Rise Against / Rancid

Rise Against / Rancid: live in New Yorklive in New York (2009)
Warner Music Group

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

Contributed by: lostandclownedlostandclowned
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Published on July 28th 2009For New York at least, this summer has been a mild one. Half of the past three months have seen rain, and on the days that it hasn't rained, it has almost always been cloudy. It seems fitting; I haven't been having a great year, I've ignored but two new releases and summer tours haven't been as enti.

For New York at least, this summer has been a mild one. Half of the past three months have seen rain, and on the days that it hasn't rained, it has almost always been cloudy. It seems fitting; I haven't been having a great year, I've ignored but two new releases and summer tours haven't been as enticing as last year's. For those reasons, I was unusually excited to see two old favorites in Rise Against and Rancid.

Billy Talent, on the heels of their new album, III, opened the show and played their generic brand of upbeat mediocrity that got a few people moving and doing the finger-point. I had seen them play before with Rise Against at the same venue three years prior and was equally unimpressed despite my lack of familiarity with their catalog. But both nights, however, the highlight of their set was "Try Honesty." They turned in 40 minutes and left the stage for Rancid.

As Tim Armstrong came on stage, it was clear he was excited to play. Contrary to popular belief, he sings and speaks coherently and plays guitar competently. His band played backed by a set-long video of punk noir images that mixed old black and white footage reminiscent of early slasher movies and the band's various logos, album covers, etc. I had never seen them before and though I've never been an enormous fan, I have a good amount of respect for them. Their set was heavy on ...And Out Come the Wolves and Let's Go!, playing all the usual suspects from the former except for "Maxwell Murder."

One of the more touching moments of their set came when Tim and Lars dedicated a song to all the punk and hardcore bands that originated in New York by naming all of them. It was also Tim's brother Jeff's birthday and, as he was at the show and introduced Tim to punk, "and the Ramones, in particular," they played a Ramones song I could not decipher, but it looked like they had fun playing it. It was also funny to hear "Olympia, Wa." because 52nd and Broadway is where the Roseland Ballroom is located. To my knowledge, the Rancid 1993, 2000 and Life Won't Wait albums were ignored entirely. In short, they turned in 50 minutes of the brand of punk rock they're known for and it was enjoyed by the majority of the audience.

The last time I saw Rise Against, Appeal to Reason had just come out; this time around, they only played three songs off of it. Despite it being a bit of a disappointment, I was bummed not to hear many new songs because even on its worst songs, Tim's voice carried them to make it a decent record. On that note, I don't think it's hard to tell that they're a band trying to carry the torch of punk and hardcore. Whether it's bringing Lou from Sick of It All to sing with them any time they're in New York or playing covers that barely anyone in the audience knows (Jawbreaker's "Tour Song," Minor Threat's "Minor Threat) or wearing Freeze t-shirts on stage, they're doing an admirable job in my view.

Like always, their set was played with a lot of heart. The songs from Appeal to Reason were refreshing to finally hear, even if they didn't change my mind about the album. Before the encore started, Tim said he wanted to rectify the lack of any old songs being played because they hadn't played anything pre-Siren Song. Holding his acoustic guitar, he mused on the band's first trip to New York when they played the now-defunct Wetlands and said, "I'm pretty sure we played this song." Whispers of "Swing Life Away" found their way into my ears but it was a beautiful rendition of "Everchanging." "Hero of War" was played next, prefaced with the fact that in May, more active duty soldiers committed suicide than died during combat. The song was accompanied with the song's video on the backdrop. "Dancing for Rain," "Give It All" and "Ready to Fall" rounded out the encore and then it was over.

Just as I walked out of the venue, it thundered and I walked back to Penn Station in the pouring rain.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

hello-rockview (July 30, 2009)

rise against carrying the torch for hardcore?
no, they could have but instead they turned their back on everything that is hardcore.
If people at their shows cant recognize Minor Threat that must mean they're not carrying that torch very well.

RedElephant (July 30, 2009)

i'll say it again.. i could never take Rancid seriously as a band after seeing their music video with the dudes from Good Charlotte and Kelly Osbourne in it. and the thing that sucks is the fact they're one of the bands that got me into this type of music but now.. fuck em.

oh yeah and i still really like Rise Against. score is for them.

elliot (July 30, 2009)

Maybe I'm just a jerk, but shouldn't you be able to recognize a Ramones song? Especially one off their second album?

friokir (July 30, 2009)

haha, rancid playing 40$ shows with billy talent and rise against.

lostandclowned (July 29, 2009)

they mentioned cro-mags, sick of it all, nihilistics among others.

telegraphrocks (July 29, 2009)

"queers like dick"

Someone just had one hell of an epiphany...

crackpotdemagogue (July 29, 2009)

muckymuck: putting easyd2 to shame

muckymuck (July 29, 2009)

these bands are gay and i wouldnt spend my money on these or see them for free so fuck them fuck them fuck em off

queers like dick

saladfingers (July 29, 2009)

All of them, apparently

raveneffect (July 29, 2009)

I was going to go to this show until I found out Rise Against was headlining. I'm sorry but I could never get into Rise Against and I'm still puzzled as to how and why they got so popular. The 40 dollar ticket price didn't help much either.

Just curious what bands did they actually mention from NY?

mclz (July 29, 2009)

Rancid set list in no particular order (i am 99% positive that this was the set, i could be missing a song or two)

nihilism
radio
black and blue
st. mary
roots radicals
time bomb
olympia wa
ruby soho
journey to the end....
something in the world today
oh oh i love her so (ramones cover)
last one to die
civilian ways (acoustic)

necktattoo (July 29, 2009)

wetlands was awesome

insinceredave (July 29, 2009)

Good review

dX927 (July 29, 2009)

They played Rejected and Bloodclot at my show. It was more of a Salvation/Bloodclot medley but yeah.

lostandclowned (July 29, 2009)

Brian, you edited this line incorrectly, or I just fucked up writing it: "The last time I saw Rise Against, Appeal to Reason had just come out; this time around, they only played three songs off of it."

They played 3 off of it when I saw them in October. They played, like, seven songs from it for this show.

skankbook (July 28, 2009)

Do Rise Against ever play "Generation Lost" from the Fat VI comp live? That's the only song of theirs that I can say I love.

Tom_Delonge (July 28, 2009)

Tim Armstrong is a circular narrative in many ways. Where he kind of sums up the human race in a time capsule.

GlassPipeMurder (July 28, 2009)

I'm not sure why, but this review made me smile. Something seemed very authentic about it, and I liked how it ended. Nice work.

misterspike (July 28, 2009)

To my knowledge, the Rancid 1993, 2000 and Life Won’t Wait albums were ignored entirely

I've seen Rancid a bunch over the past few years, and it's always disappointing to me that I can't hear "Leicester Square" live ...

Life Won't Wait = Fave Rancid rekkid.

drugmoney (July 28, 2009)

i didn't go to this in houston, while i should've gone i couldn't bring myself to sit through rancid. last i saw rise against was in 05 and they didn't play anything from the unraveling, so i didn't think they would this time around. everchanging on acoustic? bet it sounds better plugged in

telegraphrocks (July 28, 2009)

I saw them in June, and Rancid played at least one song from each of their full-lengths.

Rise Against's set... we left during the 5th or 6th song... I haven't seen them in over 5 years, so it was just in-fucking-sane to see thousands of fuckheads "rocking out" to them.... I mean, it's awesome for them to be successful, and I'll continue to listen to their music on my time, but as far as live shows go I'll stick to remembering seeing them countless times at The Fireside, and in a church basement in Downers Grove, Illinois with 15 other people.

Score's for my over-all liking of both bands... on album.

DougLife (July 28, 2009)

The acoustic version of Everchanging is awesome. Ever since I heard it on one of the Warped Tour comps, I've wanted to see them play it live.

mattramone (July 28, 2009)

Man really? All the bands from NY? I bet they totally gave a shout out to the Strokes, since Rancid seems to think sales figures = credibility.

mclz (July 28, 2009)

the ramones cover was "oh oh i love her so" and they did play a song off LWW"something in the world today"

crackpotdemagogue (July 28, 2009)

there is no way in hell that 1993, 2000 and life won't wait would have been "ignored entirely"... that is seriously beyond belief!

mashole (July 28, 2009)

i saw Rancid close in roseland a coupla years ago which was cool cause he pointed out the 52nd and broadway thing then too.
nothing beat rancid's 4 night stay at bb kings though. that was funn

red_eye_inc (July 28, 2009)

They named ALL of the punk bands that came from New York? That must have taken forever.