Rock Against Bush Tour f/t Anti-Flag, Strike Anywhere, Midtown, the AKAs, Mike Park - 10/06/04 - the Nation - Washington, DC
Punkvoter.com was originally developed as a non-partisan means to get kids who were into punk rock music to participate in politics and vote. However, by the time that the punkvoter.com-sponsored Rock Against Bush Tour rolled into Nation on Wednesday, October 6, the thought of not having a political bias was ridiculous. The tour brought together five of the more outspoken bands to �fight the real terrorists� as stated by Anti-Flag, the tour�s headliner. Anti-Flag, much like the rest of the bands on the tour, preached endless propaganda about conspiracies, inequalities, and other things that would be appropriate for a Michael Moore movie. Also like a Michael Moore movie, the listener was provided with more complete untruths than fact. The tour was rounded out by primarily punk-based bands, including Strike Anywhere, the AKAs, and ska legend Mike Park. Midtown appeared as the only �emo� band on the bill, recognizing that they did not fit the same mold as the other bands. �Certain nights kids love us, other nights they�re not so into us and aren�t so open minded,� explained Midtown guitarist Heath Saraceno.
Mike Park opened the show with his very open-minded music about fighting racism and sexism, as well as preaching for world peace. Park is the founder of independent label Asian Man Records and former frontman of ska pioneers Skankin� Pickle, despite his solo acoustic project sounding little to nothing like his older project. The AKAs followed him, bringing their punk and emo influenced rock sound to the stage, but not getting much of a fan reaction. They are a relatively new band, and it really showed, as they were a little sloppy and did not manage to garner a great response. Midtown played third in the lineup, rocking to almost all new songs off their summer release �Forget What You Know.� The more recent CD has put a different edge on Midtown�s older, catchier, definitive pop-punk sound. The songs showcased at the show a lot of musical growth since their formation six years ago in a Rutgers dorm.
Following Midtown was Strike Anywhere, natives of Richmond, to come rock to the heavily punk-rock crowd. They put on the best performance of the night, getting the most kids into the music as well as showing off the best stage presence. Anti-Flag closed the show with the die-hard fans going nuts for them, despite a lackluster performance. All the songs sound the same, the message is overdone (do they really support anarchy?), and they really don�t perform any better than other bands in the genre.
The point of the Rock Against Bush Tour is to spread the word that punk rockers don�t support George W. Bush. Strike Anywhere preaches out in favor of human rights, socialized health care, and against the war in Iraq, but appears to be the only band on the tour to be completely informed on politics. The other bands on the tour feel that, in this election, there isn�t any particular reason to support John Kerry, either, but rather merely want to promote the hate of the President. Guitarist Tyler Rambone of Midtown summed it up, �I�m not pro-Kerry by any means. But I am more anti-this administration. I don�t like George Bush, I don�t like Cheney. But I don�t trust John Kerry either. But I don�t like going to other countries on tour and having them look down upon us because of George W. Bush.�
OVERALL: 5 out of 5 stars if the show was just Strike Anywhere and Midtown. Otherwise, it gets dropped to a 2.5 out of 5.
Back to Reviews Main
