live show is just as energetic and as raw as their albums, a blend of nice riffs, hardcore drumming and vocals to form a very unique sound. The 5-piece seemed a little cramped on the small stage, until frontman Matt Caughthran went headfirst over the barrier into the crowd and continued their set from the centre of the mosh pit. After being lifted by the crowd and carried back to the stage for their final song, Caughthran thanked the crowd for the warm welcome and energy as the Bronx left the stage with the venue set to explode.

The stage became cluttered with technicians and road crew as the drums were changed over and instruments were set up. Eventually the lights dimmed and the intro began, Rise Against walked on stage to a huge crowd reaction and immediately erupted into “Survive’ from their fourth and latest album ‘The Sufferer and the Witness’. The crowd went crazy.

The setlist was a nice mix of songs from each album, new guitarist Zach Blair and bassist Joe Principe zig-zagged across the stage constantly leaping around and getting close to the crowd at the barrier. Unfortunately drummer Brandon Barnes remained relatively hidden in darkness at the back. Frontman Tim McIlrath controlled the crowd effortlessly, if he clapped then suddenly hundreds of pairs of hands were in the air clapping. When he played the guitar the band sounded fuller, but when he took it off and leaped around with the microphone his energy encouraged everyone else to go insane. Throughout the set he would stop singing and hold the microphone in the air, the crowd would have him covered, hundreds of voices chanting and singing along.

During songs like ‘State of the Union’, ‘Give it All’ (Siren Song of the Counter Culture) and ‘Alive and Well’ (the Unravelling) the entire ground floor became one big circle pit with people throwing themselves around, hundreds of fists in the air and the chorus being chanted throughout the venue.

After over an hour of pure energy , Rise Against retreated backstage for a few minutes. Tim McIlrath returned with an acoustic guitar to a single spotlight center stage. He talked to the crowd, endlessly apologising for not playing in Ireland sooner, he discussed his Irish ancestry and promoted concepts of thinking for yourself and never letting anybody tell you who you should be. It’s impossible not to like this guy, he is warm, friendly and a terrific frontman.

He then played a cover of the ‘TourSong’ by San Francisco punk band JawBreaker. The crowd chanted in anticipation of Rise Against’s extremely popular acoustic song, ‘Swing Life Away’, Tim smiled and as he played the opening chords, the entire venue sang along throughout the song.

The rest of the band re-joined him onstage for the encore, four more songs to once again apologise for not playing Ireland sooner. The old favourite ‘Black Masks & Gasoline’ (Revolutions Per Minute) saw the mosh pit turn to pure chaos once again. ‘Drones’, one of my favourite songs, had the entire crowd screaming the bridge “the drones all slave away, they’re working overtime, they serve a faceless queen but never question why…”. They finished with ‘Ready to Fall’, it was amazing to look down and see hundreds of people jumping in unison, hands in the air and hear them singing the chorus over the sound of the band. Rise Against left the stage to a huge crowd response and I left Temple Bar Music Centre on a complete high.

I can’t wait to see these guys again. For anybody who missed them, you missed an unbelieveable gig, one of my favourite gigs ever. Thanks again to Daw for ensuring I got to see one of my favourite bands and next time I hope more people will come along and see these guys in action. I can only hope that I get to do a shoot with them someday, maybe next time they play. Another addition to my ‘Oss237 Recommends’ list, check them out.