Chicago rock band builds anticipation, performs to 3,000 person Auditorium
Rock band Rise Against filled The Township Auditorium with an energized crowd of moshers, crowd-surfers and fist-pumpers Sunday night.
In an auditorium that has more than 3,000 seats, fans were lined up as the doors opened. Those sitting in the balcony seats were pumped for the show, but it was the orchestra level that displayed the most energy, jumping to the beats, flashing lights and moshing to the aggressive music.
Scranton, Pa., punk rock band The Menzingers kicked off the event and set the stage.
The audience’s liveliness only increase as the second act of the night, hardcore rock band A Day to Remember, came onto the stage performing “The Downfall of Us All,” a single off its third album, “Homesick.” The Florida rockers thought the ground floor could use some “redecorating,” throwing rolls of toilet paper into the audience to toss around at will.
But that wasn’t the only highlight of the performance. Halfway through the set, lead singer Jeremy McKinnon placed himself inside a plastic bubble and walked atop the crowd, further feeding the audience’s vigor.
Unfortunately, the crowd’s excitement didn’t last long.
After seeing a crowd-surfer suffer an awkward-looking fall, McKinnon asked the audience to give either thumbs-up or thumbs-down to check on the condition of people at the orchestral level. Sadly, several thumbs-downs were given near the center of the auditorium.
The crowd circled around a severely injured young man lying on the general admission floor, postponing A Day to Remember’s performance for a short time and the energy of the crowd to die down. Eventually, paramedics arrived, placing the young man on a stretcher and taking him to the nearest medical facility. Police and the event staff were unable to provide the identity of the young man, the state of his condition or where he was being taken.
But the show did go on. A Day to Remember continued with songs like “All I Want” and “Have Faith in Me” before they left the stage to make room for the main event.
The orchestra floor crowd moved as close to the stage as they possibly could as the anticipation built for the Chicago-native headliners.
The main act — which brought the intensity in its action-packed, high-energy performance — began its section of the show with “Survivor Guilt,” a song from the band’s latest album, “Endgame.”
Rise Against performed crowd favorites “Ready to Fall,” “The Good Left Undone” and “Help is on the Way” before lead singer Tim McIlrath called for the audience to bring the noise before “Re-Education (Through Labor)” — in opposition to parents, teachers and neighbors who tend to be against the amplified sound.
After performing the most celebrated song, “Prayer of the Refugee,” the band temporarily left the stage before a little audience heart-to-heart with McIlrath. The Rise Against frontman looked back on the band’s last tour through Columbia — nine years ago — before a solo, acoustic performance of “Audience of One” and another crowd favorite, “Swing Life Away.”
While the band came to Columbia to entertain the many dedicated fans, Rise Against also came with a cause. Over its years performing, the band has been an active supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In the front gallery of the auditorium, members of Peta2, an expansion of PETA, stood next to a table with brochures, buttons and stickers for interested people.
One project that the group was there to support was “Meatless Mondays,” an international campaign that encourages people to not eat meat one day a week to improve their health.
Peta2 also featured the “It Gets Better” project, created in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied because of their sexuality. Videos were played on monitors on stage that displayed messages from gay adults speaking out against homophobia and sending messages of support to gay teens. It also set the mood for Rise Against to perform one of its latest singles, “Make It Stop (September’s Children).”
“We’re sorry that it took us so long. We want you to know that you don’t have to wait anymore,” McIlrath said during the final encore of the night, ”Savior.”
Hopefully, the city of Columbia will not have to wait another nine years for the band to return and once again rock the capital city.