Arriving an hour and a half after opening I had already missed Estonian warm-up act OneWord*. Which, again in retrospective, I think is far more down my alley than Rise Against. So, due to unexpectedly being late, I was rather taken by surprise when Rise Against hit the stage. After initial punch, with strobes flashing and the band running around the stage making it near impossible to shoot photos, things calmed a bit and, standing somewhere in the back, I got around to assessing what I was witnessing.
And what I was seeing didn't impress me at all. The music was mostly passing me by. Vocals were somewhat drowned under other instruments and it was near impossible to understand what any of the songs were about. Given that punk-rock songs on the average aren't particularly heavily laden with variation, it was all blending together. And it reminded me why I didn't like most of the punk-rock even when I listened to it. It might have been the acoustics... It all made me feel detached and out of place.
What's worse, not to sound like Marcel around here, but I was kind of feeling old at this gig. The venue was full of teenagers, and most of them were really enjoying the gig, hopping and singing along. For the band, it must have been great. For the people into the band, it must have been excellent as well. However, as a clean sheet experience the page mostly remained blank. What made me smile during the gig, was when the singer requested people to form a circle pit, and simple mosh pit was formed instead. Heh, noobs... In the end, out of the whole set, only one song left a lasting impression. It was "Ready To Fall." It was different. It was different even from the regular version you can find on the album or video. That showed and it was memorable.
I consider punk-rock on the average a stage that quite some people go through while discovering rock music. For me it's an intermediate stage associated with a period somewhere in the high-school years. Either they go punk all the way and make a statement by becoming punks, or they pick up something else, like metal. I'm glad I got to see a Pink Floyd tribute show the next evening. However, I'm left with a feeling that I still want to see a really good punk-rock gig... some Bad Religion maybe...
Unverified set list (taken from here):
1. Collapse (Post-Amerika)
2. State of the Union
3. Re-Education (Through Labor)
4. Paper Wings
5. Long Forgotten Sons
6. The Good Left Undone
7. Chamber the Cartridge
8. Drones
9. The Dirt Whispered
10. Audience Of One
11. Blood to Bleed
12. Savior
13. Blood Red, White & Blue
14. Prayer of the Refugee
15. Swing Life Away
16. Give It All
17. Ready To Fall
Rise Against: http://www.riseagainst.com, MySpace
OneWord*: http://onewordband.com, MySpace
