Milan, Italy

While I was talking with Pat (my friend from Philadelphia) about Rise Against’s upcoming U.S. fall tour, he mentioned a Europe tour I was previously unaware about. Although they’re not coming to the United Kingdom, I thought it would be fun to see my all-time favorite band abroad. I compared flights with my university timetable and came to the conclusion that seeing them in Milan was the most economic choice that won’t interfere with classes. I was originally going to go alone, but in a matter of a few weeks, I got my roommate, Ben,  into them and convinced him to go with me to see them!

Wednesday, September 30: I arrived just in time to grab a bite to eat before heading over to the venue. After grabbing a few drinks once we got inside the venue, we watched the opening band, Raised Fist. They were pretty different from Rise Against, but I liked them nonetheless. When Rise Against came on, the room exploded and the next hour was an awesome mess of pushing (and being pushed), crowd surfing and singing. I lost Ben for a while, but found him just in time for my favorite song of the set: “Black Masks and Gasoline.” It was a great show and I appreciate them carrying on with the tour even when their front man (Tim) broke his wrist. Afterwards, we waited outside to meet them and sure enough, they came out. First, Brandon (the drummer) appeared alone, but we didn’t get a chance to talk to him until the other three came out and he retired. I first talked to Zach (the guitarist) and once I told him I’m from Arizona, he recognized me from when I met them in April and gave them a painting. After that, I got to talk to Joe (the bassist) and Tim before we had to head back to the hostel. I’m upset I didn’t get to meet Brandon again, but meeting the three of them and getting my ticket signed was overwhelming.

Thursday, October 1: We didn’t have a lot of time before we had to head to the airport, but we got the quick tour of Milan by having quality pizza, gelato and exploring the Duomo. The view of the plaza from the terrace and the architecture of the building was especially impressive.

It was a bad stroke of luck that the concert was on a school night, further minimizing my time there, but I’m excited to explore the rest of Italy this spring.

My next adventure: Nice, France!