It is nights like last Saturday that remind me why I love Flagstaff, Arizona so much. Once upon a time, I have been told, Flagstaff had an excellent following for the punk, hardcore, and even ska scene. But it had since died a slow and brutal death. So when I was told No Age was in town for the night, I wasn’t necessarily shocked, per se. Let’s just call it pleasantly surprised.
Here it was, the most intimate setting you could imagine; a fully furnished, yet small, house in a neighborhood behind the Furniture Barn with the ironic name, “The Big House.” The place was packed with kids in black-rimmed glasses, rat-tail haircuts, mismatched socks, and thrifted t-shirts that we surely wore when we were in elementary school.
Local acts included Chris Greco, Feel Free, and Emo Wars. These guys and gals set the grungy tone for the evening, creating an anxious feeling for the crowd as the time got closer for No Age to really begin the night.
It was around 11:45 PM or so when No Age finally took the stage (or shall I say living room floor?). Kicking off their set with “Teen Creeps,” the atmosphere overtook the bobbing crowd of 70 or so kids, PBR and Red Stripe in hand, crowd surfed the living room; their feet pushing off the ceiling to make their way closer to the front. It was then that Andy stopped mid-song to reprimand the audience to stop crowd surfing. It took a mere five seconds for the crowd to get back to surfing the living room to the kitchen.
The set lasted for about 45 minutes and included favorites, “Glitter,” “Eraser,” “Fever Dreaming,” and “You’re A Target.”
Spilling into the neighborhood streets, the typical Flagstaff winter night of 25-degree chills gave a feeling of relief after escaping the hot and rather alcohol and sweat-saturated house. It was a night of moshing, sing-a-longs and genuinely good people all there to have a killer time. It’s bands like No Age that keep the local scenes going, and for that, we thank you.
Photos by Keenan Kusnierczyk
