10-11-2009 Anti-Flag

Supports: Ghost of a Thousand, Four Year Strong, Alexisonfire; Venue: Schlachthof, Wiesbaden (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

Tonight it took quite a while for the venue to fill up. And honestly, I had expected more people to show up to the Eastpak Antidote tour. Four bands were to play tonight.

The first one was Ghost of a Thousand from England. Having formed in 2004, vocalist Tom Lacey, guitarists Andy Blyth and Jag Jago, drummer Memby Jago and bassist Gaz Spencer, have relentlessly pushed themselves forward – whether that’s via a punishing tour schedule or annihilating live shows – in the pursuit of greatness. The pinnacle of that boundary pushing ethos is finally here, in the form of “New Hopes, New Demonstrations” an album that steps beyond the band’s hardcore roots and squares boldly up to swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, hard rock heroism and, in places, epic opuses.

As they were on stage the audience room was still empty and the audience not very ready to rock. So after a few songs the singer went down to the audience, walking around in between them while singing and tried to get them to rock along. Some of them actually got animated by that, but several just made room for the singer, being intimidated by him being a singer.
The band rocked it big time, jumped around all over the stage and didn’t care about the still little crowd in front of the stage.

Next band was Four Year Strong. A single word can hardly describe the kind of career Four Year Strong have experienced since the release of their 2007 debut album, but “epic” comes pretty close. Alan Day (Vocals/Guitar), Dan O’Conner (Vocals/Guitar), Joe Weiss (Bass), Josh Lyford (Synth), and Jake Massucco (Drums) are Four Year Strong.

The band has long since graduated from their community center background, selling out 2000-capacity headlining shows with their perfected formula of unrelenting spirit, gut-wrenchingly good music, and no flashy gimmicks. Their unique blend of brutal breakdowns and soaring choruses incites a riot like nothing seen before, leaving live crowds and CD listeners alike simultaneously blown away and fired up. It had gotten a little more crowded by now. More people were rocking out to the band that still seemed young and fresh. The kinds enjoyed their show. The cheering was loud.

For the next band the cheering and crowd interaction was a lot more though. Alexisonfire seemed the reason for many of the people’s attendance. Alexisonfire is a five-piece post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in 2001. The band consists of George Pettit (vocals), Dallas Green (guitar, piano, vocals), Wade MacNeil (guitar, vocals), Chris Steele (bass), and Jordan Hastings (drums).
They describe their music as “the sound of two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight” (a reference to their song “A Dagger Through the Heart of St. Angeles”, also the inspiration for their debut album cover art). When the band came out of the underground like an “utterly captivating car-accident-in-progress” in late 2001, it was enough to impress critics and attain a gold certification for their self-titled debut album.

The audience was going wild, everybody shouted and danced along, did as the band commanded. The venue was crowded by now. The band jumped around on stage, animating their audience to go even crazier. For a song the singer of Anti-Flag joined the guys on stage. It was an extremely energetic performance of Alexisonfire and everybody had a blast.

Last band of the night was the punk rock band Anti-Flag, an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is known for their outspoken views on American government. Most recently, the band has focused criticism on the United States bailouts. Anti-Flag was formed in 1988 by singer/guitarist Justin Sane and drummer Pat Thetic. During the band’s early years, various guitarists and bassists moved in and out of the band. For several years now the line-up is solid. Their music is very social but also catchy and rocking. Nobody stood still, but everybody sang along.

The audience and band stood together as one. The band got replies for whatever they said. Anti-Flag played all their hits. Their strong and powerful performance lasted for more than an hour plus encore. Anti-Flag got the audience to sing out very loud for them. There were positive and social vibes to be felt in the venue. Anti-Flag told a story to most songs. It was a very great show.