How do you build on an A+? I thought I’d be in for at least some disappointment considering how Rise Against blew my mind the first time I saw them, but there was no dropoff. If anything, they were better this time.
The first show I was mainly impressed they didn’t suck. This time I came in knowing that they’d be far better than on their albums, but I was also looking forward to a number of specific tracks: “Long Forgotten Sons,” “Re-Education (Through Labor),” “Swung Life Away,” even “State of the Union” – for its sheer, decibel-breaking gall. These tracks – and virtually all others – were incredible. I was able to mosh and scream and pump with a thousand other maniacs to songs I actually knew/liked.
The overall high point of the concert was the first song. Tim McIllrath walked onto a dark stage, waited a few seconds to heighten the anticipation, and then pounded into “Collapse [Post-Amerika].” The visuals were, as usual, stunning: McIllrath, bathed in neon light, ran, jumped, and flailed across every part of the stage. The crowd was happy to follow his lead, transforming into a single seething mass before the song even hit the chorus. The added awesome effect this time was that I actually knew the chorus: “this is not a test; this is cardiac arrest.”
Close behind “Collapse” was the last song before the encore, “Prayer of the Refugee.” Powerful as that song is, I love that they didn’t put it dead last. (“Ready to Fall” fit perfectly in that slot.) It still launched the crowd into an inhuman frenzy (“don’t hold me UP now; I can stand my OWN ground”), but did so at an unexpected moment. (Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, take note: place “The Middle” and “Radio” somewhere else!)
“Prayer of the Refugee” actually threatened to accomplish what “Collapse” had promised: “cardiac arrest.” As soon as the song ended, I felt dizzy and started to have trouble breathing. (Ninety seconds of rage’ll do that to you…) I eventually recovered for the remaining seven (!) songs after the encore, but it was touch-and-go for a few seconds.
The new measure of a great punk rock concert? Cardiac arrest.
Grade: A+
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