Rise Against's frontman Tim McIlrath grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago in the '90s and in high school he would often get down into the city to see bands.

Of his most memorable was getting to see Nirvana in Chicago's legendary Aragon Ballroom on the opening night (10/23/93) of their two night run.

Little did Tim know, but the show he attended was the first and only time the group would play the last song they ever recorded, "You Know You're Right."

A legal battle of the the studio version of the last Nirvana song actually went to court. The remaining members of the band wanted it to be the featured "new" track in a box set. But Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, wanted it in a stand-alone single-disc greatest hits cd.

Who won? We all did. Courtney got her way in 2002 with the Nirvana greatest hits disc, and two years later obsessive fans got the three-disc rarities box set which also included a demo version of "You Know You're Right."

At the Aragon show Tim attended (at 14), even though Kurt told the audience before playing the song, that it would be their last, they ended up playing six more songs for the fans.

"As you can imagine, it was just a mind-blowing show, for sure," McIlrath told us.

"That was my first time seeing the Aragon Ballroom and it was cool because my band would go on to play the Aragon Ballroom too," he said.

"And so in the times we've played there, I've always sat in that dressing room thinking, 'oh, this is where Nirvana was hanging out.'"

Bree Wilde: Do you remember any specific songs from the show?

Tim McIlrath: I actually remember "Pennyroyal Tea" because... I remember just being aware of what a cool moment this was. So many moments pass you without you realizing how cool it was. And obviously we would not know that we were going to lose Kurt Cobain just six months later or something like that, but I remember thinking how special it was to be watching this song being played and watching this band play.

"They were all on stage and they were touring with Pat Smear, which is cool," McIlrath continued.

"And I would go on to meet Pat and meet Dave Grohl and meet Krist Novoselic. We toured with the Foo Fighters many times. And so those are some cool full circle moments because I don't think you could have convinced the 14-year-old me that one day you're going to open for some of these guys that you're seeing on this stage."

Tim said playing the Aragon has always been extremely special to him.

"It's something different about what you do in your hometown. It's different hearing your song on the radio in your hometown on the station that you grew up listening to than it is even on a station 10 times bigger and somewhere else.

"And it's something different about playing at a place like the Aragon Ballroom than it will be playing for five times the amount of kids in a different city, because that venue, you can't help but have a few moments that night where you're like, "Holy crap." he explained.

"Or seeing somebody in the crowd, where you're like, 'That was me,' and, 'How did I end up on the stage?" he continued.

"And it was cool because Aragon, specifically -- COVID shut down venues, obviously, they were the first to go and the last to come back -- Aragon wanted to do a concert broadcast, like a live stream kind of thing. And... the Independent Venue Association were picking venues around the country and then picking bands. And Aragon picked us to play at the Aragon.

"So, it was so humbling to be like, 'This is amazing that we're doing this and that you picked our band to be the representatives of the Aragon Ballroom to do this."

Rise Against is touring through Europe and then will be heading to North America at the end of June. And yes, also Warped in Long Beach.

If you're lucky they're play a tune or two from their forthcoming album, Ricochet, due in August. Tickets available on their website.

Rise Against 2025 World Tour

June 4 – Gilde Parkbühne, Hannover, Germany
June 6 – Rock im Park, Nürnberg, Germany
June 7 – Rock am Ring, Nürburg, Germany
June 9 – Haus Auensee, Leipzig, Germany
June 10 – Halle Münsterland, Münster, Germany
June 12 – Nova Rock Festival, Nickelsdorf, Austria
June 13–15 – Download Festival, Donington Park, Derby, United Kingdom
June 28 – All Your Friends Fest, Oro Station, Ontario, Canada
July 26–27 – Vans Warped Tour, Shoreline Village, Long Beach, California
July 31 – Festivent, Québec City, Québec, Canada
September 10 – Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, Connecticut
September 11 – Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater, Syracuse, New York
September 13 – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, New York
September 14 – Xfinity Center, Mansfield, Massachusetts
September 16 – The Anthem, Washington, D.C.
September 17 – The Dome, Virginia Beach, Virginia
September 19 – PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania
September 20 – Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, Maine
September 23 – PNC Pavilion, Cincinnati, Ohio
September 24 – Saint Louis Music Park, Maryland Heights, Missouri
September 26 – Everwise Amphitheater at White River State Park, Indianapolis, Indiana
September 27 – Credit Union 1 Amphitheater, Tinley Park, Illinois
September 28 – Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan
September 30 – Walmart AMP, Rogers, Arkansas
October 1 – FirstBank Amphitheater, Franklin, Tennessee
October 3 – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre, Charlotte, North Carolina
October 4 – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa, Florida
October 5 – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, Florida