Anti-Flag’s (relatively) diverse audience soaked up the Pittsburgh punk band’s politics and music in equal measures on Saturday. Photo by Joe McCabe.
The diverse fashion sense of the crowd loitering outside of before showtime Saturday night was a foreshadowing of the eclectic bands that would play inside later.
Goths dressed in fishnet stockings, industrial boots and matching shades of mascara and fingernail polish mingled next to punk kids sporting foot-high Mohawks and sleeveless denim jackets — barely visible denim, mind you, because it was concealed by a copious metal studs and patches of obscure ’80s UK punk bands that you’ve probably never heard of. The triumvirate of stereotypes was completed by fellas with shaved heads, large biceps only slightly covered-up by disproportionately small T-shirts.
Canadian band put on a show and managed to play music at the same time. Frontman Liam Cormier’s neck was the source of hardcore screamo vocals, as well as fake blood marks resembling a slashed throat.
The backdrop to stage was two black banners. Each had a huge pentagram and a very subtle Monster Energy Drink logo. Satan’s energy drink of choice, apparently. Front man Will Francis criticized the crowd when they were slow to form a wall of death, claiming that, “Denver, you’re f*cking lazy.” It might have been Francis’ change of heart, or maybe just terrible memory that three songs later led him to claim that, “I can always count on you Denver!”
Cervantes’ ballroom was a smaller venue than headliners has probably been used to playing the last few years, after the band enjoyed a brief stint on major label RCA from 2005-2009. The smaller venue fit the band nicely, though. The stream of stage divers during Anti-Flag’s set were almost as constant as Faygo bottles at an ICP show.
Throughout the entire set punk kids consistently came out of the audience and onto the stage just to launch themselves back into the singing / dancing / chanting crowd. The band, normally very preachy with their left wing politics, kept the rants relatively tame, and pleaded with the crowd to forget about the world outside for one night and claiming that, “The economy sucks. Let’s party!”
The band didn’t completely stay off of their political soap box though, saving their most scathing diatribe for government bailouts of banks and financial institutions, which seemed to strike a chord of agreement with the crowd. A two song encore (both covers of Clash songs) punctuated their relatively short, but entertaining set.
Follow Reverb on Twitter! !
Andrew Brand is a Denver-based writer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
Joe McCabe is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb. Check out his .
