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!

FTW: The Sonics Played The Warsaw...

...and nobody told me!!! I hate you all. Seriously. I would have robbed an old lady to see The Sonics. How in the fuck does this band play in my neighborhood and I don't even hear about it until three days after? DAMN IT! Not only that but they played twice - Friday and Sunday. ARGHHH! This is the first time they've played in 35 years or so. They said it's the only shows they're ever playing...I hope they're full of shit. PLEASE GO ON TOUR!

Editors & stellastarr* @ Warsaw

So as I said in the previous post, I got to this show around 9PM - when stellastarr* was supposed to go on. Of course they didn't go on until 9:30, right when I had to leave the Warsaw for CBGBs. I did manage to hear about half of the first song though. So I really have nothing to say about stellastarr* because I didn't see them. Unless you want me to review one minute of their opener? Yeah, I'll just leave it alone.

You would think that going to CBGB's at 9:30 would pretty much and the night as far as this show goes. The Dolls were amazingly prompt and actually started on time - which meant they were finished by 10:30. I called Olga, who was still at the Warsaw to see if I could make it for the Editors set. She didn't answer so I jumped in a cab and headed back to Brooklyn. I figured if I didn't hear from her by the time I got into the hood I would just go home.

She got back to me as I was about to head for home and told me Editors just started their set. I jumped out of the cab and used my lip print hand stamp to get back in. I immediately went to the bar and grabbed a polish beer of some sort. It was only $4 - keep in mind this is a rock venue, that's awesome. I really dig the Warsaw, it's a very cool place for shows and you can eat and drink on the cheap between bands.

Sorry - I got side tracked. As I was saying, I grab my beer and headed for the stage. I immediately started to take some pictures because I didn't know how many songs they had played. I wanted to make sure I got something before it was over. The blue light really made it difficult to get any clear shots.

I'm not sure how long they played prior to my arrival but I would say they played about 5-6 songs while I was there. They are an amazing band and you should see them now before they're huge. I was surprised by how many songs I knew the words to despite not actually having any of their music. Everyone seemed to know the words to the songs and half of the crowd was dancing as well.

The show came to a halt and the band did an encore (did I mention I hate encores?) and then I went outside. I ran into Andy Shaw and he told me the official after party was down the street at Supreme Trading. I went over there but I was literally one of five people there. I decided to take off and hit the sack - of course as I was walking out everyone started showing up but I didn't give a fuck at that point. So ends my crazy night of venue hopping - it was pretty fun, but goddamn expensive.

stellastarr*

Editors

MP3's:
Sweet Troubled Soul (Iha remix) - stellastarr*