Courtesy of riseaginst.com

Okay, so Rise Against, a band I have no fondness for, and letlive. kind of make sense together, due largely to their shared punk roots. The head-scratcher here is Killswitch Engage being the bridge between these acts. Let me make it clear that I am in no way opposed to the prospect of seeing KSE live; it’s just strange that the most potent gateway metal band of the last decade will be… touring with Rise Against and letlive.

However, this tour will be making a stop at The Masonic in San Francisco on Aug. 11 and that brings two things to my mind: there are precious few shows that I’m actually interested in seeing that come through these parts and I positively adore KSE. Maybe a little less so these past couple years (I was Team Howard), but they are absolutely a band I would drop everything to go see live (which I’ve not yet had the opportunity to do so), regardless if they are the headliner or an opener. They are second from the top of this bill, so they will probably get a decently long set. I will be content.

As for letlive., I’m fairly ambivalent towards their music (your mileage will vary) but I often hear great stuff about their shows, which tend to skirt on the crazy side. Take, for instance, this episode at The Tabernacle in Atlanta last year, in which frontman Jason Butler, feeling that the audience members on the balcony could benefit from his presence, decided to just climb up a wall and join them.

For the record, I would be okay with something like this happening at The Masonic.

Tragically, Aug. 11 falls on a Tuesday, which is by nature the most chaotic day of the week. I will most certainly try to make this happen, but it’s hard to say at this point. My love of KSE and the lure of whatever shenanigans letlive. might unleash more than makes up for my…indifference to Rise Against.

If you are so inclined, the full tour dates can be found here.