Respect from the 51st State
Anti Flag have been around for years, they've served their time and deserve their high billing in a strong line up. Coming on with an intro chant of 'The people united will never be divided' they set the tone for most of their set.
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They instantly demonstrate that they've lost none of their passion or fire over the years. Punk is dead? Not whilst Anti Flag have anything to do with it! Special mention should go to the crowd at this point, who ten bands in and eight hours into the day are still up for it and give the band a great response. Anti Flag don't let them down and deliver a furious onslaught of punk with one foot firmly in the old skool.
The by now obligatory anti Bush/Blair/Iraq war rant duly arrives and whilst there probably aren't many here who disagree with the sentiment, it is getting a little tiring. Some more articulation other than 'Fuck Bush' wouldn't go amiss! It has to be said that whilst Anti Flag are great at what they do, the songs aren't as strong as those of many of the other bands on offer today. Pick of the bunch is 'Power to the Peaceful' and their nod to Woody Guthrie in the form of 'This Machine Kills Fascists'. Every song is interspersed with some kind of political message or an instruction to take care of each other, I quite agree but it does get slightly irritating after a while.
The crowd at the front love it and there is plenty of frenzied activity. Anti Flag go down extremely well and it's good to see a band that has had little mainstream exposure over the years pull off a gig to a good crowd like this.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 21 available.