Black Flag flies again.
Originally formed in 1976 by guitarist and eventual SST Records boss Greg Ginn, this California hardcore punk crew played hard, fast, and loud for ten years. Then the band broke up for good.
Or at least a few decades ... Because Ginn, along with late-'70s lead screamer Ron Reyes, and two other non-original staffers, are currently touring under the Black Flag banner, fighting a war to prove its supremacy and purity among reunited punks.
And now, thank Greg, the hardcore hostilities are coming to downtown Miami's Grand Central.
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In those years between the hardcore crew's founding in '76 and its disbanding in '86, it was almost more dangerous belonging to Black Flag than being a skinhead strolling through South Central.
Ginn was a notoriously difficult bandleader. And he alienated, dismissed, or summarily fired over a dozen Black Flag members, including Cali punk legends like Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, and Dez Cadena.
Among the only staffers to avoid the boss's wrath was 1981-86 singer Henry Rollins, who actually happened to be the last man standing when Ginn finally decided to quit his own band.
In the first quarter century following Black Flag's break up, there had been only one Ginn-approved official reunion. It happened in 2003. It lasted three nights. And it benefited cat rescue.
But suddenly, two separate bands are laying claim to the Flag legacy. They both announced their reunions on the same day in January 2013. Some hardcore insults were exchanged. And the feud hasn't died down.
One crew is FLAG, led by four former Black Flag members -- singer Keith Morris, bassist Chuck Dukowski, vocalist and guitarist Dez Cadena, and drummer Bill Stevenson -- along with the Descendents' Stephen Egerton.
The other outfit is Ginn and Reyes's Black Flag (filled out by drummer Gregory Moore and bassist Dale Nixon) and there's no doubt who the boss considers the real fucking deal. He's even recording new tunes, like "Down in the Dirt," for an "upcoming 22 song LP."
"[We are] not to be confused," Mr. Ginn disclaims, "with the 'fake' Flag band currently covering the songs of Black Flag in an embarrassingly weak 'mailing it in' fashion."
Black Flag. With Good For You. Presented by Breakeven Booking. Saturday, September 7. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave. Miami. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets cost $22 plus fees via ticketfly.com. All ages. Call 305-377-2277 or visit grandcentralmiami.com.
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