Back-to-back shows don’t always deliver a one-two punch but ANTI-FLAG’s second 20th anniversary gig at the Hard Luck Bar nearly eclipsed the first. The punk trailblazers were sided once again with Amnesty International and their lineup saw a few major and minor tweaks, with SAINT ALVIA and Boston’s MAKE DO AND MEND joining HOSTAGE CALM and respectively noting you can’t measure the amount of emotion that’s instilled in lyrics and chords. That rang true for most of the Friday night. Where songs from Chris Martin and James Carroll stung deep, witnessing Anti-Flag roll through Underground Network, The Terror State and even 2006’s For Blood And Empire, induced flashbacks of how politically-charged outbursts and cuts about feelings used to connect. The truth is, they still do. Even after ten albums, 140 songs and a large number of tours next to friends, they still find a way to sink in.
