(KERO) — Chicago-based Rise Against is heading to Bakersfield's Mechanics Bank Theater on April 22nd.
The band is touring behind "Nowhere Generation" which was released last summer and is bring along Hermosa Beach legends Pennywise.
But this isn't Rise Against's first show in Bakersfield. Singer Tim McIlrath talked to 23ABC about playing Jerry's Pizza and their upcoming tour.
"I have a really clear memory of our first few years on tour, which is probably from 2000-2005," said McIlrath. "And then the rest of it is kind of a blur. I think maybe because touring was new and some of those venues... there aren't many more unique venues than Jerry's Pizza. It's something that any of us back then or now still talk about. When you play a place that. Like Jerry's Pizza, you remember that.
"I remember that show and I remember how hot it was. That was the first time I felt like I was going to pass out in the middle of a show and I wasn't invincible and could just power through it.
"I think we went back to Bakersfield but I'm hard pressed to figure out when and where it would have been but I do remember the first time."
Rise Against are known for touching on some topics in their songs that can be considered controversial. Yet they're able to offset that with catchy melodies.
"I think that Rise Against is the sugar-coated bitter pill... We're going to lure you in with some hooks and then hopefully, fingers cross, some of this starts to sink in a little bit," explained McIlrath.
"May be this is a way you've always felt or something you've been thinking about. Or you're just curious to hear our perspective or how we see the world in the lens we view it through.
"That's the way music was for me growing up. I felt like I learned a lot from the way musicians distilled culture moments. They found ways to reach me as a young person. That's all you were trying to do from day one. I was just putting thoughts to paper and yelling into a microphone and then hope that maybe someone out there would relate to it."
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE. THE FULL INTERVIEW CAN BE SEEN BELOW:
