"John Wayne killed a lot of gooks in the war. We don't give a fuck about John anymore."
Is It Really Live?
It's Black Flag. Of course it's really live.
Is It Official?
Yes. It was released by SST
Where was it recorded?
At "The Stone," nightclub, San Francisco, CA August 26 1984
What are the Details?
This is the Henry/Greg/Kira/Bill Stevenson line-up from "My War," (minus Kira) "Slip It In," and all the weird instrumental releases no one likes.
I've always admired Black Flag's conviction in staying true to their artistic vision, despite overwhelming backlash. That doesn't mean that the musical they were so determined to pursue was anything remotely worth listening to. The 7 plus minutes of "The Process of Weeding Out," that opens this set could only illicit a collective "What the fuck?" from this San Francisco crowd. There's always been some question as to whether Greg Ginn was a unique and innovative guitar player of if he was just terrible. I never leaned toward terrible but this song makes me question my point of view. I like noisy, abrasive music but it sounds like he's trying to play the guitar with his face. Not good. Random crappy noodling kills any sort of momentum. Ginn is one of my all-time heroes, bar none but listening to this made me want to chuck a roll of quarters at Henry's head, while I was sitting in my living room, 25+ years later. I suspect the live audience was also annoyed.
This is followed by Henry's version of "Nervous Breakdown,"which is not my favorite, just as I imagine Keith Morris wouldn't be able to pull off "My War." That's mainly just my personal taste.
All the "Slip It In," tunes sound great, as does "My War."
I always thought "Slip It In," is a weird song. It's sort of a gender-reversed "Slave To My Dick," but still sung from the guy's point of view. It's ironic that their first record with a woman in the band (Kira) is the one where they write a song chastising some random girl for not putting out. Or for putting out too much. Or for saying she wasn't going to put out and then putting out anyway. I never really understood what type of position they were taking even though musically it's one of their best.
"Black Coffee," sounds great as does"Wound Up," "My Ghetto." Even the daunting "Three Nights/Nothing Left Inside," benefits from the live treatment. Henry howls his guts out. The sludgy, trudgy songs from side 2 that so enraged the punk rockers sounds exactly like the type of material bands like "Pissed Jeans," are playing now. Greg regains his crown as noise king, his discordant shredding has a tone that slices through your eardrums, even with the treble turned way down on the EQ.
"Live '84," is a great document of a smokin' band doing their thing live with performances that are vastly superior to the studio recordings
The Set:
1. The Process Of Weeding Out2. Nervous Breakdown
3. I Can't Decide
4. Slip It In
5. My Ghetto
6. Black Coffee
7. I Won't Stick Any Of You Unless And Until I Can Stick All Of You
8. Forever Time
9. Fix Me
10. Six Pack
11. My War
12. Jealous Again
13. I Love You
14. Swinging Man
15. Three Nights
16. Nothing Left Inside
17. Wound Up
18. Rat's Eyes/The Bars
