Rise Against/Silverstein/Comeback Kid/Only Crime
Nokia Theater, NYC
June 27, 2007

With a stage set that looked like a desolate futuristic warehouse, and a lighting show that could blind people in the balcony, Rise Against took stage at New York’s state-of-the-art Nokia Theater and just handed the audience their collective asses. The band tore through all their aggro-melodic punk tunes, including songs from most of their records, but concentrating primarily on their latest melodic hardcore masterpiece “The Sufferer and the Witness.” The band played two encores, coming back with a short acoustic set that featured an amazing cover of Jawbreaker’s “Touring Song.”

The band talked little, and was often drowned out by the deafening singing from the audience. “Voices die to be heard” might be a line from their hit song “Drones,” but the fans lived up to the lyric, breaking down portions of the barricade to get a closer glimpse at the band. Sonically, Rise Against was dead on, stretching a couple of songs for a few extra bars, but sounding almost exactly like their recordings. Live, singer Tim McIlrath’s is vocally reminiscent of Ignite’s Zoli Teglas, but his range is way broader, and he really does a great job balancing screaming and singing. Rise Against performs hardcore the way it was meant to be done: fast, catchy anthems designed to fuel an adrenaline rush. The animal friendly lyrics are a bonus.

The Rest of the Show:
Silverstein—what can be said? Their fans adore them, and sing along to every line. The band looks like your typical pretty boy hipsters, and the singing/screaming thing is a bit stale, but the band put in a solid performance and had the crowd eating out of their palms. The singer called out a few new tunes from their upcoming record, and the girls just screamed louder. Other than that, the set was fairly unmemorable, but did a solid job warming up the crowd for the headliners.

Comeback Kid was the surprise of the evening. I always thought they came off like a generic screamo band, but they impressed in every way. The band sounds a lot like early Victory legends Strife, and the singer carries himself like a true hardcore vocalist—raging when needed and beckoning the audience to sing with him. Musically, the band dotted their performance with fun breakdowns, and kept the fans moving with pounding, but not overly aggressive, riffage. These guys could easily fall into the metalcore category, but they keep their music just punk enough to keep from getting boring. Definitely a fun set.

Punk rock supergroup Only Crime warmed up an already packed house just after rush hour with their homage to early LA hardcore that recalls both Black Flag and later ALL. Not surprising, considering Descendents (and former Black Flag) drummer Bill Stevenson handles rhythm duties for Only Crime, and is the catalyst for their avant punk sound. Singer Russ Rankin (formerly of Good Riddance) rushed around the stage like a demon possessed, spewing his carnal knowledge, and stirring the crowd into a roar.