Rise Against, Alkaline Trio & Teen Mortgage

October 9, 2026 – Stir Cove – Council Bluffs, IA

All good things have to come to an end, and that was the case on Friday night, October 8, 2026, when Stir Cove in Council Bluffs, Iowa wrapped up its summer concert series.

They definitely went out with a bang.

Rise Against headlined the final show of the season, with Teen Mortgage and Alkaline Trio helping close out another incredible year of live music at the cove.

The night kicked off with Teen Mortgage, and these guys had awesome energy from the second they hit the stage.

Teen Mortgage is a punk rock duo from Washington, D.C., made up of guitarist and vocalist James Guile and drummer Ed Barkauskas. The group came together in 2017 after Guile moved to Maryland from the United Kingdom and posted a Craigslist ad looking for a drummer. Barkauskas answered, and the two ended up booking their first show after playing together for only about a month.

Their sound started out closer to garage and indie rock before evolving into something much heavier. Over time, they developed a style with more punk and stoner-metal influences, which definitely comes through in their live performance.

Teen Mortgage released several EPs before signing with Roadrunner Records in 2024. Their debut full-length album, Devil Ultrasonic Dream, arrived the following year. They’ve also spent time on the road with some pretty big names, including Weezer and The Smashing Pumpkins.

They were the perfect choice to open the show.

For a duo, they make a ton of noise in the best way possible. Their set immediately brought the energy level up and got the crowd moving early.

Teen Mortgage currently has over 245 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, and their latest single, “Democracy Manifest,” is definitely worth checking out.

Great way to start the night.

Up next was Alkaline Trio, and I was really excited for this one.

Alkaline Trio formed in Chicago in 1996 and has become one of the more recognizable bands to come out of the punk scene over the past three decades. The current lineup includes Matt Skiba on vocals and guitar, Dan Andriano on vocals and bass, and Tosh Peterson on drums.

The band released its debut album, Goddamnit, in 1998 and steadily built a following through the years that followed. Albums like From Here to Infirmary and Good Mourning helped push them further into the mainstream, while songs such as “Stupid Kid” and “Private Eye” became fan favorites.

Their 2010 album, This Addiction, became the highest-charting release of their career at the time, debuting at number 11 on the Billboard 200.

Alkaline Trio has continued releasing music through plenty of lineup changes and more than 25 years of touring. Their tenth studio album, Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, was released in 2024, followed by several standalone singles produced by Travis Barker.

Seeing them live at Stir Cove was awesome.

The band sounded great, and the crowd was with them for the entire set. You could tell there were plenty of longtime fans in attendance, and the reaction to some of the older material made that pretty obvious.

They currently have over 815 thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, and after finally getting to see them live, I can understand why they’ve been able to maintain such a loyal following for so long.

Awesome set!

Alkaline Trio Setlist:

We’ve Had Enough
Calling All Skeletons
Private Eye
Is This Thing Cursed?
Take Lots with Alcohol
Stupid Kid
Cringe
Oblivion
Emma
Clavicle
Blue Carolina
Every Thug Needs a Lady
I Wanna Be a Warhol
Warbrain
Mercy Me
Radio

After a brief intermission, it was time for Rise Against.

Rise Against formed in Chicago in 1999 and currently consists of Tim McIlrath, Zach Blair, Joe Principe, and Brandon Barnes.

The band spent its early years building a following in the punk scene before breaking into the mainstream with Siren Song of the Counter Culture in 2004. That album featured “Give It All” and “Swing Life Away,” two songs that helped introduce Rise Against to a much larger audience.

Their success continued with The Sufferer & the Witness in 2006, which reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200. A few years later, Appeal to Reason gave the band one of its biggest songs with “Savior,” a track that became a massive hit on rock and alternative radio.

Rise Against continued that momentum with Endgame in 2011, which reached number two on the Billboard 200. Albums like The Black Market, Wolves, and Nowhere Generation followed, while their tenth studio album, Ricochet, was released in August 2025.

One thing that’s always separated Rise Against from a lot of other punk bands is that there’s usually something behind the music. Their songs often touch on social issues and bigger ideas, but they still know how to write huge choruses that work perfectly in a live setting.

They sounded incredible.

From the moment they took the stage, the crowd was locked in. Tim McIlrath brought the same intensity that’s helped define the band for decades, and the rest of the group matched that energy throughout the set.

Rise Against has one of those catalogs where you don’t necessarily realize how many songs you know until you hear them back-to-back in concert. Once the familiar guitar riffs started, the crowd immediately responded.

The entire night felt like the perfect way to close Stir Cove’s summer concert season.

Teen Mortgage came out swinging, Alkaline Trio delivered an awesome set, and Rise Against finished things off with exactly the kind of performance you’d hope for from a headliner.

Stir Cove had an incredible concert season this year, and sending everyone home after a night of punk rock with Rise Against was a pretty great way to wrap it up.

What a way to end the summer!

Rise Against Setlist: