To say we are excited to see Rise Against come back home to headline Night 1 of the Nights We Stole Christmas on November 30th at the Aragon would be an understatement, we are electrified for this show. The bond between RA and Chicago is real. This is where they started, and they have grown into a worldwide success. This connection was very evident in 2015 when the band was crushing it on stage at the Hunnington Bank Pavillion at Northerly Island and the power went out mid-song. Right as ‘Give it All’ was building to a crescendo, the power went kaput but the crowd, the CHICAGO crowd kept the proverbial power on by singing every word, sustaining the spiritual momentum until the band fired back on with full power.

Lauren and I watched this in the crowd. She caught the video of it and it is still something that I recall as one of the best moments in a rock concert I have ever witnessed. It’s things like this that make the hair raise on my arms as we wait for the 30th to see our hometown heroes take the stage under that majestic hand-painted sky of stars above the ballroom floor of the Aragon.

When Tim McIlrath of RA was in the LOUNGE this past summer, Lauren asked him about that moment and how when they seemed down the crowd bounced them back.