I was thoroughly disgusted when I picked up the Westword to check the time for the Agnostic Front show and saw the comment, “geriatric form of hardcore.” Webster’s defines geriatric as, “Of or relating to the aged or the aging process.” Continuing to tour constantly and put out hardcore records is for the aged now, I guess.
We arrived at the show in time for Reno Divorce, the second opening band. They played their standard Social Distortion-soundalike set, including a cover of 7 Seconds’ “Young ’til I Die,” which they dedicated to Agnostic Front. Next was Wingnut, whose frontman looks like Glenn Danzig but is sadly lacking in Danzig’s vocal clarity.
I spoke to Roger Miret from AF before they went onstage, and he told me how tired they were after playing in Kansas City just the night before, and having to leave right after the show. He hasn’t been home for Thanksgiving in 8 years. So I was a little upset at the way the crowd just sat there. Even the guy who’d tried to hit on me by telling me how long he’d been in the scene and that you have to love all the bands playing that night, stayed out of the pit while they ripped through mainstays like “Do or Die” and “No Fear”.
For “geriatrics,” Roger Miret can still sing, scream, jump, and sweat, Vinnie Stigma still plays a mean guitar, and Jimmy Colletti whales on the drums. The slightly younger Mike Gallo’s bass was turned up a bit too loud, sometimes eclipsing the guitar and vocals, but their set certainly didn’t suffer from lack of energy–unlike the audience.
The crowd woke up a bit during easy sing-along tunes “Gotta Go” and “Police State”, but I apparently wasn’t the only one who thought people were boring. One guy jumped toward the stage, yelling, “This crowd sucks!” Roger replied, “Nah, I love it when people just stand there and stare at me. Hard to blame them–good lookin’ guy like me,” and laughed sardonically.
Agnostic Front wrapped up their set with the constant favorite “Crucified”, and a few people jumped onstage, but on the whole it was the most apathetic crowd I’ve seen in years. Two kids, about 8 or 9, dancing onstage and taking their first stage dives seemed more interesting to the crowd than the band, since people couldn’t even be bothered to cheer for an encore.
You’ve got to wonder who the geriatrics are when guys nearly twice my age are still onstage rockin as hard as anyone, and a crowd of teenagers and twenty-somethings stand around with their arms crossed like dancing would kill them. I hate listening to people bitch about the state of music today, and then going to see bands like Agnostic Front who have been doing this for years without compromising their integrity or changing their in-your-face stance, and being the only person dancing. I don’t blame them a bit for playing a short set and no encore. They’re about as geriatric as a boot to the skull, but few people seemed to care.
