Photo Credit: Allen Halas
If there is any common knock on the Summerfest lineup selections amongst festival goers, it is that several acts are regular fixtures, appearing almost annually. In the case of Chicago punks Rise Against, who made their sixth Summerfest appearance of their career on Saturday, there was no lack of intensity or signs of slowing down. In fact, quite the opposite.
The band’s set at the newly renovated Generac Power Stage was in support of their latest effort, Nowhere Generation, which came out earlier this summer. With stacks of faux televisions that mimicked the album’s dystopian feeling artwork, static and graphics designed to make you feel uneasy greeted the crowd before the band walked onstage. For being somewhat regulars in Milwaukee, the crowd extended to the ends of the bleachers and beyond, in the first night that truly felt like Summerfest of previous years. Rise Against do not disappoint, and everyone at the newly renovated section knew that.
The night opened with “The Numbers” from Nowhere Generation, a track that both opens the album and gets the heart pumping. Following that, the band would thrash through a litany of their many radio singles and album cuts that have become staples of their live set, all met with appreciation from the Summerfest faithful. In total, four songs from the new record were sprinkled into Saturday’s set, all followed up by one of the band’s more recognizable songs to the casual fan. It acted as a safety net to keep the crowd engaged, though they needed no prodding.
Photo Credit: Allen Halas
Singer Tim McIlrath led the way, though each mobile band member covered plenty of ground throughout the night, getting onto the risers as much as possible to see the rows of fans. While the intensity and energy were definitely still there for a band that now has over two decades of existence, McIlrath particularly felt fired up to play live. At times, it almost seemed like he was singing lyrics just a bit ahead of the rest of the band, which proved difficult for a crowd singalong to some of the band’s singles. Perhaps he was rushing to get more material into the group’s allotted time. He did, however, make time for a short speech about his feelings of the past year, labelling the night a celebration of being able to be with one another again in the festival setting when times previously looked bleak. That was followed by “I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore,” a song about getting out of an emotional rut. The song held added weight with the state of the world.
|
|
As the night drew towards a close, the set leaned just a touch on the predictable, but the band found a way to spice things up. It’s generally commonplace for McIlrath to take the stage solo with an acoustic guitar for a couple of songs at each show, a vehicle to get to playing the stripped-down hit “Swing Life Away.” However, prior to that, he introduced a solo version of “Forfeit” from the new record, which lent itself well to the situation. Things picked back up for the finish and an encore, with hits “Prayer of the Refugee” and “Savior” amongst the powerful songs sending Milwaukee off into the night.
While it may feel to some fans that Rise Against are in town with some regularity, the band has never given them a reason to skip a show. Saturday night once again proved that, and it’s why they’ve been so successful not only in Milwaukee, but all over the world.
