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Rise Against / Tsunami Bomb / Alexisonfire

live in Chicago
2005
live show

Review by: primeevil7
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Published on February 25th 2005

Methadones [NIGHT ONE]:

The Methadones during night one brought an energy and a feel-good vibe, though that might not be the right words to describe them. Simply a punk rock band isn’t the right phrase either. I don’t know quite how to say it, but they’re, well, they’re a punk rock band, mixed with a dash of Bad Religion-esque harmonies. Dan Schafer fronts these guys, and he used to be in Screeching Weasel, and you can hear the influence. I don’t know if that helps, but give them a listen. Anyway, I have not been listening to them, but their performance made me think otherwise. Here’s their mp3 page.

Break The Silence [NIGHT TWO]:

Scott called them generic in his review, and I have to agree, as their performance rested on the guitar showmanship of Mr. Precision and the technically good, but overused scream of Dan. It’s generic melodic hardcore mixed with generic metalcore. A cynic would argue that Break The Silence was Mr. Precision’s attempt to cash in on the fad and sell out, but no one was buying. I’d say that it's just generic. You can listen to them for yourself. The audience was kind of into it, but just waiting for Alexisonfire, which coincidentally rocked like fuck.

Alexisonfire [NIGHT ONE]:

They started out with "Accidents," and from there they tried to rock the younger crowd, who seemed terminally uninterested besides their core fans. Though, it sounded like their songs were spot on, sound-wise, and gave it a commendable go. Highlights included the closer ".44 Caliber Loveletter," "Accidents," the singer George telling the guitarist Dallas jokingly that he must not have gotten the memo that he was wearing the Hot Water Music shirt that night, and someone throwing a barbershop T-shirt onstage, which George wore for part of the performance.

Alexisonfire [NIGHT TWO]:

They started out with "Accidents," and from there they rocked the fuck out of the crowd, older and more appreiciative, though I didn’t think they sounded as good. Still, that new Alexisonfire CD looked mighty appealing after that show, and that’ll be at the top of my list when I’m not broke. After a lengthy introduction about the scene, “this isn’t about the fucking hair,” and "thank you"s to Rise Against for taking them out, they blitzed into "White Devil," killing it, and one song later, they were over.

Tsunami Bomb [NIGHT ONE]:

Matt (the bassist) was puking on stage and coughing up blood between songs, so he just stood there, while the band tried to do their thing without his movement or vocal chops. M announced onstage that they nearly had to cancel the show because of Matt’s sickness, and would therefore be doing a short set. It was probably the worst Tsunami Bomb set I’ve seen, but this time it was totally understandable. Agent M, Gabe and Jay tried desperately to make up for it, but they couldn’t do it. I was hoping they’d play more songs from their new CD, but unfortunately the only new cuts we got were "Dawn On A Funeral Day" and "Jigsaw." Shame.

Tsunami Bomb [NIGHT TWO]:

Matt was much better, moving around, jumping and rocking out, though his vocals were noticeably absent from his songs, leaving Jay to try them, but he just can’t do backup screams. Many of the songs chosen seemed to be ones without backup vocals, for obvious reasons, but that meant that in terms of new material we were left with just "Jigsaw" and "5150." Don’t be fooled; Tsunami Bomb is still a force to be seen live, it's just that these performances weren’t their best and are not representative of them.

Rise Against [NIGHT ONE]:

A hometown show and their first headlining show this year; I was expecting one of the craziest shows of my life. Sadly, I didn't get it. The setlists below don’t show it, but this set was a lot more poppy than I was used to. Their energy and bite was still there, but it seemed like it had been put through a mild pop filter. It certainly didn’t help that for the second time I’ve ever seen them, they didn’t play "Alive and Well," or many of their old favorites, instead drawing heavily from their Siren Song material equally distributed between songs that slay ("State Of The Union," "Dancing For Rain," "Anywhere But Here") and noticeably weaker material ("Blood To Bleed" and "Paper Wings"). At least "Voices off Camera" and "Broken English" were played. It was still a good set, and Rise Against remains one of the nation’s top live acts, but this was not up to Rise Against’s high live standard.

Rise Against [NIGHT TWO]:

Here was the Rise Against that was AWOL last night. Here was "Alive And Well," "Six Ways 'Til Sunday," and a truckload of asskicking. This show reminded me why I was a Rise Against fan and why I bought both tickets the night they went on sale, and though some of the same songs off of Siren Song were played, it didn’t sound filtered. This was Rise Against, back to their full glory more or less. Tim’s neck looked like it was about to burst from strain, and everyone on the floor was left drenched in sweat. Tim admitted onstage, “If it looks like we’re a little disorganized, it's because we are,” but it didn’t matter. It was truly a good punk rock show.

Night one left me a little bit cheated, but Night two reminded me why I’ve only missed one Rise Against show since 2003.

Songs played [BOTH NIGHTS]:

Life Less Frightening
Paper Wings
Blood To Bleed
To Them These Streets Belong (opener)
Give It All (closer night 2)
State of the Union
Swing Life Away (encore, first song)
Anywhere But Here
Dancing For Rain
Blood Red White And Blue

Songs played [NIGHT ONE]:

The First Drop
Broken English
Voices Off Camera
1000 Good Intentions (I believe)
Black Masks and Gasoline (closer)
One last one I can’t place

Songs played [NIGHT TWO]:

Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Six Ways 'Til Sunday (fake closer)
Alive And Well
Heaven Knows
Like The Angel
Dead Ringer
Torches
Generation Lost

Oddities/funny things you might want to hear about:

After the show, Victory Records magazine is still being distributed, wherein Brandon from Atreyu namedrops Shai Hulud and the Beatles. On the other hand, the last interview with Snapcase is printed in the mag. On the side of the Victory Records van, the words We Run the Streets are printed.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 24, 2005 at 12:41 AM (EST)

lol chinatown why are you laughing it's true... who do you like simple plan, or wait are you an old school backstreet boys fan? Nice reply btw, really put my foot in my mouth there... rofl

Posted by ftx24 on 2005-03-01 02:42:42

why do they not play last chance bluewprint...ever???

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 1, 2005 at 12:01 AM (EST)
My Score:

Tim is a musical genious so they can make it sound as poppy as they wish I'm confident in their taste.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahahah!!!!

-Chinatown

Posted by Icapped2pac on 2005-02-28 18:45:31
My Score:

This just in:

OVER IT's new album pretty much blows. 2-1/2 stars. They know how to abandon a style almost as well as Hopesfall or Mock Orange.

Also, Bear vs. Shark's new album is tentatively scheduled for a June realease, and the dude from Morphine played his sax (or was it a trumpet?) on a track. Saw them live in Ann Arbor on Friday, fucking fantastic as usual, although the set was cut short. The new songs are more aggressive than I was expecting, which is a good thing. Aus out.

Posted by ice-cold on 2005-02-27 20:15:47
My Score:

I get a kick out of the people who claim to be Rise Against fans but try to tell me which songs are good. Who the fuck are you to decide? Your biased opinion on what songs are good don't apply for everyone. You need to realize they are far from other bands in that they don't try to reproduce the favorites(thank god). EVERY song they have is good and they have a wide range from fast to slow. Just compare stained glass and marble to swing life away. Totally different sound but it's amazing to hear that come from the same band. One of their main strengths is their depth in music, but it's also their weakness. I swear if they would of released ssotc before rpm they would of got alot more of the recognition they deserved. Instead people always compare rpm to ssotc, but on it's own I know ssotc is a great album. To many bands stick to the same style of one succeseful song and never move on from there. Tim is a musical genious so they can make it sound as poppy as they wish I'm confident in their taste. I'm just glad they don't listen to all the biased fans they have who want the music to only sound how they like. If RA is to poppy for you, listen to some of The Killing Tree and you have can have your hardcore. Blood to Bleed was one of, if not my favorite song from SSOTC, I was pleased to see in an interview shortly after that with Tim where they asked which songs he looked most forward to playing live, which he answered with blood to bleed and dancing for rain. So go ahead and like the songs you "think" are good I'll continue appreciating them all. I'm looking forward to seeing Alexisonfire and Rise Against on April 12th in Regina, just hope I get my ticket in time.

Posted by 8dollarclarinetsolo on 2005-02-27 19:27:41
My Score:

the methadones are good

Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2005-02-27 14:10:04
My Score:

"P.S. - 90% of people that claim to hate 'Like The Angel' actually like it. Stop being lame, kids."

I don't "hate" the song, it's a good song, i'm just tired of it!

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-26 14:47:34
My Score:

I forgot that Tsunami Bomb played I Bought You during night two, which is another new song.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 9:31 AM (EST)

so break the silence was horrible and alexisonfire rocked.yea.that's it.is this the bizarro world?

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 7:28 AM (EST)
My Score:

I like The Methadones a lot, and Rise Against are still brilliant. Tsunami Bomb are a bit of a "meh" band for me, but it sounded like a good show.

Joe

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 2:06 AM (EST)
My Score:

There's no way that you price you paid to see this lineup could be worth it. I've seen both Rise Against and The Tsunami Bombs, and neither ere nearly as good as you say they are.

Posted by ThenightProwler on 2005-02-26 01:38:34
My Score:

But it wasn't their show, they were just the openers.

So please don't be that guy who always always has to bring up that joke from PCU.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 1:28 AM (EST)
My Score:

Mr Black

Posted by Anchors on 2005-02-26 00:08:06
My Score:

Oh and I liked the review. Never seen one done exactly like this. Very comprehensive, and gave a great feel for what the shows were like.

P.S. - 90% of people that claim to hate 'Like The Angel' actually like it. Stop being lame, kids.

Posted by Anchors on 2005-02-26 00:03:19
My Score:

Prowler, it's good that you support small bands like the Methadones, but don't be that guy that wears a bands shirt to their own show.

Everyone hates that guy.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 11:51 PM (EST)
My Score:

shitty review

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 9:28 PM (EST)
My Score:

who the fuck is jay from tsunami bomb?

Posted by innocentbystander on 2005-02-25 19:40:53
My Score:

so why didn't only crime play chicago anyway? i was really disappointed. i only saw night two and thought that the show was excellent. (and they did play like the angel.)

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-25 18:09:50
My Score:

I nearly lost it when I heard Only Crime was dropping off before Chicago.

That would have been the first show I'd ever seen that all the acts didn't suck. Oh well.

As a replacment for Only Crime, the Methadones were terrible. On their own merits, the Methadones were pretty listenable.

Posted by ThenightProwler on 2005-02-25 16:35:08
My Score:

It seemed that there was not a lot of people in the crowd who knew who the Methadones were... I actually wore a Methadones shirt to the show since I found out that they had replaced Only Crime on the bill prior to that day, so Mike saw me from the stage while they were performing and he threw a pick right at me since I was like the only person on his side that was singing along and really enjoying their set.

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-02-25 16:15:07
My Score:

I'm sorry, but I have no respect for someone who doesn't like the Methadones but sings the praises of Alexisonfire.

Posted by TheBouncingSoul on 2005-02-25 15:14:17
My Score:

The Methadones are mediocre, yet you came to see Alexisonfire?

Yeah...

Lots of screaming, and songs about cocaine...Pass like Randall Cunningham

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 2:24 PM (EST)
My Score:

Methodones were very basic and mediocre and they think that they knew it when they played so their set was kind of lame. Next, Alexisonfire, the band i really came to see, only played 6 songs but played the fuck out of them. They played accidents, pulmonary archery, waterwings, happiness by the kilowatt, white devil, that girl possessed, and 44 caliber love letter. Tsunami Bomb came next and played to a crowd that really didnt get into their set but even though the bass player was sick, they sounded really good and did put on a good set just to the wrong crowd. Rise Against never disappoints and they didnt disappoint again. The highlight for me was when they played "paper wings"; i pretty much thought they'd never be able to play this live and pull it off but sure enough they did and it was great. The second to last song they played that the reviewer forgot to mention was "heaven knows". Overall a fantastic show except for the methodones but it didnt ruin the night.

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-02-25 13:22:39
My Score:

I don't know, I wasn't there. I saw the Toasters on Saturday night and went to Bacci's afterwards, and you could tell when the Rise Against show ended because a huge group of people came in.

Posted by sickboi on 2005-02-25 13:16:47
My Score:

When they played a free show in Richmond they didn't play "Heaven Knows", I thought that shit was a setlist standard for them.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 1:03 PM (EST)
My Score:

What a joke, the first night was GOD AWFUL.
Didnt even go to the second night and Rise Against lost a good fan !

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 1:02 PM (EST)
My Score:

The Methadones are just plain mediocre.

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-25 12:55:42
My Score:

I'm virtually certain they played Like the Angel the second night.

Posted by notfeelingcreative on 2005-02-25 12:23:23
My Score:

I love rise against but if they never play "Like the Angel" again, I won't protest a bit!

Posted by ThenightProwler on 2005-02-25 11:43:58
My Score:

Well my mind's a blur pretty much now but I could have sworn they played Like The Angel the first night. I think there's another song that you have listed for second night only that was also played the first night.

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-25 11:28:04
My Score:

theNightProwler or Bill,

What'd I miss?

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-25 11:02:34
My Score:

I actually LOVE their new stuff, they just pick the worst songs from it to play. Replace Blood to Bleed, Paper Wings and To Them These Streets Belong with Rumors Of My Demise..., Tip the Scales and an older song, and their set would be near godlike, in my eyes.

Posted by CorpseOfMyMotivation on 2005-02-25 10:02:00
My Score:

That second night's RA set list makes me remember why I loved Rise Against so much too. This new shit is intolerable though.

Posted by primeevil7 on 2005-02-25 09:29:23
My Score:

To the person who so wisely commented about the Victory Records stuff "This isn't your blog, no one cares"

That's why its in the section called Oddities and Funny Things You MIGHT Want to Hear about.

You may, you may not. Though it seems to me like Victory's new motto is instead of We Run the Streets, We Buy the Streets.

Anyone read Penny-Arcade?

Posted by ncarlber on 2005-02-25 09:17:17
My Score:

Score is only for Tim's stage presence....the new guitar player kills the energy.

Highlight of the night was when one of two jocks controlling the pit threw up and his other jocko friend slipped and fell on it....thus ruining his brand new AFI wife-beater

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 3:35 AM (EST)
My Score:

weird review but thats cool that you had fun..

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 3:30 AM (EST)
My Score:

Dear god, it's like there's a Rise Against show review on this site every month.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 2:44 AM (EST)
My Score:

Alexisonfire is the worst band going right now. More screaming/singing bullshit ... and it doens't even sound like music at all. Fuck those guys

Posted by TheBouncingSoul on 2005-02-25 02:26:28
My Score:

The Methadones are so underappreciated...great review

Judging from the setlist, I I wish I had gone on the second night, though...

Posted by Allular on 2005-02-25 02:10:34
My Score:

I saw this tour with Only Crime opening with Alexis, Tsunami Bomb and Rise Against.

Only Crime killed it.

Alexisonfire is probably one of the most misunderstood bands out there. They killed it.

Tsunami was blah.

I've seen Rise Against do better but they still did well.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 12:55 AM (EST)
My Score:

THis review is like a thesis dude, were you in the crowd taking notes?, this is more comprehensive than half of my uni assignments. Props to you for the effort

Posted by Benjasaurus on 2005-02-25 00:46:00
My Score:

I don't mind Break the Silence. Rise Against's live show definitely makes up for how generic they are. Tsunami Bomb is pretty good live too.

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, February 25, 2005 at 12:43 AM (EST)
My Score:

"Oddities/funny things you might want to hear about:
After the show, Victory Records magazine is still being distributed, wherein Brandon from Atreyu namedrops Shai Hulud and the Beatles. On the other hand, the last interview with Snapcase is printed in the mag. On the side of the Victory Records van, the words We Run the Streets are printed. "

NOBODY CARES. THIS ISN'T YOUR FUCKING BLOG. What a douche.

Posted by ThenightProwler on 2005-02-25 00:26:35
My Score:

oh yeah and looking at the set lists it needs some fixing but I can't put my mind on it right now, the NyQuil is kicking in.

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2005-02-25 00:25:17
My Score:

The Methadones rule your face. They can do no wrong.

Should've seen the Toasters on Saturday night isntead.

Posted by ThenightProwler on 2005-02-25 00:17:13
My Score:

I only went to the first show, the Methadones played a great cover of the Misfits "Hybrid Moments" which is just proof that they kick all forms of ass.