Rise Against decided to hit the road this past fall and brought along L.S. Dunes. Depending on your city, different acts opened the show. Cleveland, Ohio's Cloud Nothings covered the crowd warm-up duties on their run through California. With a bill this stacked, I didn't want to miss it.
Midwestern Indie-Rock trio, Cloud Nothings, have been touring to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their 3rd studio album, Here and Nowhere Else. While the band isn't playing the album in full as their support act for Rise Against, they are filling their short set with tracks from the album such as "Psychic Trauma," "Pattern Walks," and "Giving into Seeing." Cloud Nothings ran through their set with ferocity and swiftness. Between Here and Nowhere Else, they threw in tracks such as "I'd Get Along" from their new album, Final Summer, and "Stay Useless" from their 2012 release, Attack on Memory. They have a few headlining shows coming up in Minneapolis and Chicago. Be sure to catch them!
Next up was the supergroup, L.S. Dunes. They're comprised of members from Circa Survive, Thursday, My Chemical Romance, and Coheed & Cambria. The band came out and opened with "2022" from their debut Past Lives. The band was encased in darkness as vocalist, Anthony Green sang the opening lines before madness ensued. I've been watching him perform for nearly 2 decades and he's as active on stage as ever. Truly astonishing. The entire band put on one of the best sets I've seen all year. the band only has one album out right now, but have a new one on the way in 2025. They're testing out new tracks "Machines" and "Fatal Deluxe" from their upcoming sophomore album, Violet. Both tracks received a positive response from fans in the crowd, as well as those previously unfamiliar with the band.
It was time for Rise Against to take the stage. The excitement between set changes had been building, with fans in the crowd screaming "Let's fucking go!" and guttural screams of "YES!!!" The band walked out and jumped straight into the hit single, "Satellite" and the crowd exploded. Oftentimes the crowd's singing drowned out the band until frontman, Tim Mcilrath pulled out a megaphone. The smaller room compared to the last few tours over the years made for a better crowd. The band made a point to mention how that venue was the perfect size, and I agree. They continued down the set with tracks from The Sufferer and The Witness, Appeal to Reason, and The Black Market. They took a moment to acknowledge that it was the 20th anniversary of their break-out record, Siren Song of the Counter Culture before delving into deep cuts of "Paper Wings" and "Dancing for Rain." With no new album to promote, the band was just out looking to have fun and it made for a more relaxed atmosphere.
During the encore, the band went all the way back to their first album, The Unraveling, and played "Six Ways 'Til Sunday" after talking about their earliest tours through Anaheim and playing the local legendary punk club, Chain Reaction. They closed out the night with their biggest hit, "Savior" which saw swarms of fans rushing to the floor. It was great to be in a room with so much energy and positive vibes. The band will be taking L.S. Dunes with them to Germany in February before a lengthy tour supporting Papa Roach with Underoath in the Spring and Summer.
