LIVE!!!!!
(Totally the best picture I could find)
Now, the first time I saw Rise Against live, I wasn't very impressed, but did I blame Rise Against? No, I blamed My Chemical Romance because only a band that crappy would have such a zetta bad manager that he'd plan a show in a venue with such zetta terrible sound quality that you can't tell octaves apart without some sort of ultra-epic hearing aid. The second time, I was much impressed musically, but I also couldn't think of a band with a worse performance than Rise Against. Going blind folded wouldn't have been detrimental to the experience, and, with the exception of a single inspirational quote, everything Tim Mcllrath said in between songs was BORING! Like you!
Now, before I go on to how good Rise Against was this time, I'd just like to say that Rancid and Riverboat Gamblers are both okay live, but suck at engaging the crowd. So maybe Rise Against is just like every other punk rock band in that aspect.
Back when I reviewed Appeal to Reason, I still gave out scores, and Appeal to Reason got a 5/6. But, after seeing Rise Against live with their new album out and such, I have decided that it only deserved a 3/6. Collapse made for a worse intro than Drones, just to start off my complaints, and pretty much every song but Re-education Through Labor off of Appeal to Reason wasn't that good. The songs they did play from The Sufferer and the Witness as well as Siren Song of the Counter Culture were factoring amazing, but I really think that Appeal to Reason decreased the musical quality of their liveness.
As for their engagination of the crowd, Rise Against improved. Slightly. I wouldn't say they did all that great; it felt like fans complained about how dry it is to be in the crowd so they went to some concerts and ripped off other bands, y'know? MAKE NOISE! MAKE NOISE! I bet every other lead singer in the world has done that so much they're all at risk of getting bored to death if they say it another time. Still better than the other two times they did it, but who cares? i don't judge bands relative to themselves, that would be silly. I judge them relative to Slipknot, particularly their drummers, and that's why they all fail when it comes to what they do onstage-their drummers all assume they can stay on solid land the whole time.
So, see Rise Against live, but their's no shame in bringing a blind fold and taking a nap between songs. Quite honestly, if you didn't see them live before Appeal to Reason came out, you are missing out on some the most zetta awesome awesomeness I have heard in my life. But consider this the next best thing and everything will be okay. It's a perfect concert on a perfect day. And yes, you shoudl feel factored with if you read that sentence with a tinge of deja vu.
Wait, is that last part the line from Survive?
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