Re: Black Flag in Seattle

It was a year, almost to the day, since Black Flag last hit the stage at El Corazón. Last year's show was touted as the 40th anniversary of the My War album. This time around, the band was presenting [/i]The First Four Years[/i]. This wasn't much of a stretch, of course, since all those songs from the pre-Rollins era are really short. (The whole 16-song album clocks in under 25 minutes.) The show still included a lot of the high points of My War, plus selections from Slip It In and Damaged.

The venue was packed (all-ages show) and the mosh pit was as crazed as you'd expect. Singer Mike Vallely was as intense as he was last year, and apparently in no mood to put up with stage divers. One or two of them slipped past him to make the leap, during the first half of the show, but right off the blocks in the second half, he grabbed the first would-be jumper by the shirt, yanked him back from the edge of the stage, and threw him off toward the wings. No crowd surfing for him. Honestly, though, you could've knocked over that kid with a pancake spatula, so that made Vallely look a bit like a get-off-my-lawn guy ... until the next diver made an attempt. This time, the guy looked to be about half again Vallely's weight ... and the singer not only blocked him from making the jump, but pinned him down to the stage and held him until the bouncers could eject the guy. When the guy was being dragged out, Vallely told the crowd, "Stay off this fucking stage." Nobody tried it for the rest of the evening.

SETLIST:
Can't Decide
Nervous Breakdown
Fix Me
I've Had It
Wasted
Black Coffee
Six Pack
Depression
Forever Time
The Swinging Man
Nothing Left Inside
Fucked Up
[intermission]
I've Heard It Before
Revenge
No Values
Clocked In
Room 13
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
Slip It In
Jealous Again
TV Party
Rise Above
Louie Louie
Fucked Up

Just like last year, no opening act.

The TLDR for me: "Singer Mike Vallely...."

Who? (And , yes, I feel the same way about the Biafra-less DK's.)

I'm no Black Flag fan, but I am familiar with their music and was curious to see and hear Vallely. I found a video on YouTube from a 2024 show in Philadelphia, and to my ears, he sounds great for those songs. Delvin's review makes him sound pretty grumpy, which can be entertaining as long he's otherwise giving effort to the performance.

Oh yeah, Vallely was giving the performance his all. Yeah, he's not Henry Rollins, but like Biafra with the DKs, that train left the station decades ago, and it won't be coming back. (Vallely has actually been in the band for longer than Rollins was.) Like Rollins, he definitely comes across as someone you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley.