Here are two great reviews from the Chicago show yesterday. The first one is written by Eric Rosenberg and the last by Michael.


Thoughts on the Chicago Show (6 Nov 04)

I didn't write down the whole setlist, so sorry about that.

The show was pretty good. We missed From First To Last, who must have started at 7pm sharp and played for maybe 25 minutes. Rise Against was very energetic and pretty fun to watch. They were probably buoyed by strong support from their hometown crowd. McIlrath has a great voice and is a good singer. He played some rhythm guitar for a few songs but mostly sang and ran around.

Bad Religion was in epic form. Greg said it had been a while since he had been in the Riviera Theater and was glad to be back. I was impressed by Wackerman - some of his fills, especially when the song hit a spot where all the other instruments dropped out, were really tight, inventive, and cool. He would play a lot of syncopated stuff, either behind or ahead of the beat, and then catch up to the song just in time. Wackerman was also on a really low riser so Jay or Brian could run up to him and look him in the eye. Actually Jay had to look down because he's a pretty tall dude.

Two mildly amusing bits:
At one point, Greg had to change microphones. He made a reference to how the band didn't have a lot of fancy roadies to do it for them so he would have to do it himself. He then made a big show of how hard it was to unplug one mic and plug in another. He actually got on the floor and rolled around, pretending it was taking all his energy and determination. When he popped up and showed the crowd that he had succeeded, he got a big hand, of course.

Then, before the encore began, Jay came out with a small cake and a couple candles. The candles blew out and while Jay was getting a lighter from someone, Greg mentioned how it was his birthday, his 23rd birthday (with Bad Religion) and he was touched that they had remembered. Finally, Jay got the candles lit, and Greg made a big show of taking a breath (and coughing) and trying to blow out the few candles - it took him a few tries, and exhausted his lung capacity (ha ha, he's real old, we get it). It was pretty funny, though. Then Jay took the cake away and Greg said, "Hey don't I get a bite?" Then he said he'd get some later, and Jay put the cake on his amp. After the show, while Brooks and Jay were wrapping up a long ending to a song, Greg ran off the stage, and then he ran back and got the cake! Guess he really did want some chocolate.

Fun for all, and the bars were easy to get to because 95% of the crowd was under 21. $6 for a can of miller poured into a plastic cup was sort of a buzzkill, but oh well.

Sidenote: where did these 'angry andy' t-shirts come from? Looks like a bastardization of Iron Maiden's Eddie, doesn't it?

Thanks to Eric Rosenberg for this review!


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And here's a review by Michael

This is more than just a review it will be mostly a chronicle of my journey to see Bad Religion in Chicago:

After a three hour drive up to my place my buddy, AArron, made it to my residence and after a little while we ended up heading north for the few hour drive to Chicago from West Lafayette, IN. After a pretty uneventful trip up to Chicago (which was a good thing because the last time I went to Chicago I had to urinate really bad while I was driving and didn't want to stop. By the end of it all I corked myself too early from the bottle and sprayed myself with urine... bad news...) anywho after about 10 minutes of trying to find a parking spot in the streets of Chicago we finally headed up towards the venue, the Riviera. I had never been to the Riviera before but as we walked in anticipating the first band, From First To Last, being halfway through their set or already done with it, we realized we crossed timezones and ended up being early for the show, which wasn't really a bad thing.

From First To Last came on and I personally thought they were good for what they played but it wasn't really my taste of music, that and their lead singer tried way to hard. That being said I wasn't too sad to see them play their last song and they headed off playing a decent set.

After a little while Rise Against came out, and being a huge Rise Against fan that I am, I was pretty excited to see them again. They played all of the usual songs and spanned their 3 album career pretty well. Each album had a few songs played off of them and the entire set went very smooth and they played really great. Once again I was suprised by Rise Against, I've seen them a few times and it seems they just keep getting better and better.

After a little while wait and random conversation with the security guard that stood infront of me, Patrick (he said I could call him Pat, I asked him if I streaked naked across the stage if he would tackle me and he said no.. so if any streakers are out their you may have a chance at the Riviera) Bad Religion's set finally begin with the pre-recorded Overture. They shot into their songs quite quickly, and with the help of the crowd singing along they began their show with a bang. Their entire set was flawless and it sounded great. For a bunch of old men they really did rock the place pretty hard. Some notable moments from their set:

- Greg Graffin asking what Illini call Wisconsiners (who were apparently making fun of Illinios the day before) and one fanned screamed out "cunts." Jay found this very funny and had to repeat it over the mic.

- Greg Graffin also changed mics halfway through and ended up wrestling the mic to get the cord back in. Litterally wresting it... he was on the ground attacking the mic with fury... eventually he got it in and he said that was the first time he'd ever wrestled a mic on stage and we were the first to bare witness.

- Before the beginning of the encore, Jay brought out a birthday cake for Greg and the chants of happy birthday came from the crowd as Greg's 40 year old lungs could barely but the candles out. He is a very old man.

All in all it was a great set and was pretty much the same setlist as the other shows.

Finally as me and AArron headed back towards my car we needed to cross the street to get to it... he managed to cross the street without incident, but as I took off running across hoping nothing was coming the other way... I was wrong. I got hit by a Taxi and spun to the ground. I got the roadrash and the hurt hand to prove it though. Luckily for me the taxi driver didn't stop and ask if I was okay... obviously a prick. But as I am an E.M.T. I figure that I will just heal myself. As I wobbled to my car, AArron at my side we headed back towards Indiana, only to find ourselves lost and went to a gas station to find help. We found help, but it was wierd. The lady told us the road we had to go on was filled with gangbangers and latin kings, my buddy AArron wasn't sure what kind of gangbanger she meant so he piped up and asked if it was the sex kind of gangbang. She proceeded to tell us that they would probably kill us so lock our doors... because locking doors stops bullets. She also told us that she had been living out of her car for eight months and most of the rest of her life story, all while pulling the jeans out of her ass and saying she was fat. I'm not sure what that was all about but we were kind of glad to get out of that store and get into gangbanger territory. I personally didn't see any gangbangers or latin kings but the rest of the trip back to Indiana went without incident.

And through all of that a good time was had by all. Great show and even better stories to tell.

Thanks to Michael for this review!

And here's the setlist (source: Bad Religion Tribute)

Overture
Sinister rouge
All there is
Supersonic
Social suicide
No control
Los angeles is burning
Modern man
Kyoto now
Let them eat war
Recipe for hate
Epiphany
Atheist peace
Suffer
God?s love
The defense
Beyond electric dreams
Atomic garden
You
Atomic garden
i want to conquer the world
21st century digital boy
Generator
Fuck armaggedon
Infected
American jesus

Encore :

Along the way
Do what you want
Struck a nerve
Sorrow