 It
might be a windy and exceedingly wet night in
Brixton, but that hasn’t stopped the queue
outside the Academy stretching well into the hundreds
even hours before doors are due to open. The reason,
however, is simple: Rise Against are in town,
and they’ve brought their friends with them.
Despite hordes of people still filing in from
the great British weather outside, Poison the
Well take to the stage and soon get the ever-expanding
crowd going. With their short set heavy on material
from latest album ‘The Tropic Rot’
the Florida hardcore mob live up to their reputation
as a fearsome live act, taking some of the more
unsuspecting members of the crowd by surprise.
Frontman Jeff Moreira stalks the stage like a
school bully patrolling a playground, looking
for the next section of the audience at which
to aim his fearsome growl, while his bandmates
provide suitably ferocious backing. Though their
time to impress is short, it’s clear that
they have made a considerable impact on the watching
throng.
Like Poison the Well, Thursday waste no time
in getting the greatly enlarged crowd onside.
Bursting on to the stage, the band’s enthusiasm
and energy immediately transfers to the audience,
with singer Geoff Rickly especially eager to get
up close and personal with those watching. As
they launch into ‘Understanding in a Car
Crash’ everyone in the Academy is already
hanging on Rickly’s every word and, as if
that wasn’t enough, a surprise appearance
from Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath to join
Rickly on vocals for ‘Resuscitation of a
Dead Man’ raises the volume inside the packed
venue even higher. The only real disappointment
of Thursday’s set is that it lasts just
half an hour – but it’s half an hour
that is sure to live long in the memory.
 Any disappointment is soon forgotten, though,
because tonight Rise Against seem to be on a mission
to prove why tonight’s gig is a near-5,000
sell-out. They don’t need to, of course
– in the decade since they formed few bands
have toured harder or put more effort into their
art, but that doesn’t stop the four-piece
playing as if this show could be their last. No
album is left untouched as the band make the most
of an extensive back catalogue, yet despite the
brilliance of older tracks like ‘Blood-Red,
White and Blue’ and ‘State of the
Union’ it’s songs from Rise Against’s
latest album, ‘Appeal to Reason’,
which are greeted with the biggest cheers and
most exuberant singalongs over the course of the
evening.
As finely crafted as the songs are, though, tonight
is all about the energy that Rise Against put
into their performance. McIlrath is rarely stood
in the same spot for more than a few seconds,
even when playing his guitar and singing at the
same time, while guitarist Zach Blair and bass
player Joe Principe leap into the air and swap
sides of the stage innumerably. The sheer effort
put into the show isn’t lost on the audience,
who echo McIlrath’s words down to the last
syllable. Even when the frontman pauses between
songs to speak with the crowd, he is stopped mid-sentence
by 5,000 voices cheering and hollering their support
for whatever it is he might have been about to
say. Rise Against have been banging away for a
long time but, if tonight’s showing is anything
to go by, it seems as though people are really
starting to listen.
Review By Joseph Stephens
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