Rise Against - O2 Ritz Manchester
After hitting multiple EU festival dates the mighty American political band, Rise Against, are back in the U.K. for 2 intimate dates. Tonight they take to the stage at the O2 Ritz in Manchester, giving U.K. fans the chance to see the band play a huge setlist in a much smaller venue than usual. Tonight’s sold out show has support from British punkers Trash Boat; who are getting themselves ready to bring their unique punk sound to a room of eager Rise Against fans.
Trash Boat have been on the scene for a while now and they’ve gone through multiple evolutions of their sound before finding their fit, but one thing they’ve never struggled with is putting on a good show. With a new album in sight, tonights show is the perfect opportunity to show off what they can do all whilst picking up some new fans along the way. Like a punch to the face, Trash Boat hit the ground running, blasting through a new songs ‘Break You’ and ‘Delusions of Grandeur’ before performing a rip roaring play through of ‘Bad Entertainment’.
"Bad Entertainment" is the complete opposite way of which their set could be described. It’s punchy, it’s fast paced, it’s emotional where it needs to be but most of all it’s fun. On stage, Trash Boat are great fun to watch and their interactions with the crowd only add to the experience. A notable highlight moment of the set was a full force performance of ‘Alpha Omega’. Before getting stuck in vocalist Tobi invites the crowd to join him on the chorus which brings a fun bit of back and forth to the songs chorus. Wrapping things up with ‘He’s so Good’ it’s a short but sweet set, with enough time for fans to enjoy the set and plenty of time for new fans to get on board with the bands sound.
Its time for the main event, the band that all the fans have eagerly been awaiting, the legendary Rise Against. Forming in Chicago back in 1999, its safe to say that the band have a fantastic catalogue of music and with the bands 3rd album ‘Siren Song of the Counter Culture’ hitting 20 years old this year, the crowd are sure to hear a good selection of songs. Rise Against waste no time in bringing the energy up, kicking things off with ‘Satellite’ its not long before the room is bouncing and singing along. Early in the set the Manchester crowd gets a taste of the bands early work with a rip roaring play through of the anthemic ‘Give it All’. Its a fun reminder for many of what drew them to the band in the first place, with fast paced riffs and a big sing along chorus, it ignites a new wave of energy in the room. It's during this song which vocalist Tim McIlrath climbs down into the crowd, holding hands and belting the vocals with the fans on the front row.
The whole band are on fire tonight and the set list itself is hit after hit. Something that does stand out as interesting is the band don’t play anything past their 2011 album ‘Endgame’ making for a great throwback set. Tim’s iconic voice soars through melodic sections and bits like a razors edge during the heavier parts of songs but is never off key. Mid set, the crowd are treated to the huge ‘Re-Education’ which insights some of the biggest mosh pits of the night, before the band dive into ‘Help Is on the Way’ before slowing things down for back to back playthroughs of acoustic numbers ‘Hero of War’ and the emotionally packed ‘Swing Life Away’. Both songs incite massive sing alongs from the crowd and at times lighters are raised, as arms sway.
It wouldn’t be a Rise Against show without taking things back to where they started with a break neck play through of ‘Like the Angel’ before hitting the crowd with one of their biggest songs ‘Prayer of the Refugee’ and it's never sounded better. Closing out with ‘Audience of One’ and ‘Savior’ is the ultimate power move, giving the crowd the chance to sing their hearts out and burn off the last of their energy before the house lights go up. It should be noted that age has not slowed the band down, they may have been going for many years but they still put on a top notch live show, proving there is still so much life left in the songs they play.
