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Friday, February 12, 2010

Live Review Gimme Gimme Gimme. Gimme Some More.

Posted by Kurt T. Prutsman on Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 9:43 AM

black_flag_bars.jpg

For the love of God and all things Greg Ginn (except for Jambang) let there be another Black Flag Fan Club Night. With so many people waiting halfway up East End's stairwell (on a Monday night, no less)—to witness Rabbits perform Black Flag classics, and a few other punk rock gems—clearly there is a demand for this. Personally, it was the most fun I've had at a show in a while and I hope this wasn't a onetime deal.

Unfortunately, I missed most of the Pit Stains set. I only heard the tail end with the band performing "Wasted" (which I mistook for DJ Uriah Creep's vinyl collection), but I'll chalk it up as my loss. It sounded killer.

What caught me by surprise about Rabbit's set was their professionalism while performing Black Flag songs so accurately. Going into the night I half expected more forgetful moments like this. Nope. They bombarded and delighted the East End audience with seamless Black Flag covers and for good measure they even threw in their take of Crass's "Shaved Women" and Minor Threat's "Straight Edge".

To my surprise the Fan Club seemed a little more lethargic than I would have imagined (but I suspect that having something to do with the weekend's Bender at Slabtown just coming to a close) but certainly there were sparks of great enthusiam (and even a little moshing) during songs such as "Rise Above" and "Six Pack." But that's not to say a few individuals weren't howling for their own personal favorites throughout the set, grabbing the mic and taking over vocal duties on occasion, or trampling up the stairs disappointed when the show was over. The Fan Club might have just fallen on an off night. Had this show happened any other night I suspect East End would look a little bit more like this.

I'll applaud Rabbit's commitment to performing Black Flag's catalog so spot-on, especially since learning these songs isn't as easy as one would imagine. Speaking to the members of the band afterwards they revealed they had spent weeks practicing their set, going through some of the songs up to 20 or so times. Rabbits obviously put in a lot of work into making this a proper tribute (and it showed), and they set the bar high for all future Black Flag Fan Club nights.

 

Comments (3) RSS

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1
Yeah, another! I couldn't make this (also, I could have sworn it was listed as a Tuesday show...??).

But I saw Rabbits open up for Bastard Noise last Dec., and they ruled.
Posted by ROM on February 12, 2010 at 11:31 AM · Report
2
Yeah, but what period Flag did they play? The early stuff is easy as shit to play. If they pulled off anything after Slip it In, I'm impressed.
Posted by jake on February 13, 2010 at 5:15 AM · Report
3
Damaged era. Yes, those songs are easy as shit to play, and still we fucked them up. But we did play them fast. And beer did pour down the walls and through the ceiling.
Posted by RABBITS on February 13, 2010 at 4:35 PM · Report

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