Okay, let me start by saying that this is the current Greg Ginn Black Flag, not the Keith Morris led Flag (who are in fact awesome). This version of Black Flag recently put out a painfully bad album and by most accounts performed a painfully bad tour, additionally marred by a messy onstage firing of singer Ron Reyes.
Ginn, no stranger to the idea of jamming (check out Gone, October Faction, Minuteflag, late period Black Flag recordings, etc.), must have thought it a good idea to continue to destroy the legacy of the iconic band he created, by adding this moment in meandering improv rock to his recent list of crimes. I’m no Doors fan, but I will admit to liking some of Krieger’s work with that band. At his best he was both tasteful and inventive. This is neither. So much of neither. So much…so wrong. Painful. On all counts. And Ginn, good god, he virtually reinvented punk guitar in the early Black Flag days. It was pure electric aggression pouring out his axe. That the tastefully restrained Krieger should join an overdriven punk band onstage, sounds bad in theory. In reality it’s all kindsa worse. Black Flag should NEVER play blues/bar rock pedestrian jam shit. If you wanna do that shit with any other of the aforementioned projects or some new thing, fucking go for it. Settle into middle age playing dad rock (really bad dad rock, at that) if you want. You’ve earned the right. Don’t, however, tarnish the memories of a band that deserves better.
The fact that new singer, and skateboarding badass, Mike Vallely, looks so into it, just makes it that much more cringe worthy.
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