Wild Flag & Superchunk @ Radio City Music Hall

by Jen Hazen

Before I went to the Wild Flag show at NYC’s Radio City Musical Hall Wednesday night, I checked out the band’s Facebook page. Because I “like” them. Not because I enjoy staring at pics of Carrie Brownstein every day or anything.

A post from the band read: “Hope Radio City is ready for the rough and the raw.” Rough. Raw. Just how I like it. My giddiness jacked up to the 10,000th power.

Wild Flag’s line-up is nothing short of astounding. Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Mary Timony (Helium), Janet Weiss (Quasi), and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). All in one band? Playing guitar-wailing classic rock punched up with some punk and a twist of psychedelia? It’s unreal. For real. The band hasn’t even recorded a full-length album yet. Doesn’t matter. Everyone is going ape-shit over Wild Flag. After watching them perform, I understand why.

The band recently released the single, “Glass Tambourine”  so it came as no surprise that they played the song—10 minutes of tripped out, solo guitar-jamming, drum-thumping madness. At one point Timony, on vocals, played her guitar behind her head while Brownstein did high kicks, and channeled a mean Pete Townshend with some sweet arm windmills. Brownstein sang a few songs, too, and there’s a distinct punk influence compared to Timony’s tripped out tunes. Wild Flag is definitely a refreshing change from the current landscape of indie bands. These ladies are reviving the “rock god” routine perfectly. All I have to say is…Cacao.

Wild Flag was followed up by thee Superchunk and they sounded amazing— just like the first time I pressed their CD into my shitty ghetto blaster in college. The opener, “Slack Motherfucker,” sounded just as good, if not better, than I remember.  The band played new songs too but, to be honest, I didn’t know those as well. Interestingly though, every new song was just as kick-ass, clever, and catchy as Superchunk songs from years past. When the band played another classic, “The First Part,” some hardcore fans stood up and either jammed out or danced like crazy. They could’ve cared less that the majority of the sold out crowd was not standing. Obviously, they had been waiting for that moment for quite awhile. 

image via Wild Flag’s Facebook page

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