ANOTHER MUSIC CHALLENGE

Bad Religion — Battle of the Centuries Tour

Going back in time with one of punk’s most important bands

In 2015, California punk icons, Bad Religion, announced a limited series of shows they dubbed, “Battle of the Centuries” to help them celebrate their 35th anniversary as a band.

The idea was to play back-to-back nights in the same city and split the gigs into songs from the 20th Century (1981–2000) on the first night and the 21st Century (2002–2013) on the second.

I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to seeing shows because of where I live. I’ve lived in New York my entire life. Started in Brooklyn, then to Staten Island, then to Long Island, back to Brooklyn, and finally, to Staten Island again. I mention this because bands never skip New York while on tour, never.

This is especially true when bands do these abbreviated, “specialty” type tours like Bad Religion’s “Battle of the Centuries”. The biggest markets always get included so that absolutely gives me an advantage.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg is a 650 capacity, standing-room-only venue in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was originally called Northsix and in 2001 was one of the first music venues to hit the area and contribute to the “hipster” culture that would soon infiltrate Brooklyn and help create its flourishing music scene.

Seeing live music is an experience we share with other human beings. In my case, on June 9th, 2015, I was a party of one in a sea of 649 other people. I’ve attended many shows by myself but all that means is that no one I knew bought a ticket when I did or traveled with me to the show. As I said, there were 649 other “friends” at the venue.

On the second night of this mini-tour, I was accompanied by a friend who likes Bad Religion’s more recent albums but this article is about the first night.

If you’ve never gone to a concert by yourself, I recommend you do. If you’re like me you’ll see and hear things differently than you would have had you been with a friend or group of friends. Sure, you’ll talk to other concert-goers here and there, but you won’t have an obligation to carry on any consistent discussion about life, kids, work, school, or anything else you always talk about with people you know.

When you’re alone at a show it’s just you, the vibe, the energy, and the music.

I’ve been a fan of Bad Religion since the mid/late 80s and on June 9th, 2015, night one of the Battle of the Centuries, all 650 friends were greeted with an old-school, punk rock assault from one of the genres best.

Most Bad Religion songs clock in around two minutes or so. This is was the norm in the early days of punk and in the case of Bad Religion, they did it better than anyone.

So as they dove into their earliest songs on this night, the energy was high, the crowd was stoked, and the band tore through their set with the speed and fury you’ve come to expect from these punks from the Valley.

I can’t give you a song-for-song breakdown because I’d lose most of you by the tenth song. That being said, they also played a 34-song set so, ya know…

Instead, I’ll show you the setlist using the pictures below and discussing a few of my personal favorites.

If you’re a Bad Religion fan, this grouping of songs would quench your thirst as at least seven or eight are straight-up classic, fan-favorite tunes. If I had to introduce someone to the band from this list I start with the following:

“We’re Only Gonna Die”, “Stranger Than Fiction”, “Suffer”, “Do What You Want”, and “The Gray Race”.

Bad Religion fans are devoted, passionate, and crazy. I’ve known this for decades now because I’m one of them. On this night, as on every night since probably 1998 when at a live show, I stood right next to the soundboard and out of the chaos of the circle pits and stage divers. I’ve had my fill of kicks to the head, elbows and fists to the face and body, and the occasional stage dive with no one to catch me.

Fans were so amped up for this show that by the time “We’re Only Gonna Die” kicked in, the room was a hot, sweaty, body-on-body mess! It would remain that way throughout the night and I had the perfect view of it all.

When you attend a show alone, something is different about the experience. Everyone and no one is your friend so it’s almost as if it’s just you and the music. If you’re not a fan of punk rock, and Bad Religion specifically, you might not think you can be stimulated beyond the sheer volume and energy at hand.

That assumption would be wrong.

Punk music does have a sound, to a degree. It’s fast, two/three-chord guitar music with sing-a-long melodies and gang-vocal choruses. But that’s not all it is. It’s an attitude and intellect. It’s a way of life and a perception of the world around us that is unyielding. If you know, you know.

Bad Religion is led by Greg Graffin who is the only constant member of the band since its inception in 1980. He’s the main songwriter and lyricist (along with co-founder Brett Gurewitz) and oh yeah, he’s a scientist too!

Graffin is an evolutionary biologist with a Ph.D. from Cornell University and teaches courses in natural sciences at both UCLA and Cornell. Not your typical punk rock star, to say the least.

So when I say it’s just you and the band at a show like this one, you get to drown in lyrics such as:

“Well the sheaves have all been brought But the fields have washed away And the palaces now stand Where the coffins all were laid And the times we see ahead We must glaze with rosy hues For what we don’t wish to admit What it is we have to lose” — Greg Graffin/Change of Ideas

How many times have you been able to stage dive and get lost in a massive circle pit while contemplating solutions for a better world? Go see Bad Religion and it will happen over and over again.

The second half of this show was a barrage of sound, fury, emotion, and self-reflection. I’ll admit I get lost in music and lyrics, especially those at a BR show. On this night though, my youth came rushing back like a crushing wave I didn’t want to get up from. In a room full of 650 strangers and a band we all love, we felt the same thing. I don’t know if words exist to properly describe it but go see them and you’ll feel it too.

By the time the trifecta of “Infected”, “Generator”, and “American Jesus”, came around, I was on a different wavelength. I had received what I had come for. The crowd gleefully agreed with me and after the encore, ending with “Fuck Armageddon…This is Hell”, off of their 1982 debut album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, we were sent back into the world better than we were walking into the venue just a short while earlier.

I’ve seen hundreds of shows and it’s tough to pick a favorite. Too many bands, too many venues, circumstances, moods, sounds, etc. This Bad Religion show, on a night I was alone, yet connected to other people on such a positive level, will always shine as one of the best shows ever.

Thanks to Noah Levy for the prompt and all of the readers and writers of The Riff!!!