Images: Bad Religion, Against Me!, Dave Hause October 21, 2016 at The Foundry

Bad Religion headlined one of the best lineups of the year at The Foundry last week and it was clear from the start that the venue was not ready for what was in store. But according to frontman Greg Graffin, looking particularly distinguished with his grayed out hair and semi-permanent scowl, that’s par for the course. “We were the first punk band to ever headline the Joint at the Hard Rock” he proclaimed after coming out on stage to a welcoming audience shortly after an ironically God-like voice proclaimed that moshing will not be tolerated. They were also the first punk band at The Foundry, which was clear, because come on, of course there would be moshing at a Bad Religion show and also, well, the guards certainly looked surprised when fans began crowd surfing and stage diving.

Bad Religion was on tour not to support any of their 16 full lengths but instead to help make sense of this crazy election. This meant the setlist favored a theme more than an era, and that theme was politics. “I am not a crook,” “fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again,” “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” and other embarrassingly infamous soundbites from past presidents broke up the time between the “moshing” announcement happened and the band launching into set opener “You Are (The Government)” from 1998’s classic Suffer. Hearing Graffin and a sold out Foundry crowd singing “And as the people bend, the moral fabric dies / The country can’t pretend to ignore its people’s cries” certainly doesn’t change this election cycle but man does it feel cathartic.

From there, it was a smorgasbord of BR’s political jams, with “The Streets of America,” “Let Them Eat War” and “New America” encouraging the forbidden circle pit, as well as fans crowd surfing towards bassist Jay Bentley and his timely American flag shirt. The band dug deep into their catalog for “Television,” the Stranger Than Fiction debut with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong being performed by the mighty pipes of Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, who elicited much cheering when she ran out and started singing “the world outside is buzzing like an angry wasp in summer, the candidates are running, and soon the son of God is coming.” The biggest reactions were saved, of course, for the band’s popular singles “21^st Century Digital Boy,” “Generator,” “Infection,” “Sorrow” and “American Jesus.” Can Greg Graffin just be president?

Laura Jane Grace was on hand because her band, Against Me!, was in the direct support spot. The band was all smiles when they came out, choosing to abstain from banter to fit in more songs and more thrashing about the stage. They also chose to stick primarily to songs from their two most recent albums, 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues and this year’s Shape Shift With Me. While many were clearly unfamiliar with the new songs – the biggest sing alongs came from a pair of Reinventing Axl Rose tracks – “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” and “Walking Is Still Honest” – the band’s energy certainly helped sell them. “Crash” is such an earworm of a song and watching bassist Inge Johansson whip across the stage while drummer Atom Willard threw his sticks in the air was far too entertaining. Also, can we agree that “Rebecca” is just hands down one of the best songs of the year? It’s a brash, instant classic from the band.

Opening the show was Dave Hause. The former Loved Ones frontman was accompanied by his brother Tim on guitar and keyboard, playing a mix of songs from his two solo albums including “Autism Vaccine Blues,” “Melanin” and “Seasons Greetings from Ferguson.” I was pleasantly surprised that the punk rock crowd not only wasn’t hostile but actually quickly warmed up to the acoustic leaning brothers, though Hause did crack that the small group of uninterested attendees were probably just tweeting about how badass his guitar solo was. The highlight of his set was when he brought out a dream team rhythm section made up of Wollard and Bentley for “Dirty Fucker” and “We Could Be Kings.” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen The Loved Ones live and I had forgotten how much I love hearing Hause playing full band punk rock.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Anthony Constantine | https://www.facebook.com/anthonycphotography