I see so many people together singing and dancing, and believe me that makes me happy. Because we all know: Not every day is okay and not every night is okay. Some days are better than others, some nights are better than others. But if you made it here tonight. If you made it here with us tonight that’s because you survived whatever the world threw at you! -Tim McIlrath, Lead Singer for Rise Against

I had never known a true concert experience until I had the privilege of seeing one of my favorite current bands perform.

On Friday, October 6^th I headed up to Asbury Park with my godfather in great anticipation to see our mutually favorite band, Rise Against, perform. The venue was far from us but we had an entertaining conversation on the way up which made the trip go rather quickly.

The venue was probably one of the best for a group like Rise Against. It was an outdoor venue that was practically on the beach. The sound wasn't muted at all, since we were outside, in fact it probably added volume as the band performed. Of course, I was near a speaker so that might have misled me!

The group was amazing, and they sounded just as good as their records and they had a good mixture of content. Some popular tracks, some newer tracks followed by quite a few moving speeches by the lead singer, Tim McIlrath. When the band first came out, I couldn't help but be worried Tim was a singer who rarely interacted with his audience because he went from one song to the next, but that was not the case after about 3 killer songs. He was very charismatic and fun to watch. Although I'll admit that some of my favorite parts were watching Tim and lead guitarist Zach Blair jam out on their guitars during the amazing solos.

Their lighting shows accompanying the songs were amazing as well. They had various different lighting effects going on throughout and I thought it looked really awesome the whole time, it also made recording videos super awesome because they were all bright, rather than the typical low lights. I can only imagine how hot the band must have been under those lights.

I will say the crowd was the most violent concert crowd I've ever been in, which I think is what led to my true concert experience. There were no seats, we were all in the pit and it was a very traditional pit with crowd surfers galore! I got cluncked on the head at least three times, two people almost fell on top of me and I witnessed a very violent fist fight in the middle of the crowd. I was really overwhelmed because that is not my preferred scene, although it was definitely worth it and I wouldn't change a thing.

After all the build up and the wait for Rise Against, I'm glad it ended up being such amazing show. I'm really glad I had the pleasure of seeing them perform and I'll be looking out for the next time they come to town. Definitely one of the best live bands I've heard.