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Earliest: Jun 18, 1979
Latest: Sep 14, 2024
Next Show: Fri Dec 6,2024 at Beer City Music Hall in Oklahoma City, OK
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[
WikiPedia] Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.
Black Flag's sound fused the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos. In later years, the band began incorporating more extreme elements, such as frequent tempo changes. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and nonconformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's independent record label SST Records.
Black Flag were key to the creation of hardcore punk and a member of the first wave of West Coast punk. They were one of the earliest punk groups to incorporate elements of heavy metal melodies and rhythm, free jazz and contemporary classical elements into their sound, especially in Ginn's guitar playing, and the band interspersed records and performances with instrumentals throughout their career. They also played longer, slower, and more complex songs at a time when other bands in their milieu performed a raw, fast, three-chord format. As a result, their extensive discography is more stylistically varied than many of their punk rock contemporaries.
