Rise Against – Review @ The AMP in St. Augustine (w/Descendents and Menzingers)

By Jeremy McGuire

Photos by Jeremy McGuire

8/7/2021

A few months ago when I heard that Rise Against was coming to the Amp in St. Augustine and was bringing Descendents/The Menzingers along for the ride, I immediately messaged my good friend Rob and said “let’s fucking go.” Rise Against is possibly his favorite band of all time and Descendents were high up on my bucket list of bands I wanted to see. That pairing with the fact they were playing at an open air venue (since we are still in a pandemic), and bringing The Menzingers (who I've seen a handful of times at The Fest in Gainesville) made this show one I couldn't miss.

Cut to the day of the show and me and Rob are heading to the venue, and the sky just opens up and rain pours for a couple of hours. That didn’t discourage us, though, as we knew our seats would be under the roof. The Menzingers opened the show with a solid performance, and while I don’t love the band's records, their live shows are always very solid and fun. They played a few songs I knew and that was enough for me. Their guitarist, Tom May, absolutely carried the band's performance. His huge smile and boundless energy really put me in a great place. It reminded me that I was here at my first big show in a year and a half and that I should enjoy it!

After the Menzingers's set, the crowd was really starting to fill in and the humidity was rising because the rain had stopped; this was the mood set for Descendents to take the stage. They killed it. I’ve never gotten the chance to see them before, but it was worth it. Being a band that has several records spanning literal decades, I was curious to see what songs they chose. They played a wide gambit from their discography including my favorite song by them, “Nothing With You.” The band didn’t seem to mind the heat too much. Their guitarist, Stephen Egerton. was bouncing all around the stage bringing lots of energy to an already hot and humid show. The vocalist, Milo Aukerman, even had his own water bottle strapped to his side. The crowd seemed to quite enjoy the set, but you could tell who they were really here to see.

As night fell, Rise Against came onto the stage. They immediately were at home and you could tell. I’ve listened to the band on and off over the years, but never really considered myself their biggest fan, but this set was just fantastic. From the band sounding super tight to the incredible light and production aspects, their set was one I will remember for a long time. According to my friend Rob, they played songs from all across their albums even though they had just released a new one, which was the reason this tour was happening. They even played a deep cut from an earlier record that Rob, who has seen the band over a dozen times, had never seen live. The fans ate it up, they had more energy and passion during this set than for the other bands, which made sense as they were the headliner and the temperature was finally cooling down a bit. A few times during the set the vocalist, Tim McIlrath, talked to the crowd with an earnestness and candor that I really appreciated. He talked about how lucky we all were to even be here after this crazy time and that he and the band were just super appreciative of everything. And I couldn't agree more. After the fantastic performances from all the bands, I felt such a comfort that I had been missing. It was an amazing show that I am super glad to have been able to attend and photograph. And I will hopefully be back to the Amp sooner rather than later