It’s tempting not to dignify all last week’s Black Flag nonsense with any kind of coverage or response, but the discussion on bands ceremoniously destroying the considerable reputations they once had in a bit for fast cash or fame deserves to be had. So many friends of mine (far bigger Black Flag fans than I saw Flag play earlier in the year at Groezrock and got a little bored of it all, truth be told) were painfully apprehensive, bordering on completely dismissive of “Black Flag’s dubious ‘reformation” and return to Australia with Hits and Pits. It seems they weren’t the only one, as almost all reports I received from Hits and Pits suggested crowds thinned considerably each night prior to the band’s set. Rumours of behind the scenes unrest arose so thick and fast that it hardly required verifying when punters attending the band’s final performance in Perth suggested the band seemed to totally implode onstage mid-set.
Ron Reyes, it had seemed, was promptly kicked out of the band halfway through their performance. “With two songs left in the set Mike V comes on stage, stares me down, takes my mic and says, ‘You’re done, party’s over get off it’s over’,” Reyes recalled publically. “So with a sense of great relief that it was finally over I left the stage and walked to the hotel room. They finished the set with Mike V on vocals. There is much more that can and perhaps should be said. But for now I will spare you the gory details”.
Perhaps they should have spared us the inevitable gore of attempting to replicate/revive one of the most important punk rock bands in history? Perhaps these fiery, ego-driven rampages of insufferable ineptitude could have never been aired in public in the first instance and Black Flag could have remained relevant and firmly in retrospect? So funny how only after pissing on a musical legacy, does the concept of being graceful and dignified even arise.
New York’s Backtrack have announced a very tidy little Australia tour this January. They’ll release their second album Lost In Life through Bridge 9 midway through the month and then promptly smash out half a dozen Aussie shows with Iron Mind and Perth’s The Others. See them play at The Reverence Hotel on Thursday January 30 or head to Wrangler Studios on Friday January 31.
The organisers of the annual Australia Day punk rock celebrations have set up an events page and warned punters to clear their Aus Day weekends in 2014 to make way for some great bands and fundraising activities. January 25 and January 26 will be spread out over two days at Footscray’s Reverence Hotel. Keep an eye on their website for further announcements.
Not content to just support Steel Panther and Buckcherry on their upcoming Australian tour dates, Fozzy have decided they’ll chuck a headlining show of their own while they’re in the country. See them kick of some quality jams at The Espy on Friday December 13. Meanwhile, while we’re on rock’n’roll power anthems, tickets to the upcoming Bon Jovi gig at Etihad Stadium are (at time of print) selling for a ludicrous $35 online. Wouldn’t be the WORST Sunday night out now, would it?
