Rise Against and Pierce the Veil in Niagara Falls

This past Wednesday, Rise Against made their way to The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls as the eighth stop of their US/Canadian fall tour. Joining them were White Lung, followed by Pierce the Veil. Both opening bands brought the perfect combination of big sound and even bigger energy to build the crowds eager anticipation for the headliners.

By the time Pierce the Veil finished their high energy set, an effortless mixture of punk rock and metal (done just as well live as recorded), the crowd was more than obviously pumped and ready for more. It wasn’t long after they cleared the stage that the chants “Rise Against” filled the venue and could probably be heard from the street.

The band kicked off their set with “Long Forgotten Sons” followed by the well known “Ready to Fall” and then continued with their newest single off of the album “Wolves”, “The Violence”. They went on to share roughly 90 minutes of beloved new and old Rise Against anthems such as “Make It Stop” , “Wolves”, “Satellite” and “Give It All’. “Help Is On the Way” was thoughtfully dedicated to hurricane and earthquake disaster victims. The crowd sang along to a phenomenal Tim McIlrath solo acoustic performance of “Swing Life Away”, and “Hero Of War” with Zach Blair joining in half way through. They rocked on and left with a well received encore of “Savior”.

It was an excellent 3&1/2 hours of raw punk rock ambience, crowd surfing, moshing and singing in unison. Judging by the crowds response, everyone seemed more than ready to stay for more. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’m looking forward to the next time these guys all roll through Western New York again.

All photos by Andrea Richards: