Black Flag Played Warsaw

Last night, after spending the day drinking awful Heineken under a tent, I walked over to the Warsaw to see if I could get into the Black Flag show. I ended up with a premium Northside Festival badge but I had no idea if that would get me in or not. We got there a little after the doors opened, talked to some people and managed to get in. Apparently something like 75 badge holders are let in so if you have one you might want to think about heading to the show tonight and if you don't they released some earlier today but they're probably sold out.

Anyway, we get in and head straight to the side room for a round of grandma style Polish food, one of my favorite things about going to Warsaw. While we were eating we realized that we missed The Netherlands, which sucks because they're awesome. The other opening bands, one of which includes Ginn on guitar, didn't really blow me away. Honestly, I was super focused on Black Flag so I kinda tuned everything else out.

Black Flag took the stage and went into some weird Ginny jam. Then Ron Reyes came out and they busted into a string of classics from The First Four Years era. Reyes sounded fucking awesome! I was blown away by how great, and dare I say youthful, his vocals sounded. They played a ton of classics during the set like "Six Pack," "TV Party," "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie," "Nervous Breakdown," and so on.

In the middle of the set Ginn and the gang went into an excessively long jam session where he employed his theremin. Have I mentioned I hate theremins? Why in God's name he decided to include that damn thing in Black Flag songs is beyond me. Sometime after the jam session they played "Rise Above" which set the place off. Every person in the room had their fists in the air and were singing along. The pit, which was already insane, erupted; it was awesome!

As per tradition they closed out the show with "Louie Louie". Some people stuck around trying to encourage an encore but it's Black Flag, they ain't playing no stinkin' yuppie encore. I heard mixed reviews as I filed out. A lot of fans of the Rollins-era were bummed that they played mostly pre-Rollins tunes. However, if you're a bigger fan of the pre-Rollins era, as am I, then it was fucking fantastic! The only other criticism I heard was that damn theremin - fuck that thing. All in all, I can't believe how good Black Flag was last night. I'm totally impressed and highly recommended doing whatever it takes to get in tonight. There's also a secret show in Brooklyn on Sunday. I think I know where it is but I ain't saying shit because it's tiny and you ain't stealing my spot (I actually don't have a spot but hopefully I can weasel my way in).

Theremin party tonight! Alright!