There Is No War Without Warriors

2009-10-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Antidote Tour! We're going to party at The Cathouse tonight. If you're in the greater Glasgow area, stop on by!

Our friend Sarah came out tonight who hung with us for a while on warped, and then various other tours around the world. She made vegan cookies, which made me happy! Hi Sarah!

Looks like the previous luck we had with busses has been passed on to Alexisonfire on this tour. For the second time, they found themselves stranded on the side of the highway last night, stalled out. They finally showed up around 4pm today in a tourist bus after what looked like a very long night. Our bus works fine though (knock on wood), and our bus driver, Richard, is awesome.

Yesterday was exciting! We went to the BBC studios in London to record a few songs for a radio show being broadcast on Friday. Check out the Punk Show with Mike Davis on Radio 1 some time on Friday for a few hot tracks and some commentary from the band! I even got to play drums on one of the tracks! I was stoked just to be there, though, at such a legendary studio where Billy Bragg, Joy Division, and The Beatles have all been recorded, among many others. I thought to myself, while sitting in the BBC WC, "How many legends have crapped on this john before me? Paul effing Mccartney may have squeezed one out here long ago."

Anyway, bad joking aside, it was truly an amazing experience. I took real pictures while I was there as well as Blackberry ones, perhaps I'll put them up one day.

Besides that, this tour has been a whirlwind of working, driving, tuning, and nutella. In short, it's been a blast! Here's a quick recap of our adventure so far-

Oct 5-
Flew to Pittsburgh to prep gear. Slept on Neil's couch, and actually slept a full night for the first and last time in a long time.

Oct 6-
Flew to London. Airplanes don't do much for me.

Oct 7-
Cambridge, UK. Met 4 Years Strong and the new Alexis crew for the first time. All amazing dudes, was instantly stoked to be on this tour! Hell yeah! Show went really well. I sat in awe of Alexisonfire's set for the first and by no means the last time on this tour.

Oct 8-
Norwich, UK. UEA was a good time. I remember running through the entire backstage multiple times just to get from stage left to stage right. I also saw Steele naked this night, and I hadn't even talked to him yet.

Oct 9-
Oxford, UK. I think this is the first English town I've been to, looked around, and instantly gone "Damn, this is beautiful". It was a great city, BUT- funny story;

I woke up and went around to the trailer to unload, and wouldn't you know it a big white van had parked right behind us, preventing me from loading in. Richard went in to a few stores around, and after having no luck finding out who it belonged to, was finally told it was owned by some guy who had gone in to London for the day, and wouldn't be back for hours. Oh no!

He came to me and said "Well, we could try to push it out of the way..."

I laughed, and responded "There is no way we could push this huge van out of the way by ourselves..."

As I said that, I placed my hand on the hood and gave it a playful shove, to display just how heavy it was. I pushed down on it, and the thing rolled back. I laid into it a little bit, and pushed it back a couple feet on my own.

Marc and Neil came out to meet me and we opened up the trailer, me being pretty satisfied with myself for having just resolved to situation. I noticed we needed just a couple more inches behind us, so I gave the van one last shove to clear the ramp. Seconds later, a huge cell phone salesman came bounding towards me saying "What are you doing touching my property?!". He got in my face, chest puffed out, getting on me for moving his car out of my way. I told him we were told it belonged to someone in London, and I asked him to move it. He said he didn't have his keys. He said "I wouldn't touch your property!" I said if it's in your way, you probably should move it. He said our bus was blocking his store. "Push it outta the way then..." I thought meekly. Either way, this guy's story wasn't really adding up.

At this point, I just gave up and started loading in, ignoring him. I don't have anything to prove, and I wasn't about to take a beating from this guy over such a stupid argument. Anyway, he was trying to start a fight, he's probably just pissed about owning a store next to a club and having busses block his store front all the time. It's not my fault though, there's no need to be a meat head about it.

Oct 10-
Nottingham, UK. I got up early for the first time here! I walked downtown to the visitors center, went to some farmers market, got panphlets on Robin Hood, and saw some old shit. Churches, theaters, etc. Didn't make it to the castle though, maybe next time! We got the whole downstairs of this club to relax in, and they made us delicious food in their kitchen. Partied briefly afterward with Sean (AF's Euro booking agent) at an Irish pub his family owns. I was swarmed by middle aged women, bought beers in rapid succession, and laughed at for my accent. I'm glad I don't have the Texas accent so many who move there seem to pick up, these Brits would rip me to shreds!

Oct 11-
Bristol, UK. Went for a jog that morning and got very lost. I kept jogging around looking for the university we were playing at, and by some stroke of luck made it there before load in. I was getting worried, I kept asking people I saw if there was a club around, and everyone just said "There's no club in this town, maybe the next town over..." I then just had to load in in my short shorts and catch shit from everyone for it. Yeah, I jog, so what?

Oct 12-
Brighton, UK. Day off, sorta. Met a guy named Pedro who put a new bridge on 2's bass. A Badass Bass 2 bridge, if you're curious, which I know you are. I got to buy cables here too, and experience the youth culture clubbing on a Monday night. Can someone explain that to me? I coulda sworn I saw 16 year olds going out to the clubs along the beach at like 1am. Isn't it a school night? Either way, isn't it a Monday night? What's the deal with Brighton, and why is it so awesome?

Oct 13-
Show in Brighton. After Alexis' set a huge security guy stormed up to the dressing room and got in George's face. Apparently the guy was letting kids fall over the barricade, not catching them as they surfed over, just watching as they fell and hurt themselves. George gave him a little shove with his foot, not a kick mind you, a shove and said "hey, what the fuck man?". They dude was pissed so he tried to start a fight with George after the set. Neltie got in front of the guy, and with a lot of shouting and arguing going on, Neltie was trying to push him towards the door as I was screaming "Get the fuck out of the room right now!" also pushing my way in front of him. It got quiet for a second, and he raised his finger right to my nose and said "don't you fucking yell at me". I shat my pants a little bit. The guy was enormous. I said "Then get the fuck out" as somebody came and grabbed him and dragged him out. It all got resolved, but I certainly hope that guy is no longer employed for that security company. Tense moments.

Oct 14-
London, UK. Good show. Big club. Lotta kids.

Oct 15-
BBC Day! Later on we did a gig at an Easpak store, the guys played an all clash cover set. It was a great time!

Oct 16-
This brings us to Glasgow. Here we are! I'm gonna go enjoy the after party before it gets too late. I will keep you all up to date soon with more exciting stories from Eastpak! I'm sooo busy though! Check out the other project I've been working on that's been sucking up every free moment! Fun Fun Fun Fest.

Peace!
Max

2009-09-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hey There! It's been a while!

I would like to apologize for my severe lack of posting during our recent trip to Europe. I have a couple legitimate excuses, for instance I only had access to the internet about 10% of the time, if that. The rare moments I had online were largely spent talking to family back home, since I couldn't use my phone. On top of that, my job was a bit different, so I was getting used to some changes. Mainly, though, I was feeling a little burned out from the consistent three or so months of touring, so any free time I had besides working/calling home were mainly used to sleep or walk around wherever we happened to be.

Excuses excuses! I'm back, well rested, and ready for a few more months on the road! I wanted to thank everyone I've met on the last tour that said they've read this blog (especially the one kid who there's a picture of below, you're awesome!), and that encouraged me to keep going, I'll try not to let you down this time. I've realized, too, that when I blog about things that happen on the road, I tend to remember more details, and therefore gain a little more from the experience. It's different from writing in a Journal, cause I get to discuss what happened and gain perspective from others. You're not about to start hearing about my feelings and personal crises, though, so don't worry.

Updates-
On October 5th, I'm heading to Pittsburgh to meet up with the band, and then we'll be heading back to Europe for the Antidote Tour. We got to do a few shows with Ghost Of A Thousand on our last run, and we had a great time. Their guitar tech really hooked me up a few times, which was really nice, and the band was a lot of fun. Of course we have a history with Alexisonfire, but I still have not met anyone from Four Year Strong, so I hope they're nice guys!

The last tour went well, overall, I guess...

We had my new friend Thomas out with us running sound. He's from Graz, Austria, and was able to play translator/interpreter if we needed it. He's a great sound engineer and tech as well, and as a person very positive and fun. I hope we get to see more of him on the next tour.

We have a new tour manager, Neltie, who was really great and had to deal with a few pretty heavy crises, but got us all through them. She'll be with us on the next run, so if you see a tattooed, official looking black cloud walking around, say hi and try to cheer her up! Apparently she just helped pull a man from a burning car that flipped over along the highway in Florida, saving his life. I'm not making that up. Ask her about it.

First off, our bus was cursed. We had to let our first driver go for a number of reasons (including him screaming at a hotel clerk about a situation that Neltie had already resolved, essentially being a dick), which was done more or less professionally but made for a tense couple of days. While he was our primary driver, we were somehow routed through a boarder crossing into Croatia when we were supposed to go around the country, and promptly turned away adding hours to our trip and stress into Neltie's life. After he was gone, our bus power got fucked up in Czech, caught fire, and fried most of the electronics plugged in on board, including the lights and AC unit. If all of that wasn't bad enough, about 20 minutes from the airport on the last night of tour, around 4am, our trailer blew a tire. It was completely shredded. Marc and I had a time trying to put on the spare, exhausted, with a few rusty tools. There's a picture capturing our excitement below somewhere.

I enjoyed riding on that bus though (I enjoy riding on any tour bus, it's much more luxurious than a van or SUV, which are my usual modes of transportation, even without power or AC or light) because, like most euro buses, it had windows in the bunks. You'd think this would be the norm, right? But in US buses, the bunks are just little cubbyholes closed off on one side by a curtain. I loved being able to enjoy my insomnia by staring out the window at the moon dancing over alien landscapes, and eventually seeing the sun rise and the little villages we would drive through come to life. There's something very magical about Europe for me, especially Bavaria and the area surrounding, that makes me feel inspired and lucky just to be passing through there.

The festivals we played were an eclectic mix of organization, chaos, huge bands, and 80 year old men singing traditional Czech folk songs. I think Pukkelpop was my favorite. I got to see Dinosaur Jr and 50 Cent on the same day with about 30,000 other people. Some of these festivals were bigger than anything I've ever been to! Of course Redding and Leeds were massive and everything they were rumored to be. Czech was weird, fun, but weird. I think I'm allowed to say that, cause those are my people. I slept through my day off in Budapest, not seeing much (I'm bad with jet lag), and spent way too much of my (and Chris Head's) money on a day off in London. I owe him like 70 pounds, which, with the current conversion rate, equals out to about $40,000 I think.

But you know what was not expensive in the UK? Getting sick.

I had to go to the hospital while we were in the UK (stoke-on-trent). I had an infection that had been festering for a few days and was pretty painful, I won't go into specifics, but it's something that I have actually dealt with in the US before with my insurance and our health care system. Can you see where this is going? We took a cab to the emergency clinic and walked in to a nearly empty waiting room. I filled out half a page of information, and was asked to wait. Within 15 minutes I was SITTING IN FRONT of a doctor. No nurses, no pain scale, no insurance, no nothing. A doctor, asking me what the problem was, was sitting in front of me. We discussed, he handed me a prescription, I walked across the street and filled it. After half and hour and about $20, my questions were answered and problems solved. For a similar outcome here, I've payed hundreds of dollars (I still have collectors calling me) and waited multiple hours, and that is WITH insurance.

The UK has the NHS (National Health Service), a single-payer health care system that began in 1948 with the mission on making health care FREE to the average man regardless or employment, wealth, or anything else. In fact, it's 3 core principals, available on the NHS website, are-
* That it meet the needs of everyone
* That it be free at the point of delivery
* That it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay
The NHS is also one of the leading employers in the UK, employing about 1 in 20 people. What a concept! I guess there's a reason that the UK is listed as 18 on the WHO list of leading health care systems in the world.

It's amazing that 60 years later, when implementing health care reform, our government refuses to even bring this concept to the table. We still can't imagine a world without the hands of the wealthy and the insurance company CEOs in our gaping sores and abscesses along side our doctors. What most people don't see in a single payer system is that it won't replace these hands with those of the government. It's within our power to make it OUR system, but right now it looks like that power has been taken away. Obama dropped the ball on this one. I don't see any positive outcome with the options on the table at the moment, and after experiencing what we COULD have, I'm that much more upset. Even if it was never to be, beginning the discussion about health care without the idea of a single payer system is a concession to the right.

I won't get too deep into it, I'm no good at political rants, but check out Democracy Now's coverage, what I've heard has been good.

Also check out this new blog we're following! The band forgetters is a new trio out of Brooklyn featuring Blake from Jawbreaker/Jets to Brazil, Kevin from Against Me!, and Caroline from Bitchin'. They haven't recorded anything yet, but Blake has been using the interest in his new project to blog about some social and political issues and be read. I found it interesting, I hope you do too.

Alright now I'm just rambling! I look forward to keeping you all up to date over the following few months. Here are some pictures from various adventures and bored moments in the old world;

See you soon,
Max

Break Down

2009-07-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to sounds of banging and power tools underneath my head. At first I assumed it was one of the bunks around me, seeing as a few members of our crew's girlfriends are out with us at the moment. I ignored it and fell back asleep, but woke up an hour later to the same sounds. It's a day off, and yes I was so tired from the last week I confused the sound of an air drill with people fucking.

Anyway, I walked up to the front of the bus to find out at some point last night the BRAKES just stopped working. I was told this very casually, and I asked Radar how he handled it. "Oh I just coasted on in to that gas station over there. I coulda used the air brakes, but you all woulda wound up crumpled up at the foot of your bunks."

It's a little scary to think about. The brakes just stopped working last night. I could have woken up broken, paralyzed, or dead, but I just slept right through it. Not to be too dramatic, but the last thing I could have done in life was eat pizza and ride my bike across a parking lot. Now we're all sitting in the front lounge, talking about other bands on the tour and watching TV, waiting for the bus to get fixed. How often does this happen? How often are we this close to careening off the side of the highway and not waking up? Thank goodness Radar is our driver. Above quite a few people, I would trust him with my life.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a little while. My girlfriend, Julie, was out on tour with us for a week, so I was distracted. It's great having someone from my real life come hang out in my touring world, I found out. She really enjoyed experiencing what this is like, and I appreciated being offered a different perspective on these things that maybe I have started to take for granted. I had a conversation about this the other day when someone asked me what it's like touring so much. I don't pretend that my job is very hard, and I am constantly grateful that I found a place in this world that allows me to support myself through two things I love, music and traveling. Though, like any other job, doing this day in and day out can give it a certain level of monotony. After a couple weeks of this tour in particular, I begin to wake up and look outside and say, "oh look at that, another parking lot." Having a positive, open minded, amazing person like Julie come out for a while is like a slap in the face. It reminded me how many opportunities I have every day, and how awesome what I'm doing is. I only wish she could have stayed out longer!

That said, this last week has been like the previous ones. Our day off in Pittsburgh one week ago was pretty awesome, thanks in large part to Justin. I got myself and Julie a hotel room, and as I was struggling through multiple travel web sites, staring at $200+ per night rates, Justin sat down and starting looking shit up. He went on Price Line, and long story short found me a room at the fucking Hilton, right on the corner of downtown Pittsburgh, for next to nothing. We also ate at an amazing Indian restaurant on Justin's recommendation, but besides that just ran errands and chilled the rest of the day.

Highlights from this week-

-Watching the new Harry Potter after the show in Scranton. It was good, though I started falling asleep half way through. It was out of pure exhaustion though, the movie was great.

-Seeing my friends Alex and J in Buffalo. I love Buffalo, NY. I spend a good amount of off time there. Alex, J, and my other friend there Sheena have an amazing band (honestly one of my favorite bands out there) called Lemuria. Check them out!!!

-Biking from Camden, NJ, to Philadelphia for vegetarian cheese steaks. Then, later, throwing merch into bins, while holding the tent so it wouldn't fly away, trying not to get anything wet in the sudden storm. The Gallows tent went flying and broke in half upon landing. Marc has the hardest job on this tour, that's for sure.

-This-

-Everything I did with Julie. She's awesome.

I think we still have 5 hours of fixing and traveling before we get to Boston. I'm antsy, I like Boston a lot, was really hoping to check out some record stores and eat delicious food. Right now my options are Dunkin' Donuts and Cracker Barrel. Well, see you in Mansfield (I hope).

Kisses,
Max

Mon. July 13 2009. 4:21 p.m.

2009-07-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

So, even though I live the stories. Isn't Max an amazing blogger? I am in awe of his blogging abilities. The links, the wit, the sass, all untouchable.

I just want to personally thank Max. I am a reader. I am a believer.

Other than that!
How are ya?
Any of you all been to a warped show? Where? Was it righteous?

Being on warped with Alexis has me excited for our UK/European takeover! And we are also in the planning stages for a U.S and Canadian return.

Stay awesome.
Much love.
Much respect.
Chris 2

2009-07-10T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a little flashback to a couple weeks ago, all the way back in Phoenix, AZ-

We took part in a bowling competition to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation, a foundation that has raised millions of dollars for leukemia, AIDS, and cancer research. All the participating bands met at the bowling alley, and were teamed up with a person that had bid to play with them, hence the fund raising aspect. Our 6th team member was Lori, a long time friend of Anti-Flag, and apparently a semi-pro bowler. We took it as a good sign when she showed up with her own bowling shoes. We bowled next to friends Underoath the first round, and later on in the lane next to Bad Religion. Now I've never met Greg Graffin before, and I did not meet him that night, but I wish I could share with you to comedy of his mannerisms as he scored strikes and spares in the lane next to ours. Every time, without fail, he turned around, with his hand on his chin and a contemplative expression on his face, as if to say "Did I just score that? I didn't see, what just happened here?".Nerd.

It was great bowling that night. We were cheering each other on and getting really into the game. 2 got real competitive and animated, Pat jumped in and rolled a few for me while I rested my arm, and of course the legend Neil Linn was rolling turkeys and carrying us through our rough spots.

It showed in our scores, we made it to the final round! Now there's no telling how we made it that far, none of us were very exceptional bowlers to be honest. I, personally, was happy to roll over 100. I think the key, though, was that none of us were exceptionally bad bowlers either. We were strong and constant. In the end, we came in 4th place, but seeing as first place was the local radio station, and third place was Vans shoes, we decided (ourselves) that we actually came in second place, just behind Less Than Jake. Congratulations to us!

Toronto was fun today. Neil and I had to take all the equipment from the main stage and wheel it to one of the smaller stages, and then tomorrow after the show we have to roll it back again. The band helped out warped by moving to a smaller stage to make room for Alexisonfire on the main stage, just for the Canadian dates. If you think you may have heard Alexisonfire before, but aren't sure, then you're probably not from Canada. They're a band from Toronto, and they're they're huge north of the border. They have 4 gold records here, they're sort of a big deal. If you aren't aware (I was not until recently), Canada has a very rich, unique musical culture, thanks in part to some laws concerning the rights of Canadian based bands and radio play. I think it's kind of a cool law that supports their artists federally.

And here are some pictures to keep you entertained until next time;

Neil and I-

The follow up to the party joke-

Sleepy Marc code-

2009-07-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Early day today. Parked at around 9:30am and made it to the stage shortly after, only to find out the guys were playing at 11:15am. It was like we rolled out of bed and already the stage crew was shouting at us to get going. Sleepy eyed and under-caffeinated, The Flag took the stage and nonetheless had a decent show. The crowd look like this making a huge circle pit around Stu, our sound guy;

Way to go breakfast club. I don't know how these kids have so much energy this early in the day. I mean, I'm an early riser, but punk shows usually won't get me moving until after dark. Thanks for making it worth it Cleveland!

Really that's it. Being done that early didn't leave me much to anticipate for the rest of the day, so I decided to bike around Tremont for a while. Just past the bridge into the venue there was a small side road that shot up a huge hill which I decided to go up for the hell of it, and at the top found a cool little 'historic downtown' area with coffee shops, pubs, churches, schools and a scoop shop. On my way out I saw a little bike shop and pulled over to see if they had a tube patch kit. I looked inside at piles of abandoned bike carcasses, and what looked like a former service desk piled high with invoices and bike parts. I awkwardly stood out front by a couple guys eating Chinese food on the curb till one said "Who are you and what do you want?". They started asking me about the tour, and making fun of me for riding a fixed gear (though it isn't a fixed gear, their mistake). The proprietor of the establishment, Mitch, made up for it by truing my wheels, adjusting my breaks, and giving me tips on how not to get my shit stolen. It just goes to show you; sometimes it pays to take the road less traveled.

Also today I got to watch Fake Problems, who were on warped tour for all of one day, but it was great to see them either way.

More excitement - I got yelled at by some huge shirtless guy for not responding when someone knocked on the door of the porta potty I was in. It wasn't even him! He shook the whole thing while I was zipping up my pants, and held the door closed as I tried to come out. When I slipped out, he said 'hey buddy why don't you answer the fucking door next time when someone knocks, huh?'. I pointed to the door, and dumbly asked, 'oh, isn't there a sign on there when someone is in there?', pointing to the red 'in use' sign that pops up when you lock the door. He asked 'what did you just say?!' like three times as I repeated what I said. I got a blank stare, and then 'well somebody could have crawled in there and dummy locked it.'. Not wanting to take this incredibly stupid argument any further, I didn't mention how it's impossible to crawl in or out of a locked porta potty. He asked what band i was with and what stage I was on, I told him and he said 'they don't have porto potties over there?'. Me not being over there, what would it matter? I told him I was just passing through, and took off before he got violent. So goes the story of how the porta potty nazi gave me a lesson in crapping etiquette.

Anyway, that was my exciting day. Early morning, bikes and tough guys. Tomorrow, we invade Canada. I love Toronto!

See you soon,
Max

2009-07-08T16:13:00.001-07:00

We got pranked today.

These wound up all around the venue today. They were convincing enough that around 5pm I asked Neil "So what's the deal with the party?". I went over and helped at the merch booth for about an hour, during which time I got asked the same question by 100 different kids.

"Sorry, there is no party."

It got pretty frustrating when kids didn't believe me when I told them it was a joke. Some thought I was withholding the info because I didn't deem them 'cool' enough to join. Yeah right! I'm the biggest nerd out here buddy, I'm in no position to judge!

At dinner I realized that a lot of the other bands on the tour saw the flier, and most didn't realized it was a joke. I'll be the only one here, in the venue, on the bus tonight. I'm prepared for knocks on the door all night wondering where the party is.

Anyway, I came to find out who perpetrated the prank. Now we gotta think of a good way to get them back. Any ideas? Please give me some, we gotta get 'em good.

Besides that, the show was spectacular today. I love seeing bands play home town shows in the middle of tour. It's like just as the shows are starting to blend in to one another, here comes an over the top, high energy show with, while maybe not the most kids watching out of any show, they're at least the most invested kids. The pressure was on today, before they even started they had 50 friends and family watching from the stage. I ran over my checklist 100 times, handed off the guitars, and crossed my fingers.

Everything worked and was more or less in tune. Mission accomplished.

Also today I watched Less Than Jake and thought about the first time I ever saw them. I was standing in the same spot on stage, but in Gainesville, FL at The Fest. Good times.

See you soon,
Max

2009-07-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Ohio!

We peaced out early from the show today, the guys were very anxious to get back to Pittsburgh. I'll be anxious to get there when we swing through on our day off next Monday, and I can pick up my sweetie from the airport. I got back to the bus from dinner after helping Marc pack up merch, and 2 was bouncing off the walls in anticipation for his return home. Radar (the brave captain of our ship on wheels) stumbled in, blurry eyed from four hours of sleep, saying he just wanted to hammer this drive out so he could get there and get a full days sleep. Neil felt inclined to help him out a little, check out the video. He drove for a good 10 minutes while we laughed and Radar took a piss. I cowered behind one of the seats. Not that I don't trust Neil, but I've driven an RV and trailer before, and that felt out of control, I couldn't imagine a fucking bus and trailer.

Suffice it to say, we're all fine and he didn't crash. He is a legend, after all. The real deal, Neil Linn.

That was the most exciting thing to happen today. The tour took us to somewhere in Indiana. The show was good, kids were excited, weather was great. Also, I finally felt back in the 95-100% range today as far as health is concerned.

Tomorrow I'll wake up in Pittsburgh on an empty bus. Now I'm gonna find something to watch and something to eat.

-Max

2009-07-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hello fans of The Flag,

Warped tour 2009, who could have guessed it would be so tolerable? Even coming out of the haze of sickness that was unexpectedly cast upon me as we crossed the border into Texas, I realized I'm maintaining positivity and I'm still stoked to be out here right now. Today's day off in St. Louis has offered us some time to reflect and recover from our experience so far.

This is not the band's first time on this tour, nor is it mine. Last summer this all seemed a lot more difficult, though. Perhaps it was the fact that I was stuck behind a merch booth and wishing I was working closer to the action, and now I am. Maybe it's the actual make up of the tour. Last summer I was working with The Street Dogs, one of the punkish bands on the tour, and we felt like the minority. It was like the tour was booked and we were added as an after thought along with The Briggs, The Aggrolites and a couple others. Decent bands, but not taking the spotlight on the tour. There were not enough of these type of bands to get kids that like these type of bands to come hang out with us in parking lots, especially when they had to deal with a high volume screamo/emo/whatevercore bands to see them. We felt alone, like outcasts on our own tour, and a little resentment towards the bands who were becoming the life of the party.

Now, we find ourselves out here with bands like Bad Religion, NOFX, Less Than Jake, The AKAs, and soon to be Flogging Molly and The Bouncing Souls, and it feels more like we exist along side the bands of alternate genres, as opposed to competing against them. This summer I will remember as being filled with high fives and helping hands. Yeah, it's hot as balls. No, this is not an easy tour no matter how you go about it, but I'm staying positive without telling myself to be, and I'm happy to be here.

Today, though, I woke up and rode my bike up and down Delmar after getting some free air for my bike. I found some wheat grass and juice, as well as a cool record store. Many noodles were eaten at many mediocre noodle restaurants, and I ate some Ben and Jerry's (apparently I can't always get a discount when I tell them I'm from Vermont). We saw a movie called Away We Go, which 2 and I agreed was one of those good idea-poor execution type films. The most interesting part was seeing Alison from the amazing band Discount in the previews with her new band, Dead Weather Now I'm back at the Hotel, ready to go to sleep to wake up and get back to the grind tomorrow.

See you soon,
Max

Monday. July 6th. 6:09 p.m.

2009-07-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Out on Warped Tour 2009.
Shows have been great.
We have a new friend helping us out on this tour, let me introduce you to Max, guitar tech/all around good dude.
I gave him the log in information for this blog, so hopefully we'll be blessed with some updates from him.

listening to the new Alexis On Fire - new Big D and the Kids Table - new The A.K.A's albums.
good time for new music.

take it easy, but take it.
2

Tuesday. June 9. 2009. 8:55 am

2009-06-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

So today is the day.
Try and stay calm
Try and act cool.

I'll go to the ice rink this morning.
No one there knows I play in a band or have a record out today.

It's hot in pittsburgh.
But perhaps I'm just uber sensitive.
Not to mention, on record release day, on a show day, the Pittsburgh Penguins have a huge game 6. PUKE CITY.

Crazy day yesterday.
Skated for an hour and a half.
Practiced for our CD Release show tonight, we played "Punk By The Book." crazy.
Had an eye appointment, I have 20/15 vision. That is better than 20/20 my friends.
They say I am a perfect example of Lasik Surgery working. Poster child. ha. TECHNOLOGY MAN!
I drove home in the pittsburgh sun, eyes dilated. Trying/hoping not to crash.
Then spent the rest of the day on the computer or cell phone.
YES, I LOVE TECHNOLOGY.
Had a great conversation with GREENPEACE that I am following up today.
We have always wanted to work on a campaign with them, it looks as if it may finally come to fruition.

Ok.
Deep breath.
All is great.

Much Love
Much Respect
2

Tuesday June 2nd 2009. 11:31 a.m.

2009-06-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

In one week we release THE PEOPLE or THE GUN.
I'm sick to my stomach nervous. The record is streaming on our myspace today.
I hope like hell it means as much to one person as much as it means to the four of us.

The last 2 weeks in Europe were insane.
Our flight home from Copenhagen Denmark was a painless 8 hours and 50 min.
Excpet for the last 20 minutes of the flight, while descending into Washington D.C. we hit turbulence.
I've been on a ton of planes. Been through a ton of turbulence.
This was not bad.
However, it must have been worse to the patrons around me.
Almost every other person was vomiting.
It was brutal. Marc Code was watching Stand By Me on the in-flight entertainment system.
It was very much like the vomit scene from that movie.
BRUTAL.

The tour itself was almost as brutal.
We had a flight or lengthy drive almost every day.
It was a difficult schedule to say the least.
But the hour or so we played together each night made it all worth it.
It is ridiculously humbling to be in this band.
I never thought for a second I would play music outside of my mothers garage, let alone in Krasnodar Russia, or any other town for that matter.
I never thought for a second any one would give a damn about the notes my fingers played, or the words sung.
I only hope that everyone who buys a record or comes out to a show realizes that we give a damn about each and everyone one of them.

Thank you to every member of this community, family.
It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of something that is bigger than any individual.

Much respect.
2

Tuesday May 26 2009 10:38 p.m.

2009-05-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Backstage at the AB BOX in Brussels.
The show was great. The room sterile.
We put out sound, I could hear it leave our amps. It just got sucked into a vortex.
However, the 600 some in attendance gave back quite enough.

Pat took his drums into the swirling crowd for our updated version of Power To The Peaceful.

This tour has been a whirlwind.
So much traveling. Today is the first day that actually seemed to move quickly.

--- listening to the new Red Lights Flash album. (www.myspace.com/redlightsflash)

Team Austria is doing quite well for us.
Christoph of Red Lights Flash is our guitar tech for this run.
Thomas is our Tour Manager and Front of House Engineer.
Both are Austrian. Both are generous and kind human beings.

Killing time before I find a web stream of the Pittsburgh Penguins game tonite.

Tuesday May 12 2009 2:51 p.m.

2009-05-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

So much going on.
I finished recording/producing the Dandelion Snow record: www.myspace.com/dandelionsnow
Talking to a friend of mine who works at a historic studio in Nashville, seeing if he'll master the album.
Master the album to 1/2" tape. Record over some Shania Twain hits.

The People or The Gun seems to be well received by the reviewers and, um, downloaders.
I'm not shocked or upset that the record leaked. I actually think the record is great and want people to hear it.
The only thing that is kind of a bum out is the art packaging/lyrics and essays are pretty important to this record.

Haven't heard the new green day or rancid records yet. Some say they're really good.

Been practicing for this upcoming tour. We start in St. Petersburg, Russia, I'm almost out of passport pages.
Hopefully I am not deported.

Working in some old songs we don't normally play (Stars and Stripes, One People, One Struggle, etc.) and some new one's off of The People or The Gun (When All The Lights Go Out, Sodom, Gomorrah, You Are Fired.).

Also, cooking up a super sacrilegious 7". An unreleased track about gay rights called "A Brief Misunderstanding of the Queens and Kings", put out on a friends (who plays in a great band) label.
How's that for vague.

In the meantime I've been talking to people, doing interviews and the like, all for the new record.
#1 question I've been asked...
It's been a year and a half between The People or The Gun and Bright Lights of America, why so soon?

Answer: By building our own studio we were able to write and record without over thinking the process. By releasing the record with SideOneDummy we can put the record out much faster than we could on RCA. To us it keeps the songs fresh, and pertinent. Instead of writing the songs for a month, demoing them for a month, recording in a studio for 2 months, deliver to a label and waiting 4 months for them to be released, which means a song you wrote almost a year ago is just being released now, we opted to do it much more quickly and keep it as relevant as possible.

Also, our favorite bands were way more prolific than we will ever hope to be.

The Clash-a record every year
The Clash
1977
Give 'Em Enough Rope
1978
London Calling
1979
Sandinista!
1980

Dead Kennedys-a record every year.
Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
1980
In God We Trust Inc.
1981
Plastic Surgery Disasters
1982

The Beatles-almost 2 records per year. incredible.
Please Please Me
1963
With The Beatles
1963
A Hard Day's Night
1964
Beatles For Sale
1964
Help!
1965
Rubber Soul
1965
Revolver
1966
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1967
Magical Mystery Tour
1967
The Beatles (The White Album)
1968 (2 disc)
Yellow Submarine
1969
Abbey Road
1969
Let It Be
1970

take it easy. but take it.
2

Monday. May 4th 2009 9:36 A.M.

2009-05-04T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hoodwink show was far greater than expected.
Playing your favorite bands songs is fucking taxing. So afraid to fuck 'em up.
The music that occurred before us was called Brokencyde.
They opened with what I assumed was a joke, a barrage of ignorance. But boy was I wrong. I love hip/hop and rap. I hate homophobia.
I never, especially on a festival show, want to use our stage time to talk about any of the bands playing.
I feel that it is up to us to separate ourselves and that people are smart enough to make up their own mind. People can decide for themselves what type or kind of message and music that they want to participate in.

BUT! This shit was too much. I politely told their crowd that Anti-Flag does not believe its cool or funny to use homophobic// ignorant speech, and that it is not a part of our scene. And then I said I hoped those dudes come down with some Swine Flu. Wakka-Wakka-Wakka.

Anyways.... The set was awesome, we didn't nearly fuck up as bad as we expected. Our boys in Set Your Goals, Outernational and The Ataris we're there for emotional support.

The Setlist:

London Calling
Police On My Back
--------------
Career Opportunities
I'm So Bored With The U.S.A
Clash City Rockers
White Riot
--------------
Janie Jones
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Safe European Home
(Guns of Brixton - Interlude)
I Fought The Law

In the insanity of the day, I did not get to film/post the video for Track 4 off of The People or The Gun, "We Are The One". I'll do that today.

Lastly, the 4 of us are headed to the editing studio to check in on a cut of a video we shot last Monday for "When All The Lights Go Out." I can give you one hint. FIRE.

Take it easy, but take it.

Chris 2

Wednesday April 22nd 10:56 p.m.

2009-04-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of correspondence.
Working on getting all the pieces of the puzzle together for the release of The People or The Gun.
Trying to organize interesting things to do with the songs, exclusive vinyl colors, bonus E.P., hooking up with friends to release a 7", etc.

I've been working in our studio recording the new Dandelion Snow album. The songs cover a huge spectrum of sounds. My favorite music has always been music that sonically and lyrically relays stories, emotion in the music, stories that people can really identify with. Thats the kind of songwriter DS is. Its been awesome. Check out some of his music at http://www.myspace.com/dandelionsnow

Each day, sandwiched in between waking up, playing ice hockey, The People or The Gun preparation, and Dandelion Snow recording, (whew!) we have been working on a fine selection of songs by, the only band that matters, THE CLASH.
Highlights include Janie Jones and Career Opportunities.

Hope you are all awesome.
Much Respect.
2

P.S. I got Game 5 pens vs. flyers tickets for tomorrow. How did that song go? I am so excited? And I just can't hide it? I think so...

Thursday. April 9th 2009 12:58 p.m.

2009-04-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

New idea.
Songs of the Week: WEEK 1

Dandelion Snow - The Grand Scheme of Things - New Demos
Rancid - Last One To Die - Let The Dominoes Fall
Bullet Treatment - everyone song but the one I sing
The Ghost of a Thousand- Bright Lights - New Hopes, New Demonstrations

What songs/records are you listening to? GO!

Monday. April 6. 2009 3:22 p.m.

2009-04-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

15 years ago today, Kurt Cobain died.
Long before I ever thought of playing bass, I found a guitar in my Uncles laundry room.
This event happened to occur the same week Nirvana Nevermind came out.

Drain You was the first song I learned how to play. I had limited musical experience at this age, from my brothers Mustang in the garage I could hear N.W.A. - Fuck Tha Police. I owned my own copy of MC Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, which was replaced by a cassette from a friend of my cousin. This cassette had Bad Religion - No Control on one side and a Cringer record on the other.
For some reason, no song on any of those albums made me HAVE TO learn how to play music the way Drain You did.
It spoke to my musical soul, and it still does.

Peace

Here's another, just cause it makes me smile when I watch it.

Saturday. April 4th 2009 6:39 p.m.

2009-04-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

G 20 protest. London.

Tuesday. March 31. 2009 9:11 p.m.

2009-03-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

So. Now that you all know we have a record coming out JUNE 9.
Hopefully you have all listened to the song at www.sideonedummy.com/anti-flag

Now, I bring Nardwuar. I could watch these interviews for hours. I met him once in Canada, and he gave me a copy of his calendar. It ruled.

Nardwuar vs. Ian MacKaye

Tuesday. March 31. 2009 11:30 a.m.

2009-03-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Today it all becomes clear.
Soon we won't have to speak to each other in dead language, coded dialect.
This is only the beginning.

The People or The Gun.
Which Side Are You On?

much respect.
thrash hard.

Sunday. March 21. 2009. 2:06 a.m.

2009-03-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
(six)
(nine)
(seven)

Monday, February 16th 4:18 p.m.

2009-02-16T13:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, February 10th 2009 4:43 p.m.

2009-02-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the length between updates(=)
We are working to finish these songs before we leave for tour next Wednesday(=)
Clarity is coming(=)
Sorting all the details now(=)
Announcements to come soon(=)

These songs are ferocious(=)
Anti-Flag(=)

(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)

Thursday January 22nd 6:01 p.m.

2009-01-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

Still in recovery from a whirlwind trip to DC for what ended up being an amazing show.
I can only hope that is a trend that will follow us in 2009.

The actual inauguration was quite compelling, I kept saying out loud fucking different it was from 2004.
Cops were almost hard to find, and when you found them they were trying to be polite.
Cattle herding barricades and "free speech zones" were replaced with public transportation busses parked to block streets.
It was different scenario to say the least.

The recording process continues.

I HATE A SONG THAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU ARE NO GOOD.
I HATE A SONG THAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU ARE JUST BORN TO LOSE.
BOUND TO LOSE, NO GOOD TO NOBODY.
TOO YOUNG OR TOO FAT OR TOO THIS OR TOO THAT.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION IS OVER MY FRIENDS...

Thursday Jan. 15 2009

2009-01-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

It is pretty incredible.
5 MORE DAYS OF GEORGE W. BUSH.

We are still writing and recording.

11 songs have been tracked, by the end of this month we should have 4 or 5 more.
7 have been mixed.

Yesterday we worked on 3 songs.
1 tentatively titled WHEN ALL THE LIGHTS GO OUT.
WELCOME TO THE 1st NIGHT OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
and then tore through a track; TEENAGE KENNEDY LOBOTOMY.
It's a barn burner.
"I went to the free mumia tent, I think the were all out of mumia's!"

My friend sent me this link with this synopsis;
"Like everybody else, I knew the logo from The Clash but when I read a book about them in the late 90's, my jaw was on the floor.
It's mind blowing, makes The Weather Underground look like The Green Party."

Mon. Jan 5. 2009

2009-01-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

First off, holy shit its 2009...
Secondly, we're making mix notes on some songs now.
Talking about the next record art work.
Making master plans for JANUAY 20th DEMAND IN DC.

This year is important to us.
This record is important to us.

Once we solidify all strategy I will gladly share all the information.
New record release status, a whole world's worth of touring.

Until next time...

THE GRE(A)T DEPRESSION IS OVER MY FRIENDS...

Tuesday, December 23rd 2008

2008-12-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Eating a granola bar and listening to vocal passes on GRE(A)T DEPRESSION.

Sang 2 songs yesterday and will probably get to a 2nd today before we bid farewell to each other for X-MAS break.

Things are going really well. This song we are working on now was inspired by a Joe Strummer quote and its really interesting that we started on it the anniversary of Joe's death. But thats the amazing thing about his songs and message, they have all lasted longer than him. If we could all be so lucky.

Much love.
Much respect.

Thur. 18 December 3:57pm

2008-12-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

I'll try and be less coy from now on, honestly, its hard to not be overindulgent.
I thought maybe if I would only divulge tiny bits of information, your own anticipation may grow as large as mine.

We've tracked 9 songs so far. It is quite nice to be on our own. The songs range in fervor, but sound more like Anti-Flag than even we expected. Pittsburgh has always had a greater influence on us than even we know. Making this record here has been really impactful on the songs. It's interesting to think about, Die For The Government, A New Kind of Army, The Terror State, all share the hallmark of being recorded in Pittsburgh. Well, it's interesting and important to us at least.

This is an important time in our political landscape.

There is much equality to fight and sing for.

There is much ignorance to fight and sing against.

We have not begun to fight...

Goodnight Hockeymom, Goodnight Joe Six Pack, Goodnight Otto Standard Consumer, Goodnight Otto Normalverbraucher.
Say goodnight to the old gaurd.

Goodnight.
Goodbye.

Mon. Dec. 15 2008

2008-12-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

SODOM, GAMORAH, WASHINGTON D.C. (sheep in shepherds clothing)

The more I listen...

The more I think...

Bastard child...

Wake Up...

Bring Out Your Dead...

Mon. Dec. 15 2008

2008-12-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

5 Songs.

Today.

SODOM, GAMORAH, WASHINGTON D.C. (sheep in shepherds clothing).

Last Week.

THE W(A)LL AGAIN.

SAY GOODBYE TO THE OLD GAURD.

Good morning Joe Six Pack...
Don't Fight it...
FEEL IT...

Mon. Dec. 8 2008

2008-12-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Recording.

AFRICOM.

Back Up Vocals 3pm.

All Else Fin.

2 Songs.

Goodbye Otto Standardconsumer.

Smile Big.

Show Your Teeth.

Tuesday, December 2nd 2008

2008-12-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Functionaries Don't Function.

Recording.

The Economy Is Suffering... Let It Die.

NYC. Saturday. Great Show. Great Friends.

Dead To Me. Little Brother.

Fake Problems. The Dream Team.

Elvis Presley. Craw Fish.

Greed. It Ain't Goin Anywhere.

Goodbye Otto Normalverbraucher.

oh to be a fly on the wall.

2008-11-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

we're working, the show on sunday was the most fun we've had in a while.
much love and respect to all.

Take this job, ah fuck it...

2008-11-05T08:27:00.001-08:00

Video clips at Ustream

sounds like shit through the camera, we're working on it.

Tuesday, October 14 2008.

2008-10-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Streaming web cam test #1

Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV

New Noise... Update Wednesday, October 8th 4:57pm (PHOTOS)

2008-10-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

We are moving quickly on our studio project.
Mario Mcnulty has come in to help us with set up, its an exciting and inspiring time.

Marc Code or Bob Villa? Marc built us isolation boxes for our speaker cabs, they're pretty bad ass (see pics)...
I got these sweet new Tupac shoes, they're pretty bad ass (see pic)...

Enjoy your day, web cams and video coming soon.
STAY AWESOME!

New Noise... Update Wednesday, October 8th 4:57pm (PHOTOS)

2008-10-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS

Friday October 3rd, 2008 4:31 pm

2008-10-03T13:30:00.000-07:00

More things move into the room.
There seems to be a redundant amount of Marshall Guitar Heads.
Monday we load the actual recording shit in.

Tuesday, September 30th 8:37pm

2008-09-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

For the last week Neil "the real deal" has been working like crazy to shape our super shitty practice room into the place where we'll record our next batch of songs. Neil, along with Justin's dad, Marc Code and Jesse Jones have done a pretty awesome job. I took some photos today as we finished up carpeting our very own studio/insane asylum, and started moving some equipment in.

We plan to go full out once we start next week, were talking blogs, video blogs, and even a live streaming web cam, technology can be our friend, but it will most likely just kill us all.

Here are some photos, much more to come...

take it easy, but take it....

Joe Hill

2008-09-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

If we workers take a notion we can stop all speeding trains.
Every ship upon the ocean we can tie with mighty chains.
Every wheel in the creation.
Every mine and every mill.
Fleets and Armies of all nations.
Will at our command stand still.

September 23, 2008 8:07pm

2008-09-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wonder if this will end?
Do you ever ask why can't everyone smell the bullshit?

1 David.
1 Million Goliath's.

Will people in the future tell our story of triumph?
Will my fingerprints be anywhere near the history books?

Yours will.

Thursday, September 18th 2008 12:01pm

2008-09-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Home from Canada.
Some great shows.
Some not so great.
Sitting at A-F Records.
Jorge has just pushed play on The Ramones NYC 1978 Live Album.
Countries to be visited in the next 6 months: New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, perhaps Russia, Finland.
We are going to begin writing and recording new songs.
We will be recording ourselves in Pittsburgh, similar to how we made "The Terror State".
I am unsure of how we will release the next album.
These days of uncertainty are quite inspirational.
Death of a tyrant.
Birth of another?
"I have tried to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishments after I am dead." -Kurt Vonnegut

“Every cloud has its silver lining but it is sometimes a little difficult to get it to the mint”

2008-09-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday September 4th 2008

2008-09-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

*** At the DNC, only 16% of the delegates were under age 35.
*** The RNC doesn’t even keep numbers for that stat, but the NY Times estimates it’s 3%.
*** At the RNC, 37% of delegates are over age 60. .
*** Of Republican delegates to the RNC, 77% say it’s more important to hold down taxes than provide health care for ALL Americans.
*** 7% say providing Health Care is more important.
*** The top 1% wealthiest Americans have more cumulative wealth than the 150 million Americans defined as middle class.
*** One in every five Americans is uninsured, and one in every four is either uninsured or underinsured.

Anti-Flag at The Republican National Convention, Day 1 Ripple Effect

2008-09-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

The following is a first hand description/reporting of what went on Tuesday, September 2 on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, approximately 1.5 miles from the Xcel Center, site of this week's Republican National Convention. The event we played was called THE RIPPLE EFFECT (www.rippleeffect08.com) and was put on by 3 enterprising young college students who run an organization called SUBSTANCE (http://livewithsubstance.org/), which merges music, art and activisim. The purpose of the event was two fold: 1) to offer a counter event to the corporate-fueled, undemocratic, lack of interaction with real people and real problems of the RNC taking place this week in Minneapolis-St. Paul; and 2) to celebrate Substance's one year of doing strong work in the Twin Cities of combining music, art and activism.

ANTI-FLAG'S DIARY:
We had planned on being a part of the RNC disruption festivities since before the calendar turned to 2008. You don't spend the better part of 3 months creating a record like "The Bright Lights Of America" without thinking about the future and what additional ills politicians and corporations of all stripes might be preparing to sell us in an election year. In April that disruption was made easier when the Substance organization reached out to us about The Ripple Effect show, which we promptly agreed to join.

As the Spring and Summer election story developed, on our European dates with Rage Against The Machine we began discussing how to incorporate them into the musical discussion we were having in St. Paul on the Capital lawn. The plan was, backline both of our equipment at the same time, our crews would work together to make the transition from the end of the Anti-Flag set to the beginning of the Rage Against The Machine set.

The following is a chronicle of the days events:
Anti-Flag at The Republican National Convention, Day 1 Ripple Effect

Its 1:10. Tuesday September 2nd.
In the Van, left the hotel which is about 20min from St. Paul, the closest we could get.
Direct action gets the goods, as all the front pages sing of the protesters disrupting day one of the RNC festivities. As the people
Inside Excel Center use Gustav as a do over for Katrina, the people outside demand accountability.

We're almost there. We enter the State Capitol parking lot at 1:15.
#2 is more anxious and nervous than usual.

2:20pm
Watched Wookiefoot and Matisyahu bring the good vibes, police perimeter is interestingly frightening: snipers-observers on the roof of a building about 400 yards from the stage; battalions of St. Paul police on bikes; State Capitol police/troopers mingle within the crowd and linger on the edges; riot police are suited up, holding their helmets sitting on their unmarked mini-vans. Around 1000 people have made their way through the lines, been searched. Approved to participate in free speech.

The back drop is pretty great. Right on the capital lawn, centered at the bottom of the Capitol building steps, American Flag snapping in the stiff wind, statues of Minnesota heroes of 19th Century public deed as the entry gates to the stage.

3:00pm
In communication with Rage Against the Machine. Looking like they're going to bring their songs to the Ripple Effect. We'll play then hand them the stage, should be a cluster fuck, but an exciting cluster fuck.

They make an announcement Dead Prez is on next. They taunt the extended and now growing collection of police, laughing at their intimidation efforts. In the crowd a giant appears. Michael Franti is now here. So are the mounted police.

4:36pm
Michael Franti brings 12 members of The Iraq Veterans Against The War on stage.
To say it was powerful is an understatement. www.ivaw.com

5:00pm
Rage's gear arrives. We'll see if they pull the plug on this. We heard some grumblings of our little secret in the crowd while walking
around, but we don't think many know what's coming.

Rage's equipment arrives, so does the rest of the riot squad.

In between each band are speakers: quick and to the point; railing against the stupid war; criticizing the establishment for their reaction to people wanting health care and a way out of poverty; general equality. 1200 miles away in New York Harbor the Statue of Liberty rusts a little more.

7:15pm
Our set is over. Went well, as did the whole day. Extremely peaceful. Its days like today that give hope in humanity. It's also days like today that show how much work is still left.

We had it set so that we would end and Rage would go on immediately. They got out of their car and 7-10 police officers blocked them from making it to the stage--not even allowed to watch us play. An argument/debate ensued whereby Rage, us, the event organizers and others argue that the police have no authority to keep Rage from performing. Timmy C, bass player of Rage Against The Machine, suggests very cleverly that the "meeting" with the police move into the view of the audience assembled at the show, this leads to cheers from the audience who start getting involved.

After about 15-20min of the crowd chanting "let them play" and a spontaneous singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" (which was an absolutely moving rendition of the National Anthem), we devise a plan. We gave Rage one of our bullhorns, and they walked into the audience. Everyone at the show was awesome, sitting so that others could see, being quite while Zack and Tom from Rage spoke. Singing guitar lines, Timmy C and Brad Wilk of Rage kept time while a cappella versions of "Bulls on Parade" and "Killing In The Name Of" sang out through the crowd.

Post show a few hundred joined a poverty march, that we hear ran into police near the Excel Center, we hope everyone returned safe from that endeavor.

We would like to send a huge thank you and debt of gratitude to Substance, all the artists and musicians at the Ripple Effect, and
Rage Against The Machine.

They are not afraid of any song, any record, any band.
They are afraid of the relationships we create, the community we build, the strength in our unity.

Peace
Anti-Flag

FOR MORE PHOTOS CLICK HERE:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=2961001&albumId=2112970

Anti-Flag and Rage Against The Machine Ripple Effect Show at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota

2008-09-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we played a show on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in opposition of the Republican National Convention. Before our set we had planned with Rage Against The Machine to have them come onto stage directly after our set and play a set of their own on our equipment. As is often the case at such events, all was proceeding peacefully and without confrontation until the police got involved. As RATM made their way to the stage, without reason or prior notification the police surrounded the band and informed them that they would be arrested if any of them set foot on the stage. As the crowd chanted, "Let them play..." a plan was formulated. Rather than bow to police oppression and law enforcement's blatant disregard for free speech and the Constitution, it was decided that RATM would walk around the stage into the audience and issue a statement. From there things took on a life of their own...

Check out the video below by Minnesota Public Radio for an account of the events that took place after Anti-Flag's set.

*Note Justin Sane of Anti-Flag in the Pink Scarf which he wore in a show of solidarity with the anti-war group Code Pink. Check out Code Pink at www.codepink4peace.org

*FYI- It has been reported that Anti-Flag and RATM did not have a permit to play at the Capitol. These reports are NOT accurate. This event was granted a permit which allowed any and all artists to perform at the discretion of the event organizers. Both Anti-Flag and RATM were invited by the event organizers to play this show.

Monday, September 1st 2008 Labor Day

2008-09-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

"As the Democrats finish and Republicans begin their respective conventions, its probably an important time to remind ourselves that Presidents or any politician for that matter, will not be the writers of our history. It has been proven time after time that we as citizens of the world shape our stories. We must be scripted in the history books as the paradigm shift and generation that ended the illegal invasion of Iraq, shut down Guantanamo Bay, saw equal gay and lesbian rights achieved, ended the genocide in Darfur, we're progressive and aggressive while protecting our environment, brought accountability back to our democracy and demanded health care and education for all.

Which ever celebrity wins this election should not be the exciting part. The excitement should and will come from us seizing our time. The realisation that the world is on our side. Thankfully, the George W. Bush era is soon over, let the silver lining of his very dark cloud be our mobilization. More of us are paying attention to global politics than ever. Accountability must be returned to our governments. Once again, WE HAVE NOT BEGUN TO FIGHT. "

Anti-Flag

Ps We're in St.Paul/Minneapolis. Free show on the capitol lawn. www.rippleeffect08.com
Huge surprises await tomorrow, be there!
More to come.

CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT::: a photo series

2008-08-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

Flying to Seattle:

Crazy things in the SkyMall catalogue:

Sarah Palin

2008-08-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

This post from MoveOn.org sums up nicely how insane and against absolutely EVERYTHING I believe Sarah Palin is. She is such a loon that it is terrifying for me to realize that there are people in the world who think like her and live in the non-reality that she lives in. Whew! I'm not sure what dimension she lives in, but it isn't the one I live in.
Read on!!!!
Love. Justin

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no
foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?
Who is Sarah Palin?
Here's some basic background:

* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago.
Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.
She has no foreign policy experience.1

* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of
rape or incest.2

* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy.
She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready
for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species�she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6

* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.
We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international
scene that exists today.
�Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO
experience beyond Alaska.
�Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement.Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be.
�Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to
that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been
communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems,
republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.
�Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our
natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary.
�Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve
it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.
�Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil.
And she's dramatically inexperienced.In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy.

www.MoveOn.org

Flying to Seattle to play bumbershoot and start The Bright Lights of Canada Tour

2008-08-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Pittsburgh to Atlanta:::
Atlanta to Seattle:::
Bumbershoot on Saturday:::
The Bright Lights of Canada Sunday:::

Anyone watch the DNC this week? Barack Obama's speech?
Post of thoughts on the above coming soon. This Blog will serve us well. Talk soon.

#2 and Anti-Flag