In 2012, Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender. It’s a change that has been mirrored in her punk-rock output, too. For the band’s sixth studio album, 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Grace focused her songwriting on her gender identity, while their seventh, Shape Shift With Me, released in September, saw the narrative evolve further, as she charted sex and relationships from a new perspective.
On stage, it’s no surprise that the Floridians have a political aside to share with the audience. “The best thing about touring in the UK is I can say with absolute certainty that none of you voted for Donald Trump!” Grace bellows, before the band dart left and right through a back catalogue that would outrage the alt-right. The staging is sparse, with a dribble of smoke and a dozen flashing LEDs, but it hardly matters: fans are here to see a rock band pour out their sweat and emotion.
On opener True Trans Soul Rebel from their 2014 record, the crowd join Grace to scream the refrain “Does God bless your transsexual heart?”, the singer sounding both authoritative and breakable as glass.
The next song, 333 from Shape Shift, talking of “cycles of death and regeneration”, continues the story, as Grace goes from acknowledging her gender dysphoria to living and loving as a woman. There’s a moment when Grace concedes they should shut up and play the hits as well as newer additions. Even those older songs – which get fans moshing and fist-pumping approvingly – have a new poignancy in light of her transition: the likes of I Was a Teenage Anarchist and Pints of Guinness Make You Strong are the sorts of misfit anthems that fuelled suburban childhoods. Tonight, they bring the audience together to celebrate Against Me! as the band that saw them through youthful riots, and one that now represents something far bigger. Combining snarling with shout-outs for self-care in the age of The Donald, these are rebels with a definite cause.
- At SWX, Bristol, 10 December. Box office: 0117-945 0325. Then touring.
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