Photos | FLAG @ Stage AE (Pittsburgh)

Photos by Caroline Moore

[A] legacy and back catalog like Black Flag’s is a lot to live up to. Greg Ginn, the band’s longest-standing member, equated the idea of FLAG (comprised of original members Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, and Bill Stevenson, along with guitarist Stephen Egerton of the Descendents) to “bad karaoke.” But FLAG in its current incarnation does the material justice. Their set began with Keith saying, rather quietly, that they’d like to play a few songs. They came out swinging with “Revenge”, and “Fix Me,” and made it clear that these guys are still putting their heart and soul into this music. They play with such energy, it’s easy to forget that most of the members are well into their 50s. Keith passed the microphone to Dez for a few songs, including “Spray Paint the Walls” and “Six Pack,” before tearing through crowd favorite “Rise Above.”  The two shared vocal duties through the encore, before closing out the night with a dark, growling rendition of “Damaged.”