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 | Strung Out / Poison the Well / Rise Againstlive in Chicago2002 live show  Review by: anonymous See others by this writer Strung Out Official Website (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on June 25th 2002 When I first heard about this tour, I nearly fell out of my spinny chair. I bought my tickets the day they went on sale and I made sure I was in line outside the Cabaret Metro by 5pm even though doors did not open until 6pm. After an hour of anxiously standing outside, they let us in and my friend and I ran to the front to get good spots for the show. There was no way I'd let 6 foot tall guys block my view for this show. (Hey, I'm only 5'3...) The first band Rufio, a pop punk quartet from California took the stage. I've had their cd for awhile so I sang along to the songs they played. They played mostly songs off of their debut album "Perhaps... I suppose" (The Militia Group) such as "In my eyes", "Dipshit", "She cries", "Road to Recovery", and they closed with "Above me." Although they were the misfits on the bill of this hardcore show, they had a somewhat positive reaction from the crowd. (I noticed there were a few kids who came just for them and kind of disappeared after Rufio left the stage). However, there were quite a few people in the crowd booing them off the stage and making lots of comments about them being a pop punk band but I kind of blocked them out. Although they are classified as pop punk, I personally think the bassist and the lead guitarist have some awesome riffs in the songs and that's what makes them more special than other pop punk bands. On the stage, they were pretty lively but it was probably a bit difficult to motivate the crowd that was more anxious to see the other bands moreso than Rufio. All in all, I think they did well for their first time in Chicago. Next up was Rise Against a melodic hardcore band that features members of 88 Fingers Louie, Pinhead Circus and The Killing Tree. They are normally described as emotional hardcore mid-tempo punk. They are personally one of my favorite Chicago bands and they were the only band that I had seen many times before. They played mostly songs from their album "The Unraveling" (Fat Wreck); such as opening with "Reception Fades" and closing with "Six Ways Til Sunday". They also decided to play "Join the Ranks", which is on the compilation "Live Fat, Die Young." (Fat Wreck), and 401 Kill, two songs that they normally do not play at all the shows. Just recently, their guitarist Kevin White who replaced Dan Precision left the band on good terms and Todd from the Killing Tree was now taking his place. He knew the songs well so it didn't really affect their performance that night. Rise Against has never disappointed me whenever I've seen their live shows. Third to go up was the melodic metal core band Poison the Well from Florida. I had only heard a few songs from them before I saw them, but they definitely blew me away when I saw them. A common negative comment about PTW is that all their songs sound the same, which I don't think I particularly agree with only because I have good ears and I can distinguish songs very easily, even metalcore songs. They really can rip it up on stage and the crowd was incredibly active at this point, mostly because the metalheads were feeding off the energy that PTW gave off. Because I didn't know a lot of songs by them, I can't exactly name the songs they played, but I do know they closed with the song "Nerdy" from their album "The Opposite of December" (Trustkill). I also know they did play a bunch of songs from their latest album "Tear from the Red" (Trustkill) because they'd say so before the songs. They overall impressed me, but I admit, they are much better live than on their cd. Finally, came Strung Out, the headlining technical aggressive melodic hardcore band from So. Cal. To my dismay, my friend and I were the only remaining people in the front row who didn't move out of our spots throughout the whole show. I noticed a lot of people move to the back, but at the same time, a large amount of people moving to the front. They played a very well balanced amount of old and new songs, from "In Harm's Way" to "Velvet Alley" and everything in between. They opened with "Ultimate Devotion" from "Twisted by Design" (Fat Wreck) and closed with the song "Matchbook" also on "Twisted by Design". Not only did they play songs off of all their albums, but they also played their cover of "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne which can be found on the compilation "Punk Goes Metal" (Fearless). They were probably the most crowd-stimulating band out of all the ones at this show. Unfortunately, they didn't play an encore (I think that was because they were late which explains why they had to do soundcheck right before their set) and many like to complain that their set was too short, but I think they had a decent length for their set. All in all, a very much anticipated show that didn't disappoint me at all musically. The crowd kind of disappointed me only because I don't really think a band should be booed just because they don't fit the bill of the show. This tour ends at the end of this month (June) so if they're headed your way, I suggest you go.
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rufio sucks hard!! the worst band posion the well was good rise against awesome live!!!! but Strung Out OHH myGOD!!! this guys are the best band live band ever !! this guys are soo fucking talented!! Good show. Well not really. Rise Against rocked hard. They are amazing. Rufio and Poison the Well should go have sex with each other. Strung Out rocks but their bass drum was way too high which kinda hurt their performance. Only reason I went was to see Rise Against. Liked em better in Cleveland and London, ON better only because less people were tryin to crowd up front. Basically...listen to rise against and strung out, the other two are terrible. i just went to this concert on wednesday and i have to say i enjoyed it alot. this was my first time really hearing rise against. i 've heard a couple of songs of the internet but nothing. all i have to say is i found a new favorite band. this was my fourth time seeing rufio in the past sixth months so i wasn't really expecting much from them. strung out and poison the well were amazing. all in all this was a really good show. "your right, its so not punk rock to stay in the front for a show. little girls should definitely get killed and beat up in the mosh pit bc they aren't punk rock enough right?" Rufio and strung out sucked. Rise against played ok. But poison the well really kicked ass!!! your right, its so not punk rock to stay in the front for a show. little girls should definitely get killed and beat up in the mosh pit bc they aren't punk rock enough right? ...and how the hell do you remain in the same spot for an entire show? "Geetarchick, people are making fun of your quote because you sound like a 14 year old girl trying hard to sound cool enough to hang out with an older "radder" group of girls. No offense, but don't defend yourself, it just adds to your pitiful form of self-flattery. Again, no offense." Poison The Well sucks really bad. jeez just let it go. you guys dont need to be so mean to her. i thought the review was pretty good for her first one. i'm not a huge fan of poison the well or rufio but i thought it was well written no matter how old she is. Geetarchick, people are making fun of your quote because you sound like a 14 year old girl trying hard to sound cool enough to hang out with an older "radder" group of girls. No offense, but don't defend yourself, it just adds to your pitiful form of self-flattery. Again, no offense. Poison the Well are fucking boring live. I like Strung Out. I went to this show in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even get the chance to see Rufio because they put them on right after doors opened. Considering the fact that I was kinda towards the end of the line there was no way that I was going to get to see them so I can't really say if they sucked live or not. We got into the show around 10 minutes after they were finished and shortly thereafter Rise Against took the stage. I didn't know to much by them but I thought they had a good stage presence and their music was pretty good. My problem with them was that the lead singer kept getting off time. I would say that 40% of the show he wasn't in sink with the rest of the band. He rushed alot of his lyrics. Stage show made up for it and I would probably go see them again. Next up on the bill was PTW. They fucking blew me away live. As mentioned in the original review most of the metalcore kids were just feeding off these guys and as was the case in Atlanta. They played the songs I liked so I was Happy (Artist... Nerdy, sticks and stones...) Strung out came out later and they put on a pretty good set. I was the only person left from my group of friends inside the club still watching. This was about my third time seeing Strung Out. If you haven't seen them I'll leave it at that. Overall it was a pretty good show. i was just joking when i made the comment cuz it did seem sort of cocky. thats all. no offense I remember that I saw Strung Out in Auckland, New Zealand and the show was above a small bar. It had been advertised poorly and they played a set to about 150 kids. It was awesome, those guys didnt care, it was just insane. i went to the pittsburgh show and it was bomb. rufio were good at what they do, but i don't know much about them. they werent anytnhing new or mindblowing. poison the well are some fake metal band. fuck them,and fuck cookie monster voices. rise against was kinda cool, but had to many songs that were just average. strung out kicked fuckin ass. they are so fast and complex on cd its hard to believe they can duplicate it live. but they do. they played a very longs set to for a punk band. 7 songs off the new album, 2 off the last ep, 7 off twisted, 4 off suburban and a handful of otheres. amazingly balanced and well performed set. highlights were 'bring out your dead' and 'virginia madison'. 'wrong side of the tracks' ruled. solitare. shit. they are so good. i'm getting a boner. when i saw this show listed in the reviews...(live from chicago) along with the bands, i thought it would be a first if scott went to the show and reviewed it, but once again lots of lost hopes on that. tgarn, ..sorry if I can tell the difference between the song Nerdy and Grain of Salt by Poison the Well and other people can't... not my fault I actually listen to songs. Thanks for the feedback and all, but I'm sorry, my intellectual deficiency is kind of kicking in, so maybe if you'd be kind enough to explain why what i wrote was so bad, that'd kind of help. :) If you're trying to point out arrogancy.. then i'm sorry... I saw this show in Vail Colorado of Thursay the 20th. Let me tell you, this rocked hard. Poison the well fucked shit up good style.Strung out clocked in at 88 minutes total playing, rufio played 5 songs, and rise against rocked. "A common negative comment about PTW is that all their songs sound the same, which I don't think I particularly agree with only because I have good ears and I can distinguish songs very easily, even metalcore songs." Rise Against is one of the best live bands I've seen, I fucking love those guys. As for them not being hardcore, shove that elitist attitude up your ass... because nobody cares. I appreciate your name soybomb, that used to be my email. "which I don't think I particularly agree with only because I have good ears and I can distinguish songs very easily, even metalcore songs." i saw them at one of the first shows of the tour in el paso with theLine and glasseater instead of ptw and rise against, and i thought it was an amazing show. i thought glasseater was maybe the best band of the night, but rufio seemed to get most of the attention because there were alot of chicks there. strung out was great, they had played for like an hour and 15 min, a little long but great "hardcore"? except for Rufio sucking horribly this show would be pretty awesome |
