Rise Against brings their Ricochet Tour to The Pearl Theater in Las Vegas, with co-headliners Alkaline Trio, for a night of punk rock.
Saturday night was set to be a busy one, but this sold-out crowd didn’t care. They came out early for two powerhouse bands of the punk rock genre. But before they took to the stage, the crowd was warmed up with a set from duo Teen Mortgage. This punk rock duo has more electronic elements to their music than the bands that followed, but the crowd really enjoyed them. It was clear that this was the first time seeing them for many in the crowd, but they are sure to have gained some fans after their performance.
Next up was one of the co-headliners of this tour, Alkaline Trio. Celebrating thirty years as a band, this Chicago punk rock group has developed a loyal following, and it was easy to see why. Their sixteen-song set was jammed with crowd favorites, including “We’ve Had Enough,” “Calling All Skeletons,” “Cringe,” and “Oblivion.” The set was straight music with not a lot of crowd banter, but that was fine with the fans. They came to see as many songs from this band as they could. Matt Skiba and Dan Andriano have an easy chemistry with each other, and newcomer drummer Tosh Peterson hits the drums with an intensity that matched this performance. The set continued with tracks like “Clavicle,” “Every Thug Needs a Lady,” and “Mercy Me” before closing with “Radio,” which is a song they have closed their set with before and the crowd loved it. The set was intense, and the sold-out crowd was on their feet for the whole thing. Normally fans would be ready for the end of the night after a performance like that one, but there was still one more band to come.
Shortly after 9:00 PM, the audio began to play, and Rise Against took to the stage. Also hailing from Chicago, this band has been around a long time, only slightly less than Alkaline Trio, which has allowed them to build up a dedicated fan base. The set began with “Satellite,” “Make it Stop (September’s Children),” and “Give it All.” Frontman Tim McIlrath seemed to pack a whole performance into these three songs. He played guitar, then abandoned the guitar and picked up a megaphone, before ending up in the crowd by the third song. Joe Principe, Brandon Barns, and Zach Blair played off each other, and the songs sounded as good live as they do on the albums.
About three-quarters of the way through the set, McIlrath performed a solo version of “Hero of War” acoustically, a song that always seems to resonate with fans, and “Swing Life Away,” which he reminisces has been played at both weddings and funerals. This set continued to build as it went on. There was not a slow moment, and no one dared to walk away or leave early. It culminated with “Survive” and “Savior,” the latter of which gave the crowd one final burst of energy to mosh and crowd surf one final time before the night wrapped up. The seventeen songs covered everything the fans wanted to hear, and they matched the band’s intensity start to finish.
The Ricochet Tour is one not to miss. It is rare to see two bands with this longevity and devoted fan base sharing the stage. No matter if they were wearing an Alkaline Trio shirt or a Rise Against shirt, this sold-out crowd loved every moment of this night.
A Las Vegas based photographer, Abigail enjoys shooting a variety of things but her primary focus is travel, music, nature and wildlife.
Abigail's goal through her projects including music, events, and animal photography is to capture the candid moments that tell the story. They are singular moment of time, her goal is to take the viewer back to that point and the memories. She discovered photography is her passion. This allows her to incorporate my long standing love of music and travel into this art form. For Abigail, live music and concerts are who she is, and concerts and travel often went hand in hand. Now photography has brought these all together for her in a new and exciting way.
