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| The radical Canadian gentlemen known as Propagandhi |
One of my favorite bands for their sustained radical
left politics, street activism, early melodic
punk, and more recently, their interesting hybrid metal/prog/punk work. Propagandhi ran through close to 20 songs
with precision, political proclamations (especially about Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin’s idiocy),
exceptionally tight synchronicity between the drums and guitars, and a fine
live mix. The majority of the 90 or so
minute set was comprised of songs off their latest two albums, Supporting Caste
and Failed States. Compared to earlier
albums, these later tunes tend to be more progressive and complex both in terms
of timing and breakdowns. It isn’t
exactly metal or punk. Think a super
heavy Rush combined with some of the faster and less melodic early Rise Against. Particularly powerful renditions of Coaches
Corner and Night Letters were the highlights for me as far as newer material
goes. Propagandhi did some good service
to their earlier recordings by playing excellent versions of Fuck the Border
and Less Talk, More Rock, the latter of which is a song that demands some
serious reflection to really get the message.
The band lacks ego, comes across as very genuine, and clearly
exhibits gratitude to folks in the crowd. I was thrilled to chat with the main
songwriter and guitarist Chris Hannah after the show about my research on punk
and politics. He seemed very interested
and we talked about conducting an interview down the road. We’ll see. More generally, he and the other
band members must have spent fifteen minutes or so after the show just greeting
people and talking some music. It was
so nice to see that, but then again I sort of expected it given their politics.
Opening bands were Off with Their Heads and the Menzingers, the
latter of which was great despite being down a band member for the night. I found the former too simplistic and boring, sort of like listening to the same song for 40 minutes.
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