3/22/24: Black Flag? More like… a really good time

By Lauren Hernandez

All week I’ve been debating if I should go see Black Flag tonight or not. I haven’t listened to good old-fashioned punk music in at least a year, and also I’m tired. But I just rewatched that episode of Freaks and Geeks where Daniel goes punk and spins a Black Flag record, and I realized it would be lame not to go, especially when my friend is giving away his extra ticket. 

So I went! The show was at the Paper Tiger, and I swear I’m there every weekend. Black Flag didn’t play until 8:30, and honestly, their set was incredibly boring at first. People in the crowd were bitchy and the lead singer, Mike, grabbed a kid who jumped on stage by the scruff of his neck like he was a misbehaving cat and dragged him off. 

I’ve read reviews everywhere saying that the current Black Flag lineup sucks, that they are just a cover band at this point and what have you. And I was really seeing what they meant at first. The energy just wasn’t there, and their sound was really lacking without any rhythm guitar. They played through their entire “My War” album, and afterward I checked out the show on the small stage. 

Now I know this article is about Black Flag, but this band from Austin was in the small room and they made Black Flag look like a bunch of kids. They were called Narrow Haunts and they were punk with a million pedals. The lead singer kept jumping into the scattered crowd and screaming into people’s faces. He’d wrap the microphone cord around his neck and take off his shirt, exposing his sweaty beer belly. His antics were great but their heavy, psychedelic sound was so gnarly, so raw that I didn’t wanna go back for Black Flag’s second set. 

I stayed until Narrow Haunts wrapped up their performance, and then, returning to the main stage, noticed the crowd for Black Flag had doubled. Their sound was better, but maybe that’s because I was in a better mood. As I leaned against the stage and eventually climbed the steps of it to get better pics, I could feel their bass, which was so heavy it was reminiscent of sludge, in my bones. I loved it. 

They played so many songs but the crowd never grew tired. I was worried it was gonna be a crowd full of groping drunk men, but it was actually just a bunch of people my age, with good punk manners having a rockin’ good time. 

But no one, I mean no one, was having as good of time as August, this 18-year-old from Fredericksburg who never left the mosh pit. 

His moves were unparalleled and out of this world. You’ve never seen anything like it.

“I’m just trying to, put like, y’know a groove to it,” he explained, comparing the normal mosher’s moves to his eccentric flow.

His favorite part of the night was “Probably when Black Coffee came on, that’s like, one of my favorite Black Flag songs ever and like, I was about to leave, like I was on my way out and really tired already, and then I was like ‘Oh SHIT! Black Coffee’s coming on, I HAVE to go BACK,’ and so yah.”

“I know my mom and stepdad were probably really pissed because they just wanted to go home already, and my foot, like I pulled a tendon and they don’t really want me moshing, but I was like ‘Y’know what, like, [my foot] feels just so safe and sound in here.’”

Another guy I met after the show was Omar. His favorite part of the night was “getting fuckin’ shouldered in the chin.”

He loves Black Flag because “it’s a little nostalgic. My dad would play that shit in the car.”

He and his friend started the mosh pit; his friend got punched in the nose and the band signed his bloody rag afterwards. 

Omar concluded it was “very funny.”

Right after that, I started talking to some folks I recognized from the DIY scene but we only had time for them to answer one question because I wanted to talk to Black Flag’s guitarist. So real quick, rapid-fire:

“My name’s Emerald. My favorite part of the night was when someone punched me in the jaw.”

“My name is Mercury and my favorite part of the night was… two-stepping with my friends!”

“My name is Jessie and my favorite part of the night was when I got to get a picture with the lead singer.”

So Greg Ginn, Black Flag’s guitar player, said he retired from interviews years ago, but I guess I charmed him because he let me ask one question.

“What was your least favorite part of the night?”

“Uh… Oh! People jumping up on stage.”

“I knew you were gonna say that!” my friend Danny responded.

“I’m sorry! You guys set me up with that one,” said Ginn. 

So you might be wondering — actually, you probably definitely don’t give a fuck — but my favorite part of the night was chatting with so many cool cats! What can I say? I love the punk scene.