FLAG played The Sinclair – 6/26
The less official but more legitimate of the two reformed Black Flags headlined a show at The Sinclair last weekend with support from Baltimore’s War on Women and Ontario’s The Dirty Nil.
During their original 1976-86 run, punk icons Black Flag underwent so many lineup changes that it takes a standalone Wikipedia article to explain them all. Guitarist Greg Ginn was the only constant, and still fronts the official iteration of the band with professional skateboarder Mike Vallely on vocals. Ginn reactived the band in 2013 with early vocalist Ron Reyes and a new rhythm section, then recorded a poorly-received new LP with bafflingly terrible artwork before having Reyes fired mid-set and soldiering on with then-manager Vallely.
It’s a perplexing and rather fascinating saga that contrasts the relatively straightforward operation of FLAG, a Black Flag iteration featuring early members Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena and Bill Stevenson along with Stevenson’s Descendents bandmate Stephen Egerton. In their three-year tenure, FLAG has avoided both recording any embarrassing new material and dismissing any members on stage. The group has simply toured the early stuff and kept it at that – save for when Ginn sued them.
It wouldn’t be unfair to call FLAG a simple endeavor of nostalgia, but it’s a pretty damn good one. There’s a lot of firepower in this lineup, and they deliver reverent renditions of the classic material. Sunday’s setlist touched on the high points of the early EPs and debut LP Damaged in a tightly-packed hour, and though it seemingly took a few songs for the band to really lock into a groove, the majority of the set sounded great. The evening felt like something of a hardcore history lesson, with these timeless songs performed by actual veterans of the scene rather than Greg Ginn and some guys. All reports indicate that Ginn’s Black Flag seeks to reject the nostalgia factor that FLAG thrives on, but what good is keeping it real if it’s awash in theremin and everyone hates it?
I did have one general issue with this set, and it’s one I rarely raise, but The Sinclair felt a little too…nice for it? The venue is undoubtedly the best rock club in Boston right now in terms of sound, staff, lighting, beer selection and pretty much every other qualifier, but that four-foot stage and the security barrier that kept the audience another four feet back from it did take away from the vibe. Even at the rail, it sort of felt like watching the band perform in a display case. I can’t help but think the show would’ve felt more at home somewhere dingier and slightly more dangerous.
The band that felt the best suited to this particular room was probably openers The Dirty Nil. The Canadian trio served up a sleek and swaggering set of melodic tunes with booming, airtight precision. They were an impressively polished live unit for a young band, and they seem poised to be headlining spaces like this before long.
Second openers War on Women also impressed, but with a set more directly indebted to their hosts. Led by outspoken vocalist Shawna Potter, War on Women are an aggressively and unapologetically political punk band. Their songs are explosive, and Potter is a commanding band leader who addresses feminist issues in no uncertain terms. The set was a similar one to the band’s opening slot for Refused at The Sinclair last year – right down to Potter getting up close and personal with venue security – but it certainly wasn’t one I minded seeing again.
Photos from the whole night below.
