San Francisco was one of the lucky cities to host Bad Religion’s “Battle of The Centuries” … two nights of music, each with setlists drawn exclusively from the 20th or 21st century. As frontman Greg Graffin pointed out on Monday, certain things get bigger when you get older … like your catalog of music … and at some point in time it makes sense to split the nights so that no album gets short shrift.
With the setlist pulling from five albums from The Process of Belief through to True North, there was no shortage of material to draw from for the hour and twenty minute set. Sure, you get your staples such as Sorrow, Los Angeles is Burning and New Dark Ages, but you also get a whole slew of tunes that unfortunately there hasn’t been time for lately. Songs such as Heroes & Martyrs, Only Rain, Dearly Beloved, Supersonic and Broken (or pretty much anything off of The Process of Belief, for that matter) were enthusiastically welcomed back by the fans, many of which had attended the previous night and were back for more.
If the results of this particular battle were measured by ticket sales, the sold-out first night (the 20th century setlist) would be the standout winner. But while the ticket sales for the second night may not have matched the previous night, Bad Religion didn’t hold back as they blazed through the songs, as tight and enthusiastic as ever despite 35 years as a band. For their part, the Monday night crowd was a bit bi-polar, many admitting that they weren’t aware of the “Battle” at hand while others were content to wreak a little havoc in the pit. Numbers aside, what Monday’s night show underscored was the quality of that extensive Bad Religion catalog. In the end there were no winners, only kickass music.
Setlist:
- Kyoto Now!
- Social Suicide
- Los Angeles is Burning
- 52 Seconds
- Heroes & Martyrs
- Only Rain
- True North
- Supersonic
- Prove It
- Can’t Stop
- Robin Hood In Reverse
- Beyond Electric Dreams
- Submission Complete
- Let Them Eat War
- Changing Tide
- The Defense
- Fuck You
- Dharma & The Bomb
- Broken
- Before You Die
- Vanity
- Dearly Beloved
- Dept of False Hope
- Overture / Sinister Rouge
- Wrong Way Kids
- New Dark Ages
- Sorrow
–Encore–
- Past Is Dead
- Fields of Mars
Supporting acts: OFF! | Western Addiction
More on Bad Religion: Facebook | Website | Shows | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
© 2015 Alan Snodgrass | www.digitaldiversion.net. Please do not use without express permission. If you like what you see, leave a comment below and subscribe so you can be notified of new posts. You can also become a fan on Facebook.