Rise Against       
W/ Silverstein, Comeback Kid, 2 Cents
July 7, 2007
Arrow Hall

Everyone has a list of bands they’ve always wanted to see but never have, Rise Against was one of those bands on my list. Every time they hit Toronto, something came up and I missed them, until now. Getting to the venue was the easy part, but getting in and dealing with some issues left me feeling like I was going to miss them again. Luckily it all worked out and it was worth all the hassle. Because of all the aforementioned drama I missed the first 2 Cents and Comeback Kid.

By the time Silverstein hit the stage, Arrow Hall was roughly just under half full, enough that those who weren’t pressed up against the stage could either be surrounded by people or left alone to sing along while sitting on the floor. Since this was the first ‘hometown’ show (the band is from Burlington) Silverstein has played in a long time and that they released their new album Arrivals And Departures only a few days before, the fans came out in droves. Playing a set full of old and new material Silverstein made it clear that as far as screamo bands go, they’re at the top of the heap for a good reason. Vocalist Shane Told handles both the melodic and screaming vocals with ease and the band as a whole are entertaining enough to watch even if you’re not a fan of the music. But there weren’t many non fans in attendance.  New single “If You Could See Into My Soul was received just as well as old favourites like “Smile In Your Sleep” and “My Heroine.” Having the ability to draw a crowd that large on their own, who knows what venue they’ll play next.

As loved as Silverstein was, it was obvious from the sea of red Maple Leaf Rise Against shirts who the fans were there to see. Rise Against make it known that they love Canada, from the Canadian themed shirts to the upcoming Canada only EP, This Is Noise. And Canadians definitely love them back. But whenever they seem to play Toronto they’re plagued with sound issues (the last time they time they played here at the ACC, vocalist Tim McIlrath barely had a working mic), and though the sound was good for Arrow Hall standards, since it’s an old airport hangar, the sound sucks and there’s nothing you can do about it. But at least it’s better than the Docks.

One of the great things about Rise Against is that they play their songs the way they sound on the albums, probably because they know the fans like to sing along, and that makes it more of a community experience than a singular one. From the first song they had everyone in the audience singing and clapping along. They barrelled through newer songs like “Behind Closed Doors,” Drones,” and “Bricks” along with the older, crowd favourites “Give It All” and “Like The Angel.” Actually, the only song they played that didn’t have everyone singing along was a Minor Threat cover. Tim knows how to work his fans and had them following every instruction that came out of his mouth.

Though slightly ironic that they played Toronto the same day as Live Earth, there was no mention of it as expected (though the expected PETA booth was set up at the merch table) and instead of the political speech that some were waiting for, the talking in between songs stayed in the area of how much they love Canada, how weird it was to be playing an airport hangar and thanking all the bands that played as well as Billy Talent, Alexisonfire and Cancer Bats.

Ending the main set with “Ready To Fall,” Rise Against didn’t play an actual encore, it was more like taking a minute to set up acoustically so they could play “Roadside” and “Swing Life Away” acoustically with the addition of a female string trio. They followed that up with “Dancing For Rain” and finally closed with “Prayer Of The Refugee.”

It may have taken me a long time to see them, but it was worth the wait. There’s a reason that Rise Against are one of the top punk bands in the world and with a set that had all the hits and no sound issues everyone left happy with a sense of purpose that Rise Against seems to inspire. That said, stop reading this to follow their example and go save the fucking world already.

- Alyssa Caplin

 Photo by Stephanie Joudrey

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