Black Flag, Effigies, Double O, Iron Cross, Faith, Government Issue @ the Wilson Center in Washington, DC
Black Flag's van broke down and Henry was sick, so they cancelled this show (and the rest of the tour, in fact). Luckily for the DC punks, Youth Brigade and Social Distortion were having van problems of their own, so they were stuck in DC and agreed to play this show. Government Issue did not play.
FLYERS:
THRILLSEEKER #2:
Another exciting night in an exciting neighborhood. For you out-of-towners that must know: the Wilson Center is the basement of a church located in a not-real-high-class section of D.C. Where else would you want to have shows? Meeting the stares of passer-bys is an experience not to be missed: "Who are these crazy people with no hair and funny clothes?" Don't mind us, we're just posing--that's all.
The three local bands that started everything off were all better than usual. I liked them, at least, and hey!, does anything else matter?
Effigies were dissapointing; playing a too long set and never generating any real energy. I hope this was just a bad night for them, their records are so good. The best band tonight was Youth Brigade. Shit, goddam--they're obviously one of those bands that will go down in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Yo, Dick Clark, are you listening? How about you, Rolling Stone?). These stern brothers is some hep cats--put on the greatest live set I've seen in many a days. Wonderfully tight, intense hc. (another opinion: "They're just an average Oi band" (What?!!?!)). Another band I like.
Social Distortion didn't live up to my expectations. They were wasted and made stupid jokes about straight edge. They weren't bad, just very average. Oh well, can't win them all.
TOUCH AND GO #20:
Holy arab shit what a hall, what a night, what an oozing burrito in my pantaloons oozing beans in orgasmic delight at what befell my I balls...so out walks Thomas the legendary ex RED-C eccentric, off beat one of a kind stud (the only guy I know who wears his jockey shorts outside of his pants) and he proceeds to bless us with an earsplitting earth-shattering ode to Hendrix or acid guitar noodling call it what you will...got the night off to an interesting start...then comes DOUBLE O and wails as usual...any band with Bert on bass rages and the others ain't slouches and the new guitar player is great and I love Double O so there...then the FAITH one of two of these bands I had yet to see and they were all and more of the band featured on the new Dischord 12"...a serious pre frontal, with everything where it should be--'cept when their singer disappears into the sea of bodies...what a future a band like this has when the members are still in high school...serious bone....then comes IRON CROSS..the mislabeled, misunderstood metal machine monsters of sludge like steam roller vicious punk that I have loved on tape and have wished to see live and again the hearty thumbs up (getting bored of all the hype keep reading) the diminuative Dante flailing away on the skins while the gargantuan Sab fires off his dogma with looks of utter contempt...great set...then comes those lovable guys from Evanston Ill (that's Chi-town doofs) who never dissapoint...they have to be the tightest, meanest, most awe inspiring outfit going...seems like almost all bands peak, both musically lyrically and as a live working unit, but the EFFIGIES never seem to hit such a plateau...their new tunes like "Smile" and the danceable ones prove diversity, a will to survive in a thankless, business, and most importantly real fuckin' talent...always outspoken and controversial...and never a dull moment...the only dissapointment was they didn't do "No Prisoners"...next came YOUTH BRIGADE, from LA...a band with the unenviable task of going on late and after the Effigies people were sweaty, bloody and tired...but alas stares of interest from the DC crowd (perhaps curious to see what this YB from way out there could do) turn to smiles, nods and motion...three brothers who get a great, noisy sound by all doing vocals and exuding a sense of sincerity about what they are doing...SD weren't on this night...too drunk and I liked their Detroit show much more...by the way the Wilson Center has to be one of the greatest places to see a show around...the cops in DC are generally pretty cool and the night went without incident...