Fourteen years ago, Refused played what, up until last month, was their last show in a grimy basement in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A crowd of only forty or so people saw what is arguably one of the most influential bands of the last twenty years implode in the haze of infighting and police lights. Ten years ago I was first shown their landmark album The Shape of Punk to Come in the back of a high school Spanish class, with the mystical allure that “you will never ever get to see this”. Viewing the too esoteric for its own good documentary Refused are Fucking Dead only seemed to drive this point home. For all intents and purposes “dead” was what they were going to stay. That is why earlier this year when it was announced that Refused were reuniting for a slew of festival dates it came as a shock, not only because of the years of still spiteful attitudes but because for just about everyone who has ever listened to The Shape of Punk To Come Refused’s absence was an obvious given, just like gravity or E=MC^2.

With their Coachella appearance the day after, last night Refused sold out the Glass House in Pomona in seconds in what was by far one of the most talked about festival one offs in a week full of great word of mouth club shows. At 10 PM the lights at the Glass House began to dim and a low drone started to make its way through the monitors. It built and built until it made the THX screen at your local movie theater sound like a hushed whisper. For fifteen straight minutes it was as though a jet engine was signaling all of those still outside to finish their cigarettes and get inside. Finally in an emotionally rigged split second the hum subsided and Refused broke out onto the stage with the title track to their 1998 opus. It was  if though the last fourteen years never existed. For an hour and a half the corner of Thomas and Second Street  in Pomona was a time capsule transporting a sea of wide-eyed twenty somethings to a time that they were just on the cusp from participating in. Refused were spot on. Every note rung out with the same precision and clarity as on recording only now the energy was tangible.

Just about every song one would expect to hear from the Swedes was performed in a burst of violent adrenaline. The focus of the evening was The Shape of Punk to Come, and with good reason. Songs like “The Deadly Rhythm” and “Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull” are still as visceral over a decade, if not more so due to to what can only be a more divisive and fearful political climate across the world than when the songs were originally written. The crowd hung on every riff and every drum beat, roaring back in unison almost as loud as the band themselves. As the “main” set came to a close and the lights went black it was obvious what was about to happen next: “New Noise”. It was absolutely electric. There was a final push towards the barricade as Refused broke into what is not only their most well known song, but their defining message. In what seemed as only a blink of an eye the somber gypsy strings of “Tannhauser/Derive” ushered in the close of the evening leaving the 800 capacity venue screaming the refrain of “Boredom won’t get me tonight” in soaring unison. As the house lights came on, only one word came to mind — Perfect.

Setlist:
The Shape of Punk to Come
Refused Party Program
Liberation Frequency
Rather Be Dead
Coup d’état
Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine
The Deadly Rhythm
Hook, Line and Sinker
Circle Pit
Refused Are Fucking Dead
Life Support Addiction
Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull
Encore:
New Noise
Tannhäuser / Derivè