Concert Review: Rise Against (Agora Theater; 10.20.24)

Rise Against played a night of deep cuts and social commentary Sunday (10.20.24) at Cleveland’s Agora Theater. The venue was packed to the brim with punk rock fans, who even showed up for both openers, Spiritual Cramp and Microwave. The three bands played a night full of punk rock, progressive messages, and fan favorites.

San Francisco’s Spiritual Cramp opened the night with a fantastic set. Singer Michael Bingham lead the energetic band, swinging his mic by the cord, stripping his shirt off, and delivering his vocals like a true punk rock frontman.  It was quite a site to see! Even the tambourine player, wearing sunglasses and a vintage windbreaker, utilized the entire stage as well. The band had a blast! At one point, Bingham said how much he loves Ohio. One might think, maybe it was just lip service, because he’s an obviously natural showman, but one also probably doesn’t care, because he sold it.

Next was Microwave out of Atlanta, on tour promoting their fourth album, ‘Let’s Start Degeneracy.‘ Their sound is described as softer and slower than the other two bands, but they were neither slow nor soft by any means. Their set started with the riff-heavy “Mirrors,” slowed a bit with the new, catchy “Let’s Start Degeneracy,” and then picked up again and again as the show went on.  

Rise Against opened and closed their set with arguably two of their biggest songs, “Satellite” and “Savior,” respectively. “Satellite” got the crowd jumping right away. After the short first verse, drummer Brandon Barnes kicked in at full force, and singer Tim McIlrath belted out the chorus:

“That’s why we won’t back down. We won’t run and hide.”

The crowd joined in, and straight from the first song, there was crowd surfing and a small mosh pit in the center, where there was just enough room for it.

The rest of the 16-song setlist consisted of songs one wouldn’t necessarily find on lists of the band’s most popular songs but would likely find on lists of die-hard fan favorites. “We’re not here to promote a record or new album or anything like that. We’re going to play a bunch of songs we haven’t played in a while. Is that alright?” McIlrath asked. The crowd erupted. It was alright.

They then went into the song “Worth Dying For,” about “[N]ever apologizing for wanting to change the world,” as McIlrath explained. He then grabbed his megaphone and stepped off the stage onto the platform in front of it. He reached into the crowd, and they reached back, their hands just inches from each other, singing the lyrics:

“Take a breath and explode like bullets tearing through the wind
Cut me up with a razor blade that tries to separate the skin
Now in the White flames of burning flags
We Found a world worth dying for, yeah,
We’ve been battered so hard that we don’t feel anymore”

Rise Against, formed by lead singer Tim McIlrath in 1999, carries the tradition of punk bands before them of outspoken political messages and “Straight Edge” mindset (mainly consisting of abstaining from drugs and alcohol). The movement rose to popularity in the early 80s punk movement and is somewhat less common today, but still has its place in the punk community. Now, Rise Against has become one of the older bands. “For 20 years, we’ve been singing songs about change. Singing songs about progress,” McIlrath said at one point in the show. As outspoken as the band is, though, McIlrath also said he wasn’t there to tell anyone what to do. He could only tell them what he was going to do. The message is in the lyrics of many of their songs. It’s one of progress and forward thinking.

Although the songs are relatively short, as any good punk song should be, guitar player Zach Blair shined any chance he got, squeezing in face-melting riffs on songs like 2014’s “Black Market,” a song they hadn’t played in a while. It was also one they had never played in Ohio. At the end, McIlrath said they were overly proud of themselves for finishing that song and laughed. That was followed by “Whereabouts Unknown,” off their big 2008 ‘Appeal to Reason’, a song about drifting apart from someone and how it’s okay to come back.

At one point McIlrath miraculously got the crowd to go quiet long enough for him to hear someone shouting out the request “Hairline Fracture.” It was apparently too deep a cut, as bassist Joe Principe said they hadn’t yet played live. Here’s a consolation prize,” McIlrath said, a song called “Paper Wings,” yet another deep cut.

Then the show shifted gears while McIlrath played two acoustic songs, “People Live Here,” which he called a sad song, and then a happy song, “Swing Life Away.” The latter was a quiet song that they could make loud, he said, as the crowd sang along and cheered.

Towards the end of the show, McIlrath took a minute to directly state some of his beliefs for anyone who wasn’t clear. He gave a passionate speech about singing songs about change. “I’m gonna vote,” he said. “I’m going to put my money where my mouth is.” He then listed the things he was passionate about, including women’s rights, the queer community, and so forth. The crowd was supportive as he listed them, cheering increasingly as he spoke. He mentioned the younger generation, which the crowd was undoubtedly full of, and how Rise Against was there as an older generation speaking to the younger one.

“Music makes you feel less alone,” McIlrath said at one point during the three-song encore that included the aforementioned “Savior” and the newer “Nowhere Generation.” And the night had that overall vibe, of community and conscientiousness. The set list of melodic deep cuts gave the show an intimate feeling, a show for the true fans.