Images: Rise Against, Killswitch Engage, letlive. November 21, 2015 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center

While some were enjoying the warm indoor comforts of New Found Glory and Yellowcard over at Brooklyn Bowl, others like myself were braving the cold at Las Vegas’ newest outdoor venue the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center to catch Rise Against, Killswitch Engage and letlive. as they wrapped up the second leg of their tour.

First up for the night was letlive., the California post-hardcore band who was dealt the unenviable task of getting the early bird crowd excited for the rest of the night. Letlive. has quickly become my favorite band to photograph because of frontman Jason Butler. He is one of the most entertaining frontman to watch perform and tonight was no different. From climbing the stage scaffolding to jumping out into the crowd, the guy went everywhere the microphone cord would reach. Being openers, we only got to see a 6 song set which seemed to end just as soon as it had started, but we did get to hear hits such as “Renegade 86,” “Muther,” “Banshee,” and “27 Club,” along with a brand new untitled song.

Up next was long-running metalcore band Killswitch Engage and by this point, the venue had started to fill out making it difficult to get around without bumping into someone with a beer in their hand. For those who don’t know and need a quick band history lesson, frontman Jesse Leach was the original vocalist of the band but left in the early 2000s as the band was hitting their stride. Leach made his return to the band in 2012 after Howard Jones parted ways with the group and he has been fronting the group since. Tonight he showed that he was able to pull off everything from the “Jones” era without missing a note. In fact, if you hadn’t know of the singer change, you more than likely would have never known by just seeing them live.

The band opened with “My Curse” and transitioned right into hit after hit including “Beyond the Flames,” “Life to Lifeless” and “A Bid Farewell,” the latter dedicated to tourmates Rise Against. Guitar player Adam Dutkiewicz is known for his rather less than normal stage attire and tonight was no different as he sported some nice short shorts on stage despite it being a cool mid 40s in temperature with a breeze flowing through the venue. Rhythm guitarist Joel Stroetzel was absent this night due to leaving tour to be with family but luckily the band’s stage manager is a killer guitar player and was able to fill in on a few songs. Other notable songs played in the set were fan favorites “Rose of Sharyn,” “This Fire,” “Always” and “My Last Serenade.” The set came to end on possibly the band’s most popular hit “The End of Heartache” and it had all the Killswitch fans singing along.

After a lengthy intermission, the headliners Rise Against took the stage around 10:30 p.m. It’s a testament to the passion the band elicits in its fans that they were not only willing to suffer the cold for a 40 minute set changeover but also greet the band with deafening cheers as they came up and broke into “The Great Die-Off.” Admittedly, I’d never seen the band perform before and only know a few select songs but lead singer/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath sounded great live, especially when his raspy voice was backed by an army of fans shouting “Yeah we’re dousing the flames / We want it now” on the set’s opening song.

Lead guitarist Zach Blair and bassist Joe Principe were also very entertaining to watch and photograph as both used the entire length of the stage to jump around and rile up the crowd. Their aerobatics didn’t affect their playing one bit as the band continued on with hits including “The Good Left Undone,” “Satellite” and “Give it All,” as the latter found Tim making his way through the crowd and sounding perfect with the fans handling the “breathe / give / live” of the song’s bridge.

Rise Against definitely thrive in a live setting where they can feed of the energy of their fans and nowhere was that more prevalent than during the band’s signature ballad “Swing Life Away,” as fans held their cell phone high above their heads. Again, the voices from the crowd were louder than the band and as I walked toward the back, I could hear those happy fans singing “Let’s unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words” long after the sound of the band faded away.

Overall, every band sounded amazing, and I love the Downtown Events Center and can’t wait to see who else the venue has lined up to play on it’s stage.

-Tylor Thuirer | https://www.flickr.com/photos/thuirermedia/

Rise Against setlist:

The Great Die-Off
The Good Left Undone
Satellite
Give It All
Drones
Re-Education (Through Labor)
Survive
Chamber the Cartridge
Prayer of the Refugee
Help Is on the Way
Behind Closed Doors
Ready to Fall
Swing Life Away
Dancing for Rain
Savior