Anti-Flag's Progressive Thrash Unites First Avenue

City Pages - Culture To Go - Anti-Flag's Progressive Thrash Unites First Avenue

The 15-song set, which they chugged through in less than an hour, was heavy on newer stuff, mostly from the aforesaid release and 2006’'s For Blood and Empire, both of which were released under——gasp!——mega-label RCA Records. But they threw some A-F Records-era favorites in for good measure, most notably the menacing anti-Big Media mantra "“Underground Network"” and the folksy fuck-Bush anthem "“Turncoat." For the encore, the band reemerged to kick out a methodically urgent "“Die for the Government,"” whose chorus the audience ferociously belted out with a fiendish mix of anger and pride.