It's been over 10 years since Anti-Flag's The Terror State, which is arguably their most successful album on an independent label, Fat Wreck Chords. Released on October 21, 2003 and produced by none other than Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, the album included many notable tracks such as "Turncoat", "Power To The Peaceful" and one of my personal favorites "One People, One Struggle" and featured front man Justin Sane's niece in a uniform and helmet saluting with a gun in her arm.
What better way to celebrate the album's success than go on a tour and play the album front to back along with their best tracks from their other releases?
Dubbed the "Terror State Tour" it began January 2nd in San Francisco and has so far taken them all around the U.S to now in Canada for most of February. They stopped in Toronto on February 12, 2015 for a show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern with The Dying Arts, World's Scariest Police Chases and Cola Heads.
Starting off the night was Toronto's own Cola Heads, these guys came in blasting in with their high-energy skate punk tunes to get the crowd in the mood which at that point was still filling up the room but the few that were there early greeted them to a warm reception (on a very cold night to say the least). A relatively short set, but a perfect way to begin the show and make people excited for what was to come.
Next up was World's Scariest Police Chases from Pittsburgh, PA which was definitely an interesting band to see live. For one thing these guys have two singers that have a call and response kind of rapport to their style - feeding off each other's energy during the set which reminded me bit of the Beastie Boys in the Licensed to Ill era with their rap-rock kind of feel which makes sense in a way since the Beastie Boys were initially a punk band when they started. Engaging with the audience and at one point even jumping in with them to sing along sure made for an awesome set to get the crowd going as the venue was getting to near capacity.
Dying Arts was the final support act of the night and they did not disappoint - with their style of punk mixed with indie/alternative it was quite the set that sure had good vibes pumping in not only the band but the crowd too. With songs lasting longer than your average 2 minute punk tracks they showed excellent songwriting skills and lyricism that really matched the name of the band and the mood they are known to convey. A dark, dreary feel was emitting from these guys along with the raging vocals coming from front man Mike whose entire presence matched the band's hard-hitting riffs and pounding drums to help build up the hunger to hear the final act.
Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for (at this time the venue was packed like sardines in a tin can) the one and only Anti-Flag waltzed in on stage to roaring cheers and applause. They began the set with "Turncoat" which was sung by almost everyone in the room and Chris #2 jumping around like nobody's business during the whole song; "Rank-N-File" followed next with again a singing crowd and energetic band.
One of the top tracks of the night was for sure "Mind The G.A.T.T", a song that starts off slow but has an awesome melody with lyrics 'A brand new history, slyly and quickly, sparkles in your eyes, hope you're not missing' - great intro and even greater and climactic ending. As the band continued on with the set, reaching to Death of a Nation they showed no signs of wear as they thanked everyone for showing up on a cold night (the low was -22 celsius) and some other bands that showed in support such as The Flatliners, Cancer Bats and Billy Talent.
A brief pause in the show was given for a talk with Amnesty International who mentioned about protesting against the Japanese Embassy the next day for their continued slaughter of whales in the Pacific and the protection of Aboriginal Women who face hardships in today's society. A fitting message for what the band stands for and I wouldn't expect any less from their shows.
The encore included non-Terror State tracks with "To Hell With Boredom" being on top of the list. A couple of tunes from For Blood and Empire like "This Is The End(For You My Friend)" and another personal favorite "1Trillion Dollars" which also seemed like it was everyone's as they embraced the whole song and sang along non-stop especially during the chorus 'Woo-Ohh, Woo-Ohh'. Another great track from the night.
Almost at the end of their entire set, drummer Pat Thetic had his kit moved to from the stage to the floor where he played side-by-side with the crowd, I'm not entirely sure how they had room to do this but they managed and began chanting "Die For The Government" and jumped in altogether right after. Last but not least "Drink Drank Punk" was played with the ending everyone chanted "Drink......Drank.....Puuuuunnk" and the night was finished to a hail of applause.
Great intro, great set and great outro to the whole night.
While there were a couple of tracks I was hoping to hear I'm not going to be one those guys whining about how they didn't hear X song. For a punk band to be around for as long as they have and released as many albums as they have, you have to give them credit where it's due, they've done their duties and are still kicking and releasing new material which is a somewhat rare sight for a band of their caliber.