by Erick Pressman
Can you believe that punk rock is heading into it’s fourth decade of existence? Hell, some say it’s already in its forties depending on which “first punk band ever” school of thought they choose to subscribe to, but that’s a boring argument best reserved for people who aren’t interested in having rewarding sex lives. That being said, Chicago punk giants Rise Against are hitting our fair city Saturday night, and they’ve decided to bring LA punk legends Bad Religion, as well as Worcester, MA, upstarts Four Year Strong, with them. It will be an outstanding evening of multi-generational punk that will appeal to the youth as well as some of the parents who will inevitably be in the crowd watching their special little snowflakes kick ass in the pit.
Rise Against started their rise to the top in the early 2000s and were born from the ashes of the infamous 90s skate punk band 88 Fingers Louie. The band released early material on San Francisco’s own Fat Wreck Chords, and found themselves signing to Dreamworks in 2003, who released their highly acclaimed Siren Song of the Counter Culture record. Rise Against's unique brand of melodic hardcore has sent them to the top of the Billboard charts since getting into the major-label game. This tour sees them out in support of their newest record Endgame, which proves to be another chapter in their legacy of being a punk band who’s making the system work for them.
While Rise Against did all their own work to get to where they are today, they wouldn’t be anywhere without the existence of Bad Religion. What can be said about a band who has literally been doing it for thirty-one years, and kept afloat through the first wave of American hardcore bands, the rise and fall of “college” rock, grunge, punk, ska, and is still holding their own in an aggressive music scene dominated by gimmicky bands dependent more on internet social networking for their success than their actual talent? Bad Religion have slugged through the last thirty years putting out several highly influential records such as How Can Hell Be Any Worse?, Suffer, Generator, and Recipe For Hate.
They're currently out in support of their fifteenth studio record, The Dissent of Man, which proves to be another strong showing of their keen ability to blend melody, harmony, and intellect with circle pit inducing fury and the sort of intensity that drives crowds insane, so much that the end result has lead to rioting (one such evening was captured on their legendary VHS/DVD release Along The Way, an interesting view to say the least). While age has taken a bit of edge off the bands approach, Bad Religion’s live sets are always a perfect balance of new material and classic hits, so those of you who may have caught the early years of the band will have something to sing along to while your kids are up in the front crowd surfing for the first time.
Opening the night’s festivities are Worcester, MA powerhouse Four Year Strong, who exploded onto the national scene in 2006 with the release of their debut full length, Rise Or Die Trying. Our first exposure to these young Massholes came at Warped Tour ’08, when about five thousand kids destroyed the first few rows of seats in front of the big stage at the Shoreline Ampitheatre. If one were to describe Four Year Strong to someone who’s unfamiliar, imagine Fall Out Boy’s ability to sing, harmonize, write catchy riffs, and perfectly verbalize youthful angst regarding love and friendship, but with a hefty dose of mosh metal influence.
Four Year Strong’s ability to take a song from being cute and melodic to the soundtrack to serious dance floor justice has yet to been achieved so well by anyone, and has definitely made them a benchmark in punk rock’s thirty plus years and counting history. Their latest record, Enemy of the World, shows much maturity as they continue to turn heads and leave audiences pummeled and sweaty.
Head out to the Civic on Saturday night. See punk rock's grandparents, parents, and youngins duke it out on the stage, and change up that cardio routine from riding your bike around Golden Gate Park to circle-pitting and crowd-surfing at one of the Tenderloin’s less skeezy landmarks. We will most definitely see you in the pit.
