After 27 years Bad Religion STILL know how to get a crowd excited as they vibrantly demonstrated at last nights NYC show at Nokia Theater.

This is a band who for the past 3 albums have thought each was the end of their long and fruitful career, but have kept on blazing thanks to the prodding of their cult-ish fan base. Though they may be your parents age by now, this is not your parent’s music.  

Their 2007 release Maps of Hell may actually really be marking the end of the line for Bad Religion, a line that has spanned nearly 3 decades and graced punk rock with 14 significant albums. They have been credited as leading the revival of punk music through the 80’s and are the pioneers and founders of THE Epitaph records, an indie label through all of today’s bullshit manage to stay true to their rock roots and cultivate artist development in the rock/punk world.

Though I have been a Bad Religion fan since the mid 90’s (prompted by their only major label release/mainstream album “Stranger than Fiction”) I have had over 11 years of fan life to see them live, and for reasons I still don’t have an answer to, I have not.  After seeing them last night, I really wish I hadn’t waiting this long-if these guys can pull off a show like this NOW, I can’t even imagine how great it would have been back then.

The bulk of the show was spent showcasing material off of their latest release, but as their repertoire mainly consists of the 3 minute power punk songs, they were able to give us A LOT in their 75 minute show.  Among the set’s highlights include: 21^st Century (Digital Boy), The Generator, Dearly Beloved, and American Jesus.

Clichéd as it maybe, my all time favorite Bad Religion track, and one of my all time favorite songs in general is “Infected”, it just so happens this was their big mainstream hit.  (that is not the reason I love it). As the set waged on I was growing less and less certain that I would finally hear it live. They made me sweat it out, that’s for sure, but as there is a very real possibility that this tour is the last for Bad Religion, they obliged and closed out the show with what I had been waiting 11 years and 75 minutes to hear.

They are a band made famous by a genuine ideology, and the ability to speak what others think.  There will always be a place in punk for Bad Religion, even if this tour puts their career at a close.

Written by Bonnie

Bad Religion playing “Infected”

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