[ATTENDED: November 10, 2021] Anti-Flag [postponed from March 17, 2020]
I was pretty happy when my son asked if we could go see Anti-Flag. I had heard him playing some of their songs and quite liked them.
Then I looked them up. How could i have never heard of this band? A politically charged punk band that has been making music and waves for over 25 years and I didn’t know them. How was that possible?
The band came out on stage to a recording of “Blitzkieg Bop” and they were everything I wanted.
Anti-Flag has been around since the 1980s and had a few line up changes. But things have been stable since 1999 when Chris #2 joined the band on bass and lead vocals. He joined Justin Sane on lead vocals and lead guitar and Chris Headon rhythm guitar along with Pat Thetic on drums.
They are full of energy, or righteous anger and love and compassion for everyone present.
We were right in front of Chris #2 and it was incredible to watch him jump all over the place. Way up in the air and at one point off the stack of amps. His energy was incredible.
Justin Sane was a great front person–calmly telling us what was on his mind and then ripping guitar parts like crazy.
They played songs from throughout their career, occasionally dipping back in to their latest album 20/20 Vision with audio snippets introducing the songs. The album is great although hearing trump’s voice again (even if it was used to mock him) was rather unpleasant.
The highlight for me though was looking over and seeing my son in a circle dance getting pushed around an having a great time. I can see him really moshing it up in a few years. He did not crowd surf, although some people did (it was kind of a small club for that).
The band is obviously very political and they had brochures and activists there for all manner of causes. They also had someone come out and say a few words about Punk Rock Saves Lives, an amazing organization whose mission statement is
to start focusing on Health Concerns, Equal Rights, Human Rights, and more. One of the keystones of the music community, especially Punk rock, is the ethos of taking care of one another. By championing this ethos through various campaigns hand-chosen by the artists, we can elevate their messages of hope, activism, and change to effect positive change and drive awareness.
Then as the show was nearing the end, Chris #2 had us do one of the coolest things I’ve done at a concert. He had everyone–don’t give me any macho posturing bullshit, put their arms around the person next to them like a giant line of a group hug. This was to tell everyone there that we are all on the same side, that the person next to us is our brother or sister. It was a very moving moment for me.
And then, when we were all sweaty and gross from dancing and pushing each other around, we sang along to “Die for the Government.”
My only regret from this show is that I haven’t seen them like ten times already. Because I am ready to see them again.
- Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones) [tape intro]
- Hate Conquers All ‰
- The Press Corpse ß
- Racists Æ
- Drink Drank Punk Ψ
- You Can Kill the Protester, But You Can’t Kill the Protest ⊗
- Trouble Follows Me Æ
- Bring Out Your Dead ⇓
- Disease Intro [tape intro]
- The Disease ‰
- Hymn for the Dead ß
- The Criminals Æ
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Turncoat ⊗
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Broken Bones √
- 1 Trillion Dollar$ ß
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Fuck Police Brutality Ψ
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Christian Intro [tape intro]
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Christian Nationalist ‰
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This Is the End (For You My Friend) ß
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American Attraction Æ
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Brandenburg Gate §
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Die for the Government Ψ
Ψ Die for the Government (1996)
⇓ Underground Network (2001)
⊗ The Terror State (2003)
ß For Blood and Empire (2006)√ The General Strike (2012)
§ American Spring (2015)
Æ American Fall (2017)
‰ 20/20 Vision (2020)
