Last night I (Jonder) saw Flag play Atlanta. If you have the opportunity to see these guys, DO IT! Chuck Dukowski, Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Bill Stevenson, and guitarist Stephen Egerton are playing the classics, from the Nervous Breakdown and Jealous Again EP's through the first half of Damaged.
Keith Morris announced (jokingly?), "We're here to drag the legacy of Henry Rollins through the mud." Keith didn't mention the other guy, but I'm pretty sure I heard him sing "You're jealous again, and again and again, and again and again, and fuck you Greg Ginn." He also incorporated the Circle Jerks' "Don't Care" into "You Bet We've Got Something Personal Against You" (a song directed at Morris after he left in 1979). Keith also sang "My War", which Dukowski wrote about the band.
Flag doesn't really have a beef with Rollins. They are celebrating the first four years, before "everything went black". Chuck Dukowski (1980-82) was front and center, beaming at the crowd. Dukowski literally bounced across the stage when Flag came back for their encore. Chuck and Keith are in their early 60's, but you wouldn't know it to see and hear them. Bill Stevenson (1982-85) was a powerhouse on drums, and Stephen Egerton (Descendents, ALL) killed it on guitar. Not a slavish imitation of the records, but he played a familiar looking Dan Armstrong guitar and got real, real gone when he soloed.
Morris sang most of the songs, all the way through "Gimme Gimme Gimme", "Police Story", "My War", "Depression" and "Rise Above". Dez Cadena (1981-83) took the mic for "Six Pack", "American Waste", "Spray Paint The Walls", "Thirsty and Miserable", "Damaged" and "Louie Louie". Dez was always my favorite Black Flag frontman, and it was a real thrill to hear him sing again. Dez was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx last year, but he looks good and sounds great!
Flag is playing three Florida shows in the next few days before they leave for Europe. Again, don't miss the band if you have the chance to see them. Brian said he was going to blacken up the blog, and what's blacker than Flag?
No music links today, but here are a few interviews with Dukowski and Morris that should interest Black Flag fans:
ReplyDeletevillagevoice.com/music/flags-chuck-dukowski-pretty-much-confirms-greg-ginn-is-a-total-douchebag-6623732
villagevoice.com/music/qanda-keith-morris-of-off-on-greg-ginn-the-black-flag-days-and-sst-records-6635028
vice.com/read/the-long-vice-interview-with-flag-dukowski
Joe Carducci of SST wrote on his blog in 2011: "Keith was at first determined to play drums but Greg convinced him to sing since he was regularly observed to go off like the Tasmanian Devil of Looney Tunes’ artists imaginations at other bands’ gigs. Keith agreed to sing only after he and Greg and probably Raymond went up to Hollywood and saw the Ramones on their first trip west -- seeing Joey, then, he could conceive of it. (Keith is one of the great voices in Stevie Chick’s Black Flag book, Spray Paint the Walls)."
ReplyDelete"Keith on that first Black Flag EP and the band itself were uniquely on point in one of those initial punk rock compactions of rock and roll form and history. Today when young bands play the style there is no historical compaction of music as they know only the punk form’s surface. The rest of that 1978 session plus an October 1979 live in studio session comprise the 9 songs Keith recorded in Black Flag. When he left to form Circle Jerks they did an instant album and got caught lifting songs from BF and the Angry Samoans, so their popularity was resented, and not just by his former bandmates. What’s more surprising is that Keith himself didn’t sing as well with his new band, even given the songs themselves weren’t more than serviceable. (I remember Greg and Chuck making fun of the CJ’s song from their second album, “Question Authority,” as if that was a radical proposition.)"
"I think maybe Keith stopped drinking a few years back.. There's always a good practical reason for alcohol or pot when it comes to musicians when they are young and so full of energy as to leap out of the tune itself during performance. Keith did that finally on stage one night when he quit Black Flag. Quickly the drugs drain emotional content, wreck musical interplay and then kills them ahead of schedule unless they can stop. Musicians usually have to quit music too as they are so bound up together by then. If Keith is that good again, it's great news."
Here's the book mentioned by Carducci (in PDF):
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(Brian)
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous, man. And it's a shame they can't release any material, cuz that last proper Black Flag album sucked! Thinks there's any good boots out there?
I haven't looked (yet) but there's lots of youtube footage! At least they're finally getting paid for all those years in the van (and sleeping on the floor at SST).
DeleteMy friend told me last night that he saw the Ginn/Reyes lineup at the same venue, but they played the little room downstairs at the club, whereas Flag fans filled the big upstairs room.
DeleteI saw the show last Wednesday in NYC. Even better when they played a few years ago. Have you checked out Keith's band OFF!? They're fantastic.
ReplyDeleteFlag is super tight. Bill, Chuck and Stephen are top notch players. Wasn't Dez still in the Misfits when Flag started? I've listened to OFF but haven't seen them live. Keith Morris is busy with Flag, and Jeff McDonald is touring with the Melvins.
DeleteYes Dez is still with the Misfits. He was temporarily replaced but he's nearly made a full recovery so he's back I guess. I've talked to him on a few occasions here in Jersey (he lives in Newark) He's a super nice guy. Jerry Only seems to get a lot of shit but he's also one of the nicest guys I've met.
DeleteI saw Flag play PRB in Vegas a few years ago and had goosebumps the entire set. It was incredible. I saw them play at PRB in Asbury Park a few weeks ago, and they were great again. I had a chance to chat with Chuck for about 15 minutes inside the Stone Pony with a buddy of mine that afternoon. Great guy!
ReplyDeleteThanks jonder great post, once again......I SHOULD have my Internet service back tomorrow, and MY have things changed a lot for me...,,,lots to talk about, share, and a new member of the blog team that everyone will LOVE, trust me!
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