ANTI-FLAG at Kops Records, Saturday, May 14. Rating: NN
In the world of alt-rock, the acoustic guitar is shorthand for emotional honesty, with bands shoddily reworking their electric guitar parts to make themselves seem more authentic. For Anti-Flag, this approach has the added bonus of linking the Pittsburgh punk veterans’ songs to the folk tradition of protest music that has inspired their songwriting. However, rather than live up to that lineage Anti-Flag’s recent releases have carefully indexed the world’s injustices with plenty of whoa-ohs but little in the way of artistry.
Although the band have been at it more than 20 years, they continue to connect with young fans. A young crowd filled Kops Records’ Bloor location on Saturday afternoon to see Justin Sane and Chris Barker (aka Chris #2) play a short mix of songs from their latest record, American Spring, plus fan favourites. The set included 2003’s Power To The Peaceful, which had the crowd singing along but Sane didn’t have enough frets on his guitar to play his part properly.
Maybe the key to the band’s longevity is that they continue to play intimate all-ages events like this one. The event also included an autograph session with all four members and took place hours before they took the stage at Velvet Underground later that night.
Or maybe the key is the earnestness of their po-faced politics in songs such as Fabled World, in which they sing, “If Doctor King were here today/he’d fight for much more than a dream.” Either way, it was very clear that the group of devotees at Kops were grateful for a close-up glimpse of Anti-Flag in action.
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