One down (but hopefully not for the last time)
Seen one of the Big Three, those that still remains are of course Curve and Pixies. But this isn’t about those two. No, it’s about that other one, the first of the three.
Bad Religion played some old and some from the new record The Empire Strikes First and it was all good. Really good. Just as I suspected they didn’t play anything from Into the Unknown—which is a shame as the songs would be very fine with some re-arrangement, the lyrics are just fine. But not to get stuck on the fine details, they were fun on stage. Really fun. I haven’t seen such a mobile bass player since, well, never. Greg and Jay’s banter between the songs wasn’t something I was prepared for. Sockerkaka? Golden showers? American Idol? Stop voting for our crappy presidents? Hilarious, I kid you not but I can see that you might not really trust me on this.
It was also a kind of a shock as now on old days, they’ve gone and became really political as opposed to the far more usual of doing it the other way around. But then again, they’re not to happy about what’s happening so I guess it was kind of inevitable. Judging from previous gigs, it’ll probably be another five or six years before they drop around here the next time.
And I hate myself for even thinking this, but for a second or two I thought they could have used a little more cowbell. (Damn you Greg Gatlin! And Will too.)
Addition a bit late: Actual quotes as I remember them—so they might not be word for word. But still: yay!
Greg: How many of you voted for George Bush?
Audience: [some yells “I did” and raises their hands]
Greg: See. That’s the problem. You have to stop voting for our crappy presidents.
Jay: But they can’t vote for our president.
Greg: They can vote by mail.
[Music stops and Greg stops singing “I love you” over and over again.]
Jay: What was that?
Greg: It’s called improvisation. Musicians do that when they have a good time.
Jay: Yeah, I know that. But what was it?
Jay: Typical. You ask the technician what’s wrong and he just shrugs and looks bored.
Greg (comes in with a towel on his shoulder): I’m sorry guys, but there’s no more. I have to take a shower.
Jay (straps on the bass again): Yeah right. The only shower you need is a golden one.
