CONCERT REVIEW: Rise Against Leave Huge Impact In Amsterdam

It’s been a few months since Rise Against was last in the Netherlands, as they headlined Jera On Air in the summer, but they are back for more! They played in the AFAS Live on November 6th with The Story So Far as their opener.

Of course, we had to be there! Especially after interviewing Zach Blair, one of the guitarists of Rise Against, a few weeks ago. I got there a little over half an hour before The Story So Far would be starting their set, and thus I was able to be relatively close to the stage. The venue seemed to be pretty full when The Story So Far started. The crowd was pretty hyped up already for a opening act, and deservingly so. They played some great songs, and a few mosh pits formed during their set. No one was prepared for what was about to happen though.

Rise Against started their set with Re-education (Tough Labor) and got welcomed greatly with a big pit at the first song already. But they could do better than what the crowd could, they played their song The Dirt Whispered for the first time since 2015! Rise Against also stopped for a second because they saw people standing front row all the way from Mexico and Portugal. They then asked who also came from outside the Netherlands, which turned out to be quite a lot of people. Tim, the lead singer, then asked who didn’t just come from outside the Netherlands but also outside of Europe. That number turned out to be surprisingly high. I’d say above 200 people were actually from outside of Europe.

The solidarity of the fanbase showed once more when they asked everyone to put up their flashlight during Nowhere Generation. Seeing almost everyone in the venue put up some form of light almost made me tear up. A lot of people also got their camera and filmed everyone around me, this is one of the most impressive and impactful things I’ve seen at a concert. Overall, they had an incredible performance with another great surprise during the encore. They played Paper Wings for the first time since 2012! If you ever get the chance to, definitely go see Rise Against. They’re a great band, with a great show to see and they have even greater stories to tell. Check out the pictures we took there below!

The Story So Far:

Rise Against:

Aspen van der Wijst

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