I never expected to write a part 3, but here we are... (part 1, part 2)
Maybe something bad, maybe something good
4 years ago this month, I ventured with some friends to the annual "This is Hardcore" fest in surly, yet wonderful Philadelphia, PA, I went for the camaraderie and not to really see a specific band per se. The Jerry Only fronted version of the "Misfits" were headlining Saturday night, which had the most bands playing that I was interested in (Killing Time, Cro-Mags, and after the fact, surprisingly, Biohazard were a highlight) so I was kinda looking forward to that, especially when I saw they were going to play Earth AD in it's entirety. Alex, Milford and I had traveled to "Natefest" earlier in the year and it was a solid crew to be travelling with.
Alex, Milford and the Author.
The shows were what festivals always are: fun at times, but arduous at best. The Misfits came on late on Saturday and the Crowd was initially amped, but without a front man, the 39 song set just seemed to drag after like the 8th or 9th song. As the set steamed a long, Milford turned to me and said "I'd never thought I'd be so bored hearing these songs." I agreed. This line up was not BAD they played just fine and was certainly better than some of the late 90's and early 2000's shows I had seen, but it was unbelievably NOT captivating. If you watch the video of the set, it seems like they lose the crowd pretty fast.
After that, I pretty much thought I was done seeing the Misfits (again), why would I want to watch songs I absolutely love be so absolutely mundane? Not to mention, but I had seen the whole "Danzig and Doyle" thing twice and they absolutely crushed the 8 or 9 Misfits songs they did for those shows, plus they were sandwiched in between absolute classic Danzig material. On that 2005 tour, Danzig had his best post-John Christ era guitarist, Joe Fraulob, on guitar. Sad that he didn't make it longer, he could actually play the leads with the skill and feel they require. On the 2006 tour he had Kenny Hickey, another totally legit stand in for John Christ. Those dudes, plus Doyle, put the 2015 Jerry trio to shame. Not to mention in 2006, they did a bunch of Samhain songs too, apparently at Kenny's behest.
Joe Fraulob and the 'Zig 2005, by Maurice Nunez
Kenny Hickey, lifted from a Myspace fan page (lol)
Listen, I love Danzig... Misfits, Samhain and the eponymous band, it just strikes a chord with me. But this love comes with conditions. Danzig's last two records, Skeletons and Black Laden Crown were bargain bin fodder and the Misfits without him is so fucking spotty, it's really not worth the effort. But two weeks ago, tickets for the June 29th "Original Misfits" show in LA practically fell in my lap and I made plans to go and I am so glad I did.
Werewolf bar mitzvah, spooky, scary
I gave my spare ticket to Adrian, who plays guitar in Tuning on the condition that we take his car. It also worked out that we could stay at his brother's place in Ventura. The trip was planned and actualized fairly quickly and soon enough we were at the Banc of California stadium. We ran into, and then hung out with, Andy Coretex (who was responsible for the Tuning record even happening) and his family the whole day. The thing is, although we checked out where our far-away-from-the-stage seats were, we never actually sat in them, as there was a snack area, with a much closer view of the stage had a railing you could watch the show and eat at- and that's where we stayed for the whole show.
I'm having the time of my life here.
The Cro-Mags set was hit and miss, I'm not sold on this latest Harley incarnation, the Age of Quarrel songs sounded terrible, but the Best Wishes songs ruled. Anti-Nowhere League sucked, flat out and The Distillers were terribly uninteresting in this setting. Rise Against were pretty good, I really like their first few records and don't terribly mind the radio rock hits, plus Dead Hearts played with they when they were on the way up and they were really fucking cool. The crowd started to fill out 1/2 way through their set- by the time the Misfits took the stage, there were A LOT of people in that stadium.
The Misfits raged through 30 songs, all played with intensity and with 100% devastating effectiveness. I've gone over the set a hundred times in my head the past three day and it's been tough to really find the words to describe it aside from the typical- AWESOME! AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! But that's exactly what it was, awesome, amazing and incredible. I highly doubt the Misfits reunion shows that came before or that will come after will be as good. I think this is the prefect show to finally put the Danzig baby to rest, end on a high note. Especially considering there will be no higher note than the HILARIOUS $10 parking lot bootleg I got with a terribly drawn likeness of the current band on the front and the MICHAEL GRAVES era on the back! Bravo!
My first introduction to Black Flag was the Wasted…
Again cassette I got from a dude named Pete Coit my sophomore year of
high school. But on a hot day during the summer of 1990, I jumped into a swimming
pool with the cassette in my pocket, thus ending my Black Flag collection in
one triumphant splash. Remarkably, the other cassette in my pocket, Dead Kennedys’
Give
Me Convenience or Give Me Death, survived and provided enjoyment for
many years to come, albeit without any text on the cassette shell or cover.
I never saw Black Flag.
In February, 1991, my friend Greg, his girlfriend at the
time, Jennifer, and I all gave each other stick and poke tattoos; I think Greg
got an anarchy symbol , but to show my new found devotion to hardcore, I got
the best approximation of the Black Flag “bars” we could pull off. We also pierced my nose, which, of course, after
noticing, caused my parents to ground me, in turn missing the last show at my
beloved Skyroom.
26 years later and it's almost still visible.
I never saw Black Flag.
By summer 1991, I was 17 and my parents loosened up the reins,
which allowed me to spend a lot of time shopping for records and going to
shows. I bought the cd for Damaged that came with Jealous
Again as the bonus tracks. I listened to that cd a lot that summer and
even had liberty spikes for a short time. I loved the line “I know the world's
got problems/ I've got problems of my own/ not the kind that can't be solved with
an atom bomb.” My teenage mind thrived on nihilistic ideas, delving into
painful punk, death metal and hardcore; all tucked safe and sound in the suburbs
and wrapped up, by stark contrast, in straight edge.
pure devastation
I never saw Black Flag.
In the 90’s I saw Henry Rollins do some spoken word, which was
pretty funny and caught a fairly OK Rollins Band gig. I like Rollins Band, but
they’re more like a smart bomb, precise, whereas Black Flag is continual carpet
bombing—Both can be, at their best, effective, but in different ways and appeal
to different sides of the brain.
I never saw Black Flag.
In June of 2003, I went to Cleveland with my ex-wife and a
couple friends to see Rollins Band perform an entire set of Black Flag songs
(the “Rise Above” tour to benefit the WM3).
While we were waiting for the show to start, standing in the crowd, I
got full on hip checked from behind. Henry Rollins, apparently prepping for his
agitated stage presence, was just shoving folks out of the way to make his way
back stage. I was one of the unfortunate few in his path. It was like being
bullied in high school, but by the guy who literally, just by singing words,
helped me deal with those bullies. I guess you really should never meet your heroes.
Still, all was forgiven once the set started (Keith Morris) Nervous Breakdown/
I've had it/ Depression/ Wasted/ No Values/ Fix Me/ Revenge/ Gimme Gimme Gimme.
(Henry Rollins) Rise Above/ Thirsty and Miserable/ Clocked In/ Revenge/
Damaged/ Modern Man/ I've Heard It Before/ American Waste/ Jealous Again/ I
Don't Care/ TV Party/ Can't Decide/ Police Story/ Six Pack/ What I See/ No
More/ Black Coffee/ Slip It In/ My War. It was good with Morris singing but
with good old Hank, it was incredible. We barely noticed that it wasn’t REALLY
Black Flag.
I never saw Black Flag.
In 2013, Greg Ginn came back out of the woodwork and pieced
together a new line up of Black Flag, with “Chavo” back on vocals.
Reports from all fronts were pretty varied, but any question if the new line up
was any good were silenced with the release of What The… it wasn’t good,
at all, from the amateur hour cover art to the lack luster songs,22 songs; 22 odes to failure, and 22
reasons to NOT go see Black Flag.
Shoot me if I ever think something like this is acceptable.
I never saw Black Flag.
Also in 2013, in a bizarre case of tit-for-tat synchronicity,
and as an alternate to the tepid, flaccid Black Flag reunion, former members announced
they would be touring under the name Flag. I went to one of their shows and thought it
was pretty good, but the “Rise Above” tour was heads and shoulders better. Revenge/
Fix Me/ Police Story/ Don't Care/ Depression/ I've Had It/ No Values/ My War/ No
More/ Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie/ White Minority/ Jealous Again/ Wasted/ Clocked In/ Nervous
Breakdown/ American Waste/ Spray Paint/ Thirsty and Miserable/ Padded Cell/ Six
Pack/ Rise Above/ Louie Louie/ I love You/ Damaged. Weird to have Morris singing My War and I Love
You, but, you know, not THAT WEIRD.
I never saw Black Flag.
Now it’s 2017 and a lot of bands play reunions at festivals
or slug it out again on the road for a payday. I am grateful that I get to,
when the mood strikes me, visit such events and see “the guys” or “some of the
guys” play “the songs.” But it’s not the same, and everybody knows it. You’re
not the same person in your forties or fifties that you were in your teens,
twenties or thirties and you shouldn’t be. Seeing reunion gigs, is like
visiting an ancient ruin on vacation; you can appreciate the beauty of what it
is, and what it once was, but the purpose, the intent, and context has forever
changed. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it, or that it’s wrong, just
recognize it for what it is: musical tourism, a way to visit history without
all the mud and guts.
I never saw Black Flag, and that’s ok.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Oh, on a side note, I guess time proved that I was totally wrong about my perception of a Judge reunion. That's just too bad. I skipped that one, though I went to the Chain of Strength/ Mouthpiece reunion in NYC last year. As there is photographic evidence in this "pit shot":
(Via The Hundreds)
I thought it was funny that a lot of people critized me for going to see Chain long after they were straight edge, yet Judge seemed to get a pass for that. I think Judge is an awesome band and I'm glad that people got to see them last month, but how is the standard different? Fuck it, right? I'M HERE TO MOSH.
I remember buying the Judge "There will be Quiet..." ep on cassette when I was in 11th grade, shortly after it came out. "Forget this Time" opened the ep up with some serious bite and although I was already a fan, it drew me deeper into my love of all things Revelation Records had to offer in 1991, but this entry isn't really about that.
One thing I like about Judge's legacy is that there has been no reunion and I totally respect that. Mike Judge was "over it" and that was that. There's something to be said about bands who don't want to spoil their run and just let their records and short time together speak for itself. I think I may want my memory of Judge to stay in 11th grade, listening to that tape on the bus ride to school over and over again, not some 40something men playing at a nostalgia trip. I type this now knowing full well if a reunion ever came, I'd go.
I've flown all over this country to see reunion shows of long dead/ inactive band and I don't feel too bad about it. I had my fun and it seemed like the band's I flew out to see enjoyed themselves as well. Today I heard that Articles Of Faith were doing a reunion show and and a new record. Although I love the band, I have to ask, "why?"
Sometimes bands should reunite: maybe because there's new found interest in their back catalogue, or because band members have recently reconciled; overcoming past differences. Sometimes bands get back together to benefit a friend or family member who has died or taken ill. Some bands just get back together for the fun of it, or the big evil "money." Some bands pull it off, some bands don't, but I think the biggest mistake these bands can make is attempting to write and record new music.
Gorilla Biscuits tried this and failed, Turmoil came back to obscurity, nobody liked Lifetime's new record. Let me think of more... The Misfits, Turbonegro, Antidote, Adolescents, Bad Brains and I could continue citing, but I'll spare you and in doing so, spare myself the pain of remembering ruined legacies. In fact, the only good "reunion" album I can think of is Celtic Frost's "Monotheist" and metal bands are notorious for getting back together and turning up the SUCK.
Another Chicago favorite of mine, aside from AoF, Naked Raygun, did recent ep's after reforming a few years ago. I am nearly terrified to hear these records. I don't know if I will ever order them, I am afraid it would just ruin it for me, like when your favorite restaurant changes the ingredients to your favorite dish, it's never the same again.
So, Judge, hats off to you for staying quietly dead, even when your nice remastered discography came out a few years ago. I'm glad we can rely on somethings to stay just how we remember them. But you know, if you ever do get back together, call me up so I can buy a ticket, but please, for the love of Pete, don't record anything new.
