Review by RockMusicStar.com VIP Mike Suicide

Photos by Jill Rauber-Santoro

It’s typical for bands touring with big music festivals to play a city within a close proximity while there is an ‘off’ day on the festival. That being said, I wasn’t surprised to hear Killswitch Engage and All That Remains were playing Buffalo on July 30th. I was a little upset because I had already planned to see Rancid and Rise Against that same night. Not long after the bill was announced I got word that they combined the shows. It makes perfect sense not to compete for a crowd.

When I was younger I primarily listened to nothing but Heavy Metal, as I got older I discovered Punk Rock. I really enjoy Punk music as well as Metal so needless to say I was looking forward to this show. I arrived at the venue in time to see Billy Talent ending their set abruptly because the crowd had broke the barriers in front of the stage after just three songs. Billy Talent is a Canadian band that has been around since 1993. They are multi-platinum recording artists up north. Interestingly enough they probably had out sold anyone on the bill in terms of record sales, yet they were the opening act on the Rancid Rise Against tour. Anyway Billy Talent was forced to stop playing so that the powers that be could fix the barriers.

Stages had been erected on either end of the venue so that bands could seamlessly perform. While the barriers were mended, Killswitch Engage came out and did their set early. I was pretty surprised to see the size of their stage set up and the lighting that accompanied it. They were set up to headline and whether or not they were the last band of the night hardly mattered. They came out on stage with mock tuxedo shirts and exclaimed they were there to party. At one point during the set it was exclaimed by one of the guitarists that the crowd broke something (Barriers) and now it was his turn, he wanted an 18 yr old girl’s hymen. They opened with My Last Serenade and kept the music coming. They played ‘Starting Over’ off the newly released self-titled album and the crowd sang along enthusiastically. Howard Jones is a big guy but he gets around a stage as quick as an Emo on Speed. This band truly enjoys playing with one another and it shows. They closed the set with Holy Diver, a Dio cover that peaked last year at number 12 on the mainstream rock charts.

This set had me pumped to see more. Billy Talent came back on stage and ran through the rest of their set that I thoroughly enjoyed which included an Operation Ivy cover. I’m not sure why Canadian bands don’t fair so well in the States because this band is good. They have a hotly anticipated album about to be released in the U.S. which should do phenomenal based on the buzz they’re getting lately.

Rancid hit the stage next, Tim Armstrong asked the crowd if they were ready for some punk rock music and then promptly set the place ablaze with ‘Radio’ off the album Lets Go. Tim Armstrong is getting old, it shows on his face...and that is it. He was just as energetic as the bands half his age yet played with the seasoned edge of someone who has been down the road a few times. Lars Fredrickson is…well…Lars Fredrickson, he needs no introduction, he’s an old school punk rocker who has played with the likes of the UK Subs. He has his own band, Lars Fredrickson and the Bastards as well as collaborating with quite a few others. He and Tim seemed to feed of each other the whole set going back and forth with riffs and vocals.

Matt Freeman, another icon of the scene plays bass guitar and does it well. He and Tim go back to Operation Ivy, the band prior to Rancid. If you pay attention you will notice that Rancid has some great bass lines, Matt is responsible for this. They played Journey to the End of the East Bay, a song that chronicles Operation Ivy’s touring experience. They flowed right in to Roots Radicals (I managed to get video of, stay tuned for that). I need to mention Branden Steineckert the drummer. Branden replaced original drummer Brett Reed and did an outstanding job, you would have never known Brett wasn’t behind the drums had the lights been low. They ended the set with Ruby Soho, one of their more popular songs. The crowd chanted for an encore for a bit but it wasn’t to be had since for whatever reason Rise Against was the headliner.

 This bothered the shit out of me. Actually since I’ve digressed this whole review I might as well touch on it. Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for Kid Rock? What’s up with that shit? How do these young bands drag out seasoned bands as a warm up? Whatever, Rise Against is cool but the nerve of Rancid supporting them? Rise Against is kind of Emo Punk if that exists. There are moments where they really deliver solid punk songs but they waiver into some kind of radio friendly, Emo sound too often on their new album.

They opened with Collapse and then played Re-education, which is one of their more popular songs. The crowd loved them and sang along to almost every song (I have to admit I did too). Based on the performances that transpired prior to them, they had no choice but to go full force and they did.

The evening was a success in my book, Great music spanning multi genres and high energy. It’s hard to get sick of live music when the bands give it 110% which every band did this night. Although Rancid was my clear favorite of the night, I recommend checking out any of these bands if they stop in a town near you

Killswitch set list

1. My Last Serenade

2. Reckoning

3. This Fire

4. Take This Oath

5. Starting Over

6. Fixation On The Darkness

7. Rose Of Sharyn

8. Light In A Darkened World

9. A Bid Farewell

10. Life To Lifeless

11. My Curse

12. The End Of Heartache

13. Holy Diver

Rancid set list

1. Radio

2. 11th Hour

3. St Mary Play

4. Last Ones to Die

5. Journey to the End of the East Bay

6. Roots Radicals

7. Nihilism

8. Olympia, WA

9. Salvation

10. Bloodclot

11. Fall Back Down

12. Time Bomb

13. East Bay Night

14. Maxwell Murder

15. Ruby Soho

Rise Against set list

1. Collapse (Post-Amerika)

2. State of the Union

3. Re-Education (Through Labor)

4. Long Forgotten Sons

5. Paper Wings

6. The Good Left Undone

7. Intro/Chamber the Cartridge

8. Drones

9. The Dirt Whispered

10. Audience Of One

11. Blood to Bleed

12. Dead Ringer

13. Savior

14. Survive

15. Prayer of the Refugee

16. Encore:

16. Everchanging (Acoustic)

17. Hero of War (Acoustic)

18. Encore 2:

18. Dancing for Rain

19. Give It All

Update on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 11:50AM by [Your Name Here]