Bad
Religion came through Pittsburgh this past Sunday (8/4/2019.) They
played at the Roxian Theater which is a venue I had not been to
before and rather much enjoyed.
According
to the house sound engineers, they are still trying to fine tune the
room for vocals so once that's done the Roxian should be a pretty
decent place to see a show. The staff was friendly and the security
was much less aggressive towards concert goers as compared to some
other venues in town.
The
Lawrence Arms, a three piece band from Chicago, were the opening act. They are one of the many bands that I have heard of but my ears
never crossed paths with over the years. If I hadn't spent way too
much money on Bad Religion merch, I would have definitely picked up
some of their records. They are certainly going to be on my list the
next time I hit the record store.
It had
been too many years since the last time I saw Bad Religion play. It
was November 12th, 2005 at the Rostraver Ice Arena with
Anti-Flag opening. And the time before that was at Club Laga on
October 15th, 2000. Bad Religion did come through last
year with the Punk In Drublic tour but I skipped it because it was a
steep ticket price for too many other bands that I didn't really care
about at an outdoor venue that is next to train tracks.
After
the blood loss and stupidity of the previous day, going to see Bad
Religion was a sorely needed catharsis. My plan of being a nerd by
keeping a running set list in my phone immediately went out the
window as soon as the band hit stage with “Them And Us.” By the
end of the song my eyes were welling up. All I was capable of doing for the rest of the evening was singing along as song after song washed over me.
Dr.
Graffin and company can still hit it harder than most punk bands half
their age. The set list was certainly assembled to please the crowd
with the greatest hits. But being a band as good as Bad Religion has
been for damn near forty years most of their songs could qualify as
greatest hits. As with most bands, the standouts for me were the
newer songs. The band perked up when they played songs off of Age
Of Unreason since they haven't been playing those songs every
night for a decade or so.
Age
Of Unreason has quickly become one of my favorite Bad Religion
records. It hits all of the buttons that a Bad Religion record is
expected to hit but it came out at a time when my brain really needed
a new Bad Religion record and I've been jamming it into my ears on a
more than regular basis.
The
band really didn't mention any of the current events going on in the
world. Letting their music speak for them. Bad Religion’s been
singing about this shit ever since How Could Hell Be Any Worse? As they were walking off stage, the bass player, Jay Bentley, did
have some words for the crowd. It was pretty much along the lines of
stick together because we're all we've got.
I did
have the pleasure of sharing Bad Religion with my daughter. Seeing
her jump along to “New Dark Ages” was worth the price of
admission. There are few moments in my life that I can point to with
absolute certainty and say that I experienced true joy. That was one
of them. Being able to share Punk Rock with her is one of the best
parts of being a parent.
After
twenty-seven songs of all killer-no filler, it was time to head back
to the car. I'm not saying that Bad Religion could cure all of
life's problems but at least for one night they did make the load a
little easier to bear.
The
only downside of the evening was having to miss seeing Killer Of
Sheep who were playing across town at the same time. I have been
jonesing to see them play again since the day after the last time I
saw them. Luckily, Skullfest is coming up and they are one of the
many bands scheduled to play.
Here's
the setlist:
- Them And Us
- End Of History
- Fuck You
- Stranger Than Fiction
- The Dichotomy
- Recipe For Hate
- Chaos From Within
- Los Angeles Is Burning
- The Handshake
- My Sanity
- Atomic Garden
- Lose Your Head
- Suffer
- No Control
- Against The Grain
- Skyscraper
- Anesthesia
- I Want To Conquer The World
- 21st Century (Digital Boy)
- Generator
- New Dark Ages
- You
- Do The Paranoid Style
- Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell
- Sorrow
- Infected
- American Jesus
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