Rise Against bring fall tour to music city

Friday, November 5th marked the day that Rise Against made their stop in “Music City” – Nashville, Tennessee, at Marathon Music Works. Bringing L.S. Dunes and Cloud Nothings along with them on this portion of the tour, it was a night of good music, camaraderie, and upbeat spirits despite the fact the U.S. presidential election was happening the same night.

The show started off with Cloud Nothings, an indie rock band from Ohio. The band took time to acknowledge the fans in the crowd, commenting on the fact that some fans had been lined up outside since they had gotten there at 2:30 p.m., when the doors didn’t open until 6:30. They had an upbeat but chill vibe overall, focusing on a lot of interesting and entertaining jam out moments throughout their set that ended on a heavier, faster note.

Second in line for the night was L.S. Dunes, a newer to the scene post-hardcore rock band consisting of some very familiar faces – Anthony Green (Circa Survive, Saosin), Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance), Travis Stever (Coheed & Cambria), Tim Payne (Thursday), and Tucker Rule (Thursday). While the band is an amalgamation of well known musicians, their sound is something unique only to L.S. Dunes, especially noticeable in the mixing of vocals against guitars.

While Payne and Stever were unavailable for this show, replaced temporarily by touring tech members, the energy was still all there in their performance. Green made his way around the stage dancing, jumping, and lifting mic stands in the air to go along with the intensity of the music. Green also tossed the mic into the crowd during “Benadryl Subreddit”, allowing fans along the barricade to scream the lyrics “We won’t go back ever again!”, an act that happens at nearly every show. On a final note to their set before leaving the stage, Green gave the crowd a reminder – “Music is magic, you are magic.”

Rise Against took the stage bathed in blue lights as they kicked off their set with the well-known song “Satellite.” The well-knowns weren’t the only songs played during the show, however, as the setlist also featured “The Strength to Go On,” noted as a song they didn’t believe to have ever played in Nashville before, and one not played ‘too often’ – “Blood to Bleed.” That’s not to say the more popular hits weren’t given their time to shine, with “The Good Left Undone” having an entire moment where just the crowd sings the chorus, and an extended guitar feature during “Savior.”

Vocalist Tim McIlrath was full of surprises for the night, from coming out with a megaphone onstage to hanging out on the barricade to sing, he kept the energy high. He spoke a lot to the crowd, thanking the fans in Nashville for always making it feel like home. McIlrath also made sure to shout out the other bands touring with them, noting the fact that he believed Rise Against had toured or performed with each member of L.S. Dunes in their other bands in the past, and was having a blast on the road with them again.

As is expected with the band, McIlrath did acknowledge the fact that we were in that room on election night, talking briefly about how it was important for us to think towards the future and be with each other. While the results of the election weren’t known at the time, he noted that they’d been playing these songs through the previous 5 elections and would continue to play them through 5 more – a sign that there was more to come for the band. This was quickly proven true, as a joint tour with Papa Roach was announced just 3 days later. If you’re interested in catching Rise Against on the rest of this tour, or seeing if they’re headed your way in 2025, head over to their website.

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