Punk band Black Flag bringing Gen Z lineup to San Antonio this Friday

A new iteration of Black Flag is stopping by San Antonio’s Paper Tiger this Friday — and this time, three of the four band members were born after the year 2000.

Guitarist Greg Ginn, the only founding member who remains in the seminal LA-born quartet, has assembled the band of babies to back him as he embarks on another cash grab — err, we mean, tour.

Truthfully, we would do the exact same thing if we were these kids. Bragging rights forever that you played in Black Flag? Who wouldn’t say yes?

We would also think it’s cool of Ginn to hire Black Flag’s first female lead singer if we weren’t convinced the primary motivator for the tour is monetary.

It’s also totally normal to be in a band — even a famous band — in your early 20s.

Jokes aside, the new Black Flag members aren’t actually kids. However, the lineup has been the punchline of jokes in the punk world since its announcement in April, mainly due to the vast age difference between Ginn and his bandmates.

Though Ginn is 71, the rest of the members are barely old enough to get wasted with a six pack at a TV party tonight. (See what we did there?) The new additions are vocalist Max Zanelly (22), bassist David Rodriguez (25) and drummer Bryce Weston (24).

In the sole publicity photo circulated online, Ginn looks like the group’s chaperone on a school field trip to the punk museum.

“And here we have one of the graffiti-ed toilets from CBGB’s, which were known to contain their own ecosystems of bacteria and viruses yet to be identified by science. Hands to yourself! Single file now!”

On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t joke too hard about Greg Ginn and children, given allegations his ex-wife made about 10 years ago.

A previous iteration of Black Flag just played San Antonio in December. However, that iteration led by professional skateboarder Mike Vallely didn’t last much longer. In a Feb. 7 Substack entry subtitled “My last tour with Black Flag,” Vallely indicated that he was having a miserable time on the road.

“We load the van and head south on the 35 to San Antonio,” the entry reads in a Rollins-esque prose format. “After soundcheck, I try to walk off the pre-show nerves along the river. As the last note rings out, I step off the front of the stage out into the audience to say hello.”

Little did San Antonio know, that was their last chance to catch the Vallely-led iteration of Black Flag. Truth be told, 13-15 members have cycled through the band since it reformed in 2013 with early vocalist Ron Reyes fronting the band. (He’s the second in the band’s history after Keith Morris, for those keeping score at home.)

In April 2025, when Black Flag announced that it was “turning the page” and “entering a new era” with its Gen Z lineup, the group also revealed that the members were in the studio recording its first new album in 12 years.

“The new lineup is already in the studio and the rehearsal space — writing, jamming and bringing fresh energy,” the band wrote in the Facebook post.
However, tellingly, Black Flag doesn’t feature photos of its new lineup on any of its social media. One flyer shows the band from so far away and at a weird angle that it gives no idea what they look like or what their ages or genders are. Even the band’s new enigmatic frontwoman “Max” fooled a lot of people in the comments of the original announcement and on Reddit, who referred to the then- unknown singer as a dude due to her masculine — or at least androgynous — name.

If we didn’t know any better, we’d think Greg Ginn is touring on the Black Flag name alone and wants concert goers to be surprised when they show up and the Kidz Bop version takes the stage. Ahem.

But, hey, maybe the kiddos rip. Judge for yourself.

$29.58, 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary’s St., papertigersatx.com.
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This article appears in Aug 21 – Sep 2, 2025.