It took 40 years to come, there is only left Greg Ginn of the original line-up, but what a fucking energy that of Black flag in Guadalajara!
It was the first time and perhaps the only time that Black flag They played in our country and fortunately for the people of Guadalajara, on June 30 they were able to enjoy them thanks to Show No Mercy and the Independence Forum, but we are going by parts because the night had from deafening applause to mother-in-law for the band.
Yes, their best times are over, they have an unpublished album in the last 30 years, Henry Rollins himself (one of the previous vocalists opted for the meeting offer in 2013 arguing that it was absurd for anarchist hymns to be sung before hundreds of cell phones filming them and that the meeting lacked punk spirit, it was only for money) but all that did not matter before the glorious night that the attendees expected, which needless to say were not born in the heyday of the band.
There were no opening acts, as the Californians had requested, and after a sleeping dj, the group stepped on the parquet in a stealthy way, without much fuss to let the first chord of the night sound with ‘Depression‘, seguida de ‘No values‘ y de ‘Fix Me’, quickly achieving the first moshpit of the night.
At the center of the stage, his frontman has been twisting from side to side since 2014 the professional skater Mike Vallely, who manages to impress the vocal fury of Rollis, Morris and Reyes, former vocalists, but with the voracity that youth and internal demons themselves give him.
‘Black Coffee’, ‘Room 13’ and 'Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie’, They marked a point in the next set of the show, for that moment, the assistants who had filled a third of the recital, were already bathed in sweat, and did not stop giving shoves and moving the soul of mythical CBGB to Guadalajara.
To the far left, he positioned himself Greg Ginn, the only original member of Black flag, who at 64 years old continues to show that leather is the one that wrinkles, not the punk soul. Ginn, vestía unos deslavados jeans azules y poco contacto tuvo con el público -durante la interpretación de las canciones- no así con el resto de la banda, pues con una simple mirada orquestaba y alineaba a sus compañeros, no por nada ha sido su ‘bebé’ por cuatro décadas.
The concert was growing up and resonated ‘Nervous breakdown’, the hymn and most sung of the show ‘Rise above’ and ‘Louie louie’, to make way for encore, or at least we thought so, since a recital of more than two hours had been promised. People waited and waited for the return of Greg and company but it did not happen, in the face of the gossip and mentorship of more than one, however Ginn returned to sign autographs and take photos with her faithful fans.
Review by Héctor Navarro exclusively for Summa Inferno.
