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Rise Against - Sheffield Academy - 28th February 2009
Support: Anti-Flag
As support acts go, tonight’s headliners Rise Against couldn’t have chosen better than uber-political punks Anti-Flag. In fact, so perfectly matched are Anti-Flag’s anti-establishment anthems and Rise Against’s blue-collar, everyman anthems, that it almost feels like a co-headlining tour, rather than a Rise Against show.
It isn’t, but the venue is still rammed when Anti-Flag take to the stage and are greeted by a headliner-worthy cheer. Anti-Flag promptly set about showing why everyone’s made a point of arriving early. They reel off snotty, shouty punk with an accessible edge, whipping the audience into churning circle pits, and encourage everyone to triumphantly raise their middle fingers in time to their more confrontational lyrics.
Anti-Flag’s performance is an electrifying mix of snarling punk defiance, socially-aware lyrics, and an infectious energy usually reserved solely for pop-punk, as the band scissor-kick, pogo and generally seem to be having the time of their lives, even as their music points out exactly what’s wrong with the world. This is what makes Anti-Flag such an exciting band to watch: they’re political, but not boring. Even their passionate, between-song rants are perfectly pitched between seriousness and fun, as Anti-Flag entreat their “brothers and sisters” to take a look around at the thousands of people here, and think about them the next time they hear someone say a homophobic, racist, or sexist remark. While the roar of approval from the audience may have ‘pack mentality’ written all over it, it’d be nice to think that Anti-Flag were stirring up some awareness too.
They only make one serious mistake during their set, and that’s leading some protestors onstage to talk about a peace demonstration that’s taking place next month. Although the crowd are initially happy to listen, things take an ugly turn when one of the protestors lets slip that they’re from Manchester University. Cue much booing from the audience, and slightly confused looks from the Pennsylvanian punks. Thankfully, one of the protestors rescues the situation with the inspired appeal “but we have lots of friends at Sheffield Hallam University, too!” and the boos instantly turn to cheers. Anti-Flag still look confused, but the mood has shifted and the protestors finish their speech without further incident, which is fortunate, as booing peace protestors offstage was never going to make for a good night.
As Anti-Flag wrap matters up with an almost room-wide circle pit, it’s hard to believe any band could top their energetic, impassioned performance and, to some extent, Rise Against struggle to. More straight-faced than their support band, Rise Against initially feel like a step downwards in terms of tempo. However, a few minutes into Rise Against’s set, and Anti-Flag’s upbeat, rebellious punk-rock is all but forgotten, as Rise Against’s personalised take on punk works its magic on the audience.
New tracks ‘Re-Education Through Labour,’ ‘Collapse (Post-Amerika)’ and recent single ‘Audience Of One’ all inspire frantic sing-alongs, as Rise Against’s ability to deliver a wider political message together with personal meaning, sees audience members howling and screaming lyrics as if they were written about their own lives.
But, for all Rise Against’s punk leanings, the standout moment comes in the form of the beautifully understated, barebones anti-war anthem ‘Hero Of War,’ which highlights just how jaw-dropping Tim McIlrath’s voice truly is. Again, the fanbase’s emotional investment in Rise Against is tangible, as the air fills with waving arms and cell phones, and the audience match McIlrath word for word. Clearly, current album ‘Appeal To Reason’ has been digested as fervently as previous releases, and the lyrics of even the album’s slowest, most maudlin number, faithfully committed to memory.
As tonight’s show draws to a close, it’s shocking to see the crush of people struggling to fight their way out of the Academy. It’s often easy to overlook the popularity of bands like Rise Against and Anti-Flag, who don’t grace the front covers of magazines half as much as their prettier, pop-punk counterparts but, tonight, they delivered the goods: punk rock that makes you pogo like crazy, and, perhaps, think about things a little bit deeper. One thing pretty much sums up tonight’s show and that’s the fact that, instead of a stall where you can jot your email address down on a clipboard in return for free Rise Against tack, they have a peta2 stall handing out pro-vegetarian leaflets, DVDs and badges. And there’s something really appealing about a band who’d rather convince you to stop eating meat, than use your email address to promote their new single.
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