Rise Against Write Their Own Script At Salt Shed Debut

I've got good news and bad news about the current Rise Against tour.

Getting the negative out of the way first, the bad news is that there is no new Rise Against album, either right now or anywhere in the near future. And while that's not the worst news in the world, usually the reason a band goes on tour is to promote whatever new release they currently have. Although we are talking about a band that's released 9 albums in the last 25 years, so it's not like we're hurting for options when it comes to consuming their music. And in the grand scheme of things, there have been a lot more days in history without a new Rise Against album than ones with one, so as a society I think we're going to persevere.

The good news? Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom! Without any need to shoehorn a few new songs into the setlist every night, the band has the freedom to change up the setlist however they see fit on any given night. Sure, there are some staples that will most likely make the rotation every night, but those setlists have an awful lot of white space every morning and a band with a huge back catalog to paint in those spaces to match whatever mood they feel like.

Heading toward the end of its second year of being open, Chicago's Salt Shed was more than ready to welcome their hometown heroes to the stage. And as intimate as their band's 3-show residency at the famed Metro was in 2023, playing a venue 10x the size provides a lot more room for circle pits. And every inch of that room was going to be needed with both Microwave and Spiritual Cramp in support on the evening.

2024 has blessed me with many musical privileges, one of them being that I've been able to catch Spiritual Cramp play a whopping three times in just this calendar year. The first time was back in February opening for Militarie Gun. Then they came back again last month as part of Riot Fest. It takes a special kind of act to hit a single market three times in one year and still make an impression each time. Spiritual Cramp is absolutely that kind of band. Taking all the best parts of early Interpol and amping up the energy to 11, the punch and swagger the band brings to the stage comes directly from frontman Michael Bingham. Less a lead singer and more a conduit for pure, uncut rock and roll energy, there isn't a second of their set where Bingham isn't pacing, punching, jumping, or whirling his microphone around like a madman. And the rest of the band has no choice but to keep up the pace. Tearing through hits like 'Slick Rick' and 'Talkin' on the Internet', lyrics ranging from hatred of the police and government to good ol' self-loathing have never been so danceable.

Speaking of being veterans of stopping by the Windy City, Chicago cannot get enough Microwave. Filling in on the tour while LS Dunes is busy at When We Were Young fest, the band hailing from Atlanta might as well call Chicago their second home. The band played three dates here in 2022, another three in 2023, and marked this show as their third time in 2024 as well. Which doesn't even count an additional IL stop next month on their own headlining tour out in Joliet. But unlike the night's headliners, Microwave very much has a new album to tour on, and the aptly titled Let's Start Degeneracy translates exceptionally well live. Sprinkling a handful of new tracks throughout their 40 minute set, the tracks off Degeneracy are for those of you who want a little more Tame Impala-esque soundscape and ambiance mixed in with your emo music. Think Hot Mulligan but less angsty and more...thoughtful? It's hard to describe, but the new sounds compliment their older material incredibly well and those of you who live near markets where their headline tour is headed are in for a treat when it comes to a full-length headlining set. Make it a point to get 'Bored of Being Sad' stuck in your head for the next week. You'll thank me later.

Any regular readers of this site will already be familiar with how pleased I've been over the last few years, with what seems like every single consequential band from my formative college years going on tour and finally letting me live out the musical dreams I was too far away and too broke to make happen at the time. And I guess it's not surprising that the majority of them have been fantastic, sometimes even better than they were a few decades ago. And that makes sense to a certain extent - the longer you're at something, there's a very good chance that you get better at it.

But there are plenty of factors working against bands that are impossible battles to fight. We all get older, and twenty five years of being a band is not a short amount of time. Touring and performing live takes a shit ton of energy, and there's only so much you can do to protect both your stamina and voice from the ravages of time.

And that's only taking into consideration the potential physical difficulties when it comes to being an effective band for multiple decades. What about the message of the music itself? The majority of Rise Against's most well-known and beloved albums were fueled by anti-Bush energy, written and delivered by young men brimming with rebellious energy. But all the band members are firmly in the 45-50 age demographic. Are rousing calls to overhaul the status quo and rebel against the powers that be going to be as effective being delivered by guys that are double the age they were when those songs were written?

Yes. Oh god, a million times yes.

Squashing all doubt about their ability to absolutely blow an audience away from the get-go, the band took the Salt Shed stage and ripped through an opening salvo of 'Satellite'/'Under the Knife'/'Architects' that shook the foundations of the venue and sent fans pouring over the front barricade. For as punishing as the vocals on some of their choruses can be, frontman Tim McIlrath's voice was more than up to the challenge, sounding just as good screaming the pre-choruses to 'Ready To Fall' as he did accompanied by just an acoustic guitar on stripped down versions of songs 'People Live Here' and 'Swing Life Away'.

But remember that terrible, terrible freedom I mentioned earlier? The band took full advantage of their entire 9 album discography and dusted off some absolute classics for their hometown. With election season in full swing, it was only appropriate for the band to bust out both 'State of the Union' and 'Blood-Red, White and Blue' on the evening, the latter included in the evening's encore. But it didn't stop there. You can count the number of times the band has played 'Behind Closed Doors' live since 2015 on one hand. Songs like 'Heaven Knows' and Long Forgotten Sons' have barely seen much setlist time in the last 15 years. All of them included on the night, to the delight of all the longtime fans in attendance.

If nothing else, the night proved that the kind of music Rise Against performs is not only aging well, but might be as relevant now as it's ever been. McIlrath made a point to address the audience before the band kicked into 'Savior', the band's final song of the night, pleading everyone in attendance to do their patriotic duty and vote at every level in next month's elections. He asked everyone at the sold out show to step up and be each other's saviors (see what he did there), without having to throw on the addendum of "...while there's still something left to save." It might sound alarmist, but maybe that's the kind of kicks rock-and-roll message this country needs to finally get off its ass and vote. Crisscrossing the nation delivering that message as potently as ever is the best that Rise Against can do, and they do a damn fine job of it.

Rise Against's tour continues through the end of November across the US before they head overseas for a UK/European tour.

Rise Against Setlist - The Salt Shed, 10.18.24

Satellite
Under the Knife
Architects
Ready to Fall
Behind Closed Doors
Heaven Knows
State of the Union
Long Forgotten Sons
House on Fire
People Live Here
Swing Life Away
The Black Market
Prayer of the Refugee
Make It Stop (September's Children)
Blood-Red, White & Blue
Savior