Reel Big Fish and Anti Flag
January 17, 2017
Fillmore- Silver Spring, MD
Reel Big Fish is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their record Turn the Radio Off and Anti Flag is doing the same, celebrating Die For the Government. Definitely two bands that you couldn’t picture touring together did just that by both bands having plans to play each song off their 20 year old records.
Opening Up first was Direct Hit, who had such an incredible energy. They were put to the test as the venue slowly started to gather in fans. What seemed to be somewhat of a dull and lifeless crowd, turned into what was just the beginning of a good night. It didn’t take long for the punk scene fans to actually pay attention to the band then shortly get into the set by running through mosh pits. Direct Hit played with a lot of energy and their set included their most popular single, Buried Alive amongst other songs of theirs.
Up next was a band who just happens to be from Maryland, Ballyhoo. Their reggae punk-rock sounds had the crowd dancing around and a bit more energetic than before. Their set was definitely more mellow than I expected. They also played some 
tracks from their recently release album Girls.
Following two sets from the great opening bands, Anti-Flag took the stage next and that’s when everything got rowdy, but definitely in a good way. The energy in the room went from like a five and a half to a full ten. Anti-Flag is known for speaking their mind about various topics in the world, such as what’s going on with our government. The band’s twenty year old record, Die For the Government was quite fitting to the message they are preaching about and firmly believe in. The band played songs such as Fuck Police Brutality, The Press Corpse and Die For Your Government.
After an political and very powerful set from Anti Flag, headliners Reel Big Fish finally took the stage around 11P.M. The band’s stage presence is the best- such goofy guys who make their job seem so easy and a blast to do. The band played many songs such as Sellout, Another F.U. song and Skatanic. Not only did the band play songs off their twenty year old record, Turn The Radio Off, they also threw in a couple cover songs such as The Impression I Get by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Take On Me by the Ah-ha’s which was the last song of their four song encore.
The show ended on a high note, despite the fact that these bands play different types of music. They still found a way to make everything mesh together perfectly. They all definitely made the night fun and amusing!
Review by: Alyssa Howell
Reel Big Fish
Anti Flag
Ballyhoo
Direct Hit
