Black Flag – Good For You – It’s Casual – and The Goons – at The Vex – Los Angeles – CA

We were fortunate enough to attend one of the most talked about Punk shows of the year just the other night. If you’ve paid attention to Punk rock this year then you likely know about the latest legendary band to exist in more than one incarnation, that band being Black Flag, the influential Los Angeles bunch that helped put hardcore Punk on the map. 

 

They were a controversial band in the 80’s during their hey day and now again seem to be just that, though in a different respect. The Black Flag we saw at The Vex is the official Black Flag featuring Gregg Gin on guitar, the man who owns the rights to the name, their label SST records and the one responsible for writing their catalog of hits.

The band is also made up of Ron Reyes on vocals (Chavo) and two new-comers who make up the groups rhythm section. Walking into the show we knew we were in for something unique and interesting, and we sure as hell weren’t let down in that respect.

The Goons were up first and played for an already filled room and fed the anticipation for the pumped Black Flag fans in attendance.

It’s Casual, a local band interacted with the crowd all through the night with questions only locals could catch reference too. Playing that strength may have won them some points with the Latino population more so than the duo’s own music but either way they played a hard and heavy set that unfortunately would not be matched until Black Flag took the stage an hour and half later.

Shortly after It’s Casual was Good For You who are basically the Black Flag band fronted by a stoned-out (in appearance) Mike V. What they bring to the stage is probably best suited for a Venice Beach open mic bar night. It is very much in the vein of something you’d see where the majority of people are wearing sandals and smell of patchouli oil. It was cool to see a Theremin on stage at a Punk show, but that wasn’t a shared sentiment as many people booed them through out their hour long set. Twenty minutes tops or another band altogether would have been better, but Ginn is obviously running the show.

Finally Black Flag took the stage before a super packed ultra sold-out venue. Unfortunately for fans there was little ventilation which lead to the show being a sweat box much like most shows seemed to have been in the 80’s, the band had that going for them right off the bat, so atmospherically things were on point. The band wasted no time in getting things started opting to open up with "Revenge" followed by "I’ve Had It" and "Nervous Breakdown". Ginn’s guitar tone sounded the way it should as did Ron Reyes who may have surprised many in the audience with how strong his vocals remain. The rhythm section however did not match the aforementioned qualities as their new drummer seemed to struggle to keep up throughout the bands lengthy set. His playing along with his drum kit (that looked like it may have once been discarded on a curb and put up for free on Craigslist) put a damper on the bands over all attack, which was always one of Black Flags strengths.

The other 3 members pushed Black Flag forward and into a number of classic songs (some of which were originally sang with other vocalists) and a new single the band released earlier this year. Depression, Six Pack and the ever popular T.V. Party filled up the middle of their set and saw the crowd reacting livelier than before. 

The pit was non stop and crowd surfers were a plenty, many of which made things uncomfortable for security who seemed overwhelmed at times by the crowd going insane. Unfortunately there was a barricade (perhaps a first for the vex) set up which prevented all but a few from getting on stage and diving off. It was towards the end of Black Flags set where the band really made the price of admission worth while as they were at full speed ahead and delivering fan favorites such as Gimme Gimme Gimme, Police Story, Rise Above, Jealous Again and the show ender Louie Louie which was placed in the set just perfectly.

Overall seeing Black Flag in 2013 was interesting and perhaps what most young fans would hope for. If you were able to see them in the 80’s then seeing them now might be a stain on the perfect memory most seem to have of them. Not wanting to tarnish that is understandable. However seeing as many in attendance were not old enough to see them 30 years ago most fans are just happy to see Greg and Ron on stage together playing amazing songs. It would have just been much better to see them with one of their many legendary drummers instead (maybe next tour) .

Perhaps you’ll enjoy Flag more so than Black Flag, but we encourage you to see them both for yourselves before you come to any conclusions.

       

    More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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