Bebo

http://www.punknews.org/review/8078

By that time, though I’d arrived quite early and been somewhere in the middle of the outside queue, the first opening band had exhausted much of their stage time. Judging from the last three songs, the Demise play a modern take on melodic hardcore and punk rock music, which, in essentials, wasn’t unlike the style of the headliner of the night. The soundman could have done a better job but the crowd seemed satisfied nevertheless.

Could be worse. Good review though, seems to catch the essence of the evening. Cheers Big Ears

Hey everybody,

Hope everyone is doing well. This is my first extended blog entry in some time. After a hefty period of nothingness we just had a crazy week and it looks set to continue.

Last Thursday of course was our biggest gig to date when we played with Rise Against to a sold out Academy which was amazing to say the least. Quite a lot of drama and nutiness with the centerpiece of a great gig and topped off by our first car crash....and hopefully last.

It all started on a fine crisp Wednesday morning as it took about two hours just to leave Limerick to get on the road. It's hard to leave when you can't fit everything in the car and have to play a fine extended game of tetris (compliments to serrano, who must have had a past life playing arcade games) and the fact that Mike woke up without shoes and beaten up after some ufc-worthy drunken friendly tussles the previous evening.

After finally getting on the road, we had to try and make it to Dublin within two hours to collect 200 tshirts which we had ordered. We didnt make it of course and that gave us just another thing to do the next day before Rise Against. We also came to the realisation that we were €200 short and my credit card is now maxed out. Wonderful...good start...and it only gets better. Due to us not being able to fit more then 2 guitar amps and the majority of a kit in my soccer mom car and us not being able to find more gear up in Dublin, we had to cancel our gig in the Boom Boom Room that night. We decided to cut our losses and take it easy that night. Thanks and Sorry to Chewing on Tinfoil who were kind enough to want to play the show with us.

Upwards and Onwards....T Shirts were secured the following morning and we thankfully got all our shit together. For some reason everything started coming together for once and it only got better. We hung out with Rise Against for a small bit before the gig and got to watch them interact with fans and what not. They are ridiculously nice guys, all of em. 20 minutes before we were to go on and 5 minutes before doors opened we still hadn't gotten a soundcheck but once again shit came together and things worked out once again. Got a quick run through of half a song. Things didn't sound too great on stage and there weren't many people coming in. Never fear, once we got on stage and got into it the place began filling up and i think the majority of people there started having a good time and got us all in the mood for the main event.

Rise Against themselves were great as per usual. We got to hang out with them for ages backstage in their dressing room and they were nice enough to listen to us and talk to us for longer then they should have had to. The night was then spent ringing in a birthday in Eammon Dorans with Brandon from RA and a bunch of guys from their road crew. Great night

Of course, that all didn't last. The mad couple of days ended just as it began and we had the same problems leaving again with hungover/drunken people and too much gear plus the 180 tshirts that we now had to fit in the car. All of this extra weight in the back of the car proved to be our undoing. On the way into Mountrath on the way home, a couple of cars in front slapped on their brakes for reasons unknown leaving my car to skid, screech and glide into the back of the biscuit tin in front of me. The Demise Mobile 0 - Biscuit Tin 1. €800 damage to a car worth €800. Nice. It had to end in a rock and roll way..and so it did. Of course Mike and Jean slept (were passed out) through the whole ordeal and missed an entire car crash...we also got some footage of the police interview afterwards which isn't nearly as exciting as watching Cops. They actually passed us, waved to us and went to the shop for 10 minutes before coming back.
After arriving home, i got a phonecall from Spin SW to go in the following morning have a chat and play some choons, which we did. It went pretty well considering we dont really play acoustic an

Chicago based melodic-hardcore outfit RISE AGAINST are Dublin bound for a highly anticipated concert at Dublin’s Academy on February 19th 2009. Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets.

Rise Against’s reach grew organically from its roots in the national American underground punk scene to a phenomenon that has touched the lives of millions of listeners and avid fans across the entire world.

The last time Rise Against played in Dublin, they delivered a hugely memorable performance to a sellout audience. Their latest album Appeal to Reason is set for worldwide release this October 7th.

Over 14s welcome – alcohol free show.