I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2024] Flag of Democracy

The only thing I knew about Flag of Democracy was that The Dead Milkmen song “Nutrition” ends with Rodney saying

And Mom and Dad say if I eat all of my food
I can go to the hard core show and see F.O.D

So The Dead Milkmen and F.O.D. have been friends for a long time.  F.O.D. writes intense political hardcore songs and, impressively, they’ve had the same line up for almost their entire existence:

Jim McMonagle – vocals, guitar (1982–present)
Dave Rochon – bass guitar, vocals (1983–present)
Bob Walker – drums (1986–present)

So Bob (who payed barefoot and held the sticks like a jazz drummer) is the new guy since he’s only been in the band for 38 years.

Most of their songs are 2 minutes long (except for “Aberration” (ha!) which was 5).  Even their most recent (2018) album has the same style of short intense songs like “Let’s Build a Wall”

THE BODIES OF BABIES WASH UP ON THE SHORE. BUT THEY’RE JUST BROWN PEOPLE IT DON’T MATTER AT ALL. I CAN’T THINK I CAN’T FOCUS MY MIND HAS GONE NUMB. I’M WATCHING THE PUPPETS. WHO’S PULLING THE STRINGS? THERE’S A. CLOWN WITH A HAMMER AND YOU’RE MAKING HIM KING.

Now, I couldn’t tell what songs they were singing.  As with YDI, the setlist was on the pole in front of Jim, but I couldn’t read it.  I do see that there are 15 songs on it though.

They would play a few songs, chat for a bit, wipe off the sweat and play some more. Jim and Dave wee really funny between songs, just kind of marveling at the size of the crowd.

A few times Jim pogo’d or jumped in the air, he even slammed into Dave at one point.  And it was clear they were having a blast, despite how angry their songs were.

I really enjoyed their set and would definitely enjoy seeing them again.

Zooming in on the setlist I can make out a few songs at the bottom of the setlist

I Grabbed the Broken Part
Sick Animal
Japple Lax
Bag of Lime
Rosa
Powerload