Saturday 23rd July, 2011 – Review by Dan Cribb.

The last time, RISE AGAINST came to Australia was in 2009; shortly after the release of their fifth studio album ‘Appeal To Reason’. This March they released another album, ‘Endgame’, which was so popular that it warranted a return with a run of all age stadium dates that included hardcore heavy-weights SICK OF IT ALL from New York and local heroes BREAK EVEN. As it hit 7pm last Saturday night Challenge Stadium slowly filled up with young and old as the last show of the Rise Against 2011 Australian tour began.

Not long after doors had opened and the sold out standing area was half filled, Break Even made their way onto the stage. They’ve developed quite a large fan base over the past few years as a result of constant touring and big supports, so bringing them on the tour was a good move. They opened with their song ‘Truth’ and were giving 110% right from the very start. Vocalist Mark Bawden definitely knows how to get a crowd moving. Five songs into their set he managed to turn the better half of the standing area into a circle pit. They kept the energy flowing for their entire set and finished with ‘Run For Your Life’, an older song that had everybody warmed up and ready for Sick Of It All.

By the time Sick Of It All’s intro music began playing the standing area was almost at full capacity. Those familiar with SOIA’s aggressive chops raced eagerly up front, while those less educated to their rockin’ ways (mainly the younger portion of the crowd), were about to experience some classic hardcore. They ran onto stage and wasted no time by jumping into their song ‘Good Lookin’ Out’. Each member of the band brings some unique and interesting to the live show. Whether it’s the gravelly vocal tone of Lou Koller or the stage presence of his very energetic guitarist brother Pete, they’re an exciting band to watch live and their mission was to get the crowd ready for the headlining act. And that’s exactly what they did. Introducing their song ‘Built To Last’ as a Rise Against cover of a Sick Of It All song (In 2007 Rise Against recorded a version of the song for a tribute record) and Rise Against front man Tim Mcllrath joined them on stage to sing the bridge of the song. After a few more songs Lou Koller had the crowd successfully singing along to ‘Die Alone’. The left side of the venue was yelling “Die Alone!” closely followed by the right screaming “Die! Die!” They moved on from ‘Die Alone’ to ‘Step Down’ and played a few more hits before separating the crowd into two sections that ran at each other when ‘Scratch The Surface’ began. No doubt Sick Of It All definitely made a few more fans that night and left the crowd wanting more.

It wasn’t too long after Sick Of It All had vacated the stage that the anticipation in the room began to grow. Smoke machines slowly filled the air with a thin fog and the lights shut off. Everybody was anxiously awaiting the band to run out onto the stage. Sirens began playing over the PA and dark figures took their positions on stage. A steady drum roll started up followed by a guitar lead that built up into the song ‘Chamber The Cartridge’. The lights turned on as the song kicked in and saw a large number of excited punters in the seating area leap over the barriers to join the sea of raised fists jumping up and down in the standing area. As soon as Mcllrath’s voice echoed through Challenge Stadium, fans new that this was not going to be a show that they would soon forget.

Before the crowd had time to process the first song Mcllrath grabbed a guitar and they jumped straight into The ‘Good Left Undone’ closely followed by ‘Heaven Knows’. With every song they played the lighting became more impressive and intense and so did their stage presence. The tight and flawless drumming of Brandon Barnes was driving the band while bassist Joe Principe provided Mcllrath with epic backing vocals. ‘Make It Stop,’ the latest single off ‘Endgame’, was the first new track to played – but wasn’t played until halfway through the set.

After an hour of rock they band vacated the stage leaving Mcllrath standing under the spotlight with an acoustic guitar. He had an intimate chat with the crowd about how awesome the tour has been and what a great audience they were (the standard rock star dialogue) and then played ‘Swing Life Away,’ from the album ‘Siren Song Of The Counter Culture.’ Blair then joined him on stage with an acoustic guitar and they performed ‘Hero Of War.’ – These slower acoustic tracks showed the audience another side of Rise Against that was welcomed with lighters and waving hands. They finished their set with the single ‘Ready To Fall’ off ‘The Sufferer And The Witness’ and thanked the crowd before disappearing backstage only to reappear moments later for an encore.

Mcllrath thanked the crowd once again for making the last show of the tour so much fun and then explained how they’ve been friends with Sick Of It All for years and one of the things they learnt from SOIA is that music is more than just entertainment; a perfect intro for their track ‘Entertainment,’ which lead into another song off ‘Appeal To Reason’ ‘Savior’ and they finally ended their hour and a half long set with the crowd favourite ‘Give It All.’ These guys love what they do and they do it well. They played a memorable set that no who attended will soon forget.