Black Flag
I arrive at the Waterfront with a hint of trepidation. Other than a couple of cassettes that people did for me back in my teens (when home taping was killing music) I have never owned anything by Black Flag and I here on the basis of their legend. Is this going to be an incendiary performance from true legends of the punk/hardcore underground or will it just be guitarist (and sole constant member) Greg Ginn and his hired hands trading on past glories? Well, we will get that answer to that in a while because first up are TOTAL CHAOS.
Whilst I vaguely recognise the name, I can’t recall ever having heard Total Chaos before tonight. This is surprising given that they were signed to Epitaph in the 90s and this is their 30th anniversary tour. The California four-piece wear their influences on their tee-shirts - Agnostic Front for guitarist Shawn Smash and Exploited for bassist Georgy Justify - and even in drummer Miguel Conflict’s name. There’s also some early Metallica and Slayer style speedmetal in their sound, whilst Smash’s guitar solos, at times, hark back to the late-80s LA metal scene. The two handed tapping is certainly unexpected but not unwelcome. Total Chaos do nothing that I haven’t seen dozens of times before but they win me over with their heartfelt exuberance and by simply seeming to enjoy what they are doing. Props to vocalist and only original member Rob Chaos for keeping the band going for three decades. Long may they continue.
And so to BLACK FLAG. Gregg Ginn is arguably one of rock’s most inventive guitarists. Along with the likes of Glen Branca, Keith Levene of PiL and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, he took guitar playing into new, strange territory. For periods of tonight’s set, though, Ginn’s guitar is buried in the mix beneath the drums and bass. Fortunately, Isaias Gil and Joseph Noval are a damned fine rhythm section and play up an absolute storm. When Ginn’s guitar does cut through, it is just as coruscating as I could have hoped for. Frontman (and pro skater) Mike Vallely may be no Keith Morris or Henry Rollins but that is no criticism - he is his own man and does a damned fine job on vox and owns Damaged’s Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie and Black Coffee from Slip It In.
As long term fans will know, there is far more to Black Flag than hardcore punk. At times, the lurching rhythms and unpredictable time changes bring to mind the outer reaches of jazz, art-noise or psych and it is strangely, surprisingly danceable. Of course, a fair few of the audience are not here to dance but to slam about in a pit that is almost as intense as that seen at Idles at the UEA a few months back.
As much as I enjoy most of it, after a while it becomes a touch samey and even a little monotonous. Much as I love intense, challenging music, it all gets a bit much around the 55 minute mark. My attention starts to wander and I head for the door. Looking around me, I am pretty much alone in that so I’ll say that the problem is with me, not the band. Whatever, every fan of extreme music should take the chance to Black Flag at least once and make up their own mind.
