Being a music fan and an avid concertgoer is an art in of it's self. Probably the most important thing that I learned about going to a sold out show at Chicago’s Metro is to get there early and claim a good spot! It’s small! If you get there late, and you’re as short as I am at five foot six, then be ready to be looking at people’s backs mostly. Unless you’re one of the types at punk shows to literally push people down and out of the way in order to get a better look, then you won’t really have a good time.
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Rise Against
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 Entertainment
Metro
Chicago, IL
December 18, 2009
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I have to confess that I didn’t know Rise Against beforehand, and the sound at the Metro was mixed so that I couldn't understand anything they were singing about. This seems to be a common trend all over Chicago, and all over the world really. Was there a live-sound engineer’s convention at some point where they all decided that the universal sound was to just compress the shit out of it? Am I the only one that would like to hear and understand what a band is singing about… live? However, I was able to make out the melodies that lead singer Tim McIlrath was doing which were pretty polished, a bit generic sounding, but much more melodic than traditional punk standard. Unfortunately, I felt it came at the cost of that raw personality that comes through like from those greats such as the Ramones or the Pixies, although The Pixies aren’t exactly punk.
I couldn't really figure out who Rise Against was, or what they were about, or how they sold out the Metro. However they managed to be successful in their ten-year career, they most certainly didn’t do it out of their live shows, at least not from what I saw with this anniversary show.
The general nature of their three-minute songs in combination with the overwhelming sound at the Metro made all of their songs just sound the same to me… high energy, fast punk beats. But from what I heard from fans, not as fast as their old stuff. The most entertaining thing for me was to see the crowd from the balcony as they moved in waves pushing each other to the music. Several crowd surfers and a girl who was violently treated in the middle of it all. Other than that, I was really just not interested.
That’s not to say that the fans of Rise Against are… delusional. There is value to the music wherever there are fans. In fact, a band itself can really be defined and categorized by who their fans are, and Rise Against does have fans! Devoted fans; fans who know all the lyrics and sing along to all of their songs, fans of all ages who let themselves go and sweat out all their aggression in a claustrophobic sea of bodies. So I decided to do some research to really see where it all started, and how these Chicago natives were able to make their mark.
What I found behind their Billboard reaching albums and commercial success were values that a band called Rise Against should have. For example, they’re all vegetarian or vegan apparently, they all abstain from drugs and alcohol, and they often speak out against environmental and social issues such as factory farming and global warming such as from their music video, “Ready to Fall,” or by endorsing a brand of vegan shoes by Vans shoe company.
It’s really too bad that none of that comes out in their live performances. I have to leave it to the fans to decide whether it’s just an image, or there is something substantial for this band and its fans to rise against. If there is, I sincerely hope that people are doing something about it.
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Try Again!
Written by Guest on 2009-12-28 15:21:06
Go to one of their shows again, not at the metro. I promise you, you will love it. I'll even pay for your ticket! They are one of the best bands I have ever seen live, and introduced me to the punk scene.
Go again, you won't regret it! |
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