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Punk vets Bad Religion lead the way for new breed at FIllmore
Rise Against started a two-night run at Denver's Fillmore Friday night, rocking the packed house with some of the least likely Top 40 hits of the past decade.
The Chicago punk outfit, known for their melodic hardcore sound and hard-left politics, seemed to have parachuted in from 1999. With relatively minimal stage dressing and not much in the way of banter, singer Tim McIlrath and crew tore through songs ranging from 2005's "Swing Life Away" to this year's "Help Is on the Way." The latter, a criticism of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina, set the tone for the night: fist-pumping tunes with deep messages that were not lost on the loyalist crowd.
Openers Four Year Strong got the audience's blood pumping but did little to distinguish themselves from a dozen other pop-punk bands that have played the Fillmore this year. Middle act Bad Religion, which has literally been in the political punk rock game since before McIlrath was born, joked around and generally enjoyed their elder statesman status, knocking down a tight 40-minute set before retiring to wild applause. — Matt Farley, Metromix
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