Rise Against [What Everyone Else Thinks]

If you follow me on Instagram (@cassielu87), you already know that I got to see Rise Against in concert last night in Oslo.

It was truly epic - the band was great, as expected, and the crowd was pumped.  While the mosh pit was relatively tame (which was totally fine with my shins, who suffered the worst of my last mosh pit experience),

the crowd was still on fire - full of fans shouting along with the lyrics, jumping into each other, and head-banging with the best of them.  I loved the variety of people there - to my left was a guy who probably would have looked like a nerd if he weren't shouting punk rock lyrics at the top of his lungs and a couple consisting of a total bro who spends his free time at the gym discussing protein powders and a girl with shampoo commercial hair, and to my right was a sweaty dude head-banging so hard he could barely standup and a group of plaid-clad hipsters.  It was fun for everyone...or everyone that enjoys top-volume punk rock in big crowds at least.

Apologies for all the shitty videos in this post (cell phone microphones are not designed to pick up that caliber of audio), but the show was too good not to share some of the experience.

In the midst of all the action, there I was, jumping into people like a maniac and shouting the lyrics to the songs I knew (about half of them), and having the time of my life.  I found myself thinking about people who question my lifestyle - most recently and least tactfully, a cab driver in Dublin, but this happens quite frequently, usually in the form of "when do you think you'll settle down?" or "don't you get sick of all the traveling?".  In that moment, at a rock concert in Norway, I thought "why would I settle?  I fucking love my life!"

They gave us a breather with some calmer moments...

"But don't worry, we'll get loud again..."

This has to count as an AV learning experience...so I can expense this, right? ;)


The opening acts were also pretty kick ass...Razorbats is a local Oslo band that kicked things off:

Razorbats

Fortunately their songs were in English, including their new single, "Kids of the 70s", which I found out later via the internet because whatever they were saying to the crowd between songs was in Norwegian :)

Then Man with a Mission came out and performed in full-on wolf and bear heads (???)

Man with a Mission

I don't know the point of the costumes (and expected them to take them off after one song, but they wore them the whole set), but it definitely makes them memorable!  Their energy was insane and they totally revved up the crowd with their "Smells Like Teen Spirit" cover:

Not bad for a Wednesday night!!!  "Settled down" people probably did what on a Wednesday night?  If I have to guess, I'd say hit the gym, cook dinner, watch Netflix, and go to bed.  I'm gonna have to say I win this round ;)