The first time I saw Rise Against was over a decade ago at a Tremorz show with Faded Grey and the Mad Caddies. I never could have imagined back then that a melodic hardcore band made up of ex-members of 88 Fingers Louie and .baxter. would go on to become one of the biggest rock bands in the country. But seeing them on the huge Joint stage on Oct. 1 (a venue that, to put things into perspective, has played host over the years to artists ranging from Blink-182 to Sir Paul McCartney), I couldn’t help but feel happy at how far the band has come.
While being separated from the audience by a large barrier can be an insurmountable obstacle for many bands, frontman Tim Mcllrath made the best of it by getting as close to the fans as humanly possible, holding out the mic for monster hits like “Ready to Fall” and “Re-Education (Through Labor).” When he wasn’t teetering on the stage’s edge for sing-alongs, Mcllrath could be found soaring through the air with equally energetic guitarist Zach Blair or expanding on the meaning behind the band’s many politically-charged anthems to a captivated crowd. All this action never seemed to tire them, with the band staying completely on point and Mcllrath’s voice never faltering.
The quartet’s main set consisted mostly of songs from their most recent trio of albums, with “Broken English” from 2003’s Revolutions per Minute the only holdover from their Fat Wreck Chords days. While I’m used to the first two records being left out, I found it strange that this set was completely devoid of tracks from the band’s 2004 breakthrough Siren Songs of the Counter Culture. But they did eventually play that album’s two biggest hits – “Give it All” and “Swing Life Away” – during an acoustic portion before the group’s encore, a set that also included “Make It Stop (September’s Children)” and a touching cover of No Use For a Name’s “For Fiona,” dedicated to recently-deceased NUFAN frontman Tony Sly.
While I would have preferred a more varied setlist and was disappointed that the band’s first three albums went mostly ignored (RPM remains one of my top albums of all time,) they still put on an incredibly fun show that kept me and the rest of the crowd engaged throughout. On top of that, it’s nice to see a band from the punk scene make it to this level, filling up a venue as large as The Joint while staying true to their overall message.
Successfully warming up the crowd in the direct support slot were New Jersey natives The Gaslight Anthem. I was fortunate enough to see Gaslight frontman Brian Fallon do a fantastic acoustic set earlier in the day (you can see my coverage of that show here), but the band’s Springsteen-influenced style of punk rock is tailor-made for arenas and they sounded as amazing as ever amplified by The Joint’s state-of-the-art sound system.
This was the group’s first time in Vegas since their 2008 House of Blues show (also opening for Rise Against) on the day of Obama’s election, and they took this opportunity to appeal to the audience to vote (young men and women with clipboards were scattered throughout the venue registering new voters). Surprisingly, Fallon’s plea to reelect our current President was met with quite a few disapproving cries of “boo” – surprising because all the of the night’s bands, particularly headliners Rise Against, have been active in their support for the incumbent and I would think that sentiment would be shared by the fans (and certainly was at the ‘08 show).
I was, however, happy to see so many people in attendance singing along not just to hits like “The ‘59 Sound” and “45” but to deeper cuts like Sink or Swim’s “Wooderson” and The ‘59 Sound opener “Great Expectations.” It gives me hope that the New Jersey quartet can be the next band with punk roots to really make an impact on the mainstream and maybe one day headline The Joint themselves.
Hot Water Music has never let me down and as the veterans on the tour, they kicked things off right. The venue was already filling up when they took the stage and quite a few fans decided to save the bar for later and made their way up front to shout along with frontmen Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on set openers “Remedy” and “Trusty Chords.” Anyone who saw the influential post-hardcore band a few months ago at Punk Rock Bowling were treated to a similar set containing newer, more rock-influenced tracks “Drag My Body” and “State of Grace” from the band’s 2012 comeback Exister mixed in with classics including “Manual” and set-ender “Wayfarer.” While Ragan is no stranger to Vegas, getting to see HWM twice this year was a treat, and I hope to see them come back through town on their own headlining tour sooner rather than later.
-Emily Matview
Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/
and Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens
Rise Against setlist:
Survivor Guilt
Ready to Fall
Collapse (Post-Amerika)
The Good Left Undone
Broken English
Help Is on the Way
Drones
Disparity by Design
Re-Education (Through Labor)
Blood to Bleed
Satellite
Wait for Me
Prayer of the Refugee
Acoustic:
Swing Life Away
For Fiona (No Use for a Name cover)
Make It Stop (September’s Children)
Give It All
Encore:
Broken Mirrors
The Strength to Go On
Savior
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