Action Patrol Reunion 12/01/07

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(c)2007 John F Rash / RASHPHOTO
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(c)2007 John F Rash / RASHPHOTO
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Almost 12 years have passed since the Richmond, VA spaz-core punk juggernaut Action Patrol had their final curtain call. Or so the world was left to believe. I was fortunate enough to be at that show, and still have the flier in a box of other such nostalgic punk memorabilia somewhere in my attic. Someone once told me an Action Patrol reunion was a fools dream--- an impossibility never to materialize. That was good news to me, as I am not a fan of reunions, and certainly not happy to see a band of has-beens slowly and sloppily making an embarrassing attempt at recreating their historic material.

This past weekend, the impossible became possible, and a band who were never meant to play again reunited, and despite the odds, they kicked ass. In fact, it was as if the band never ceased to exist, and the songs we loved over a decade before sounded just as crisp and energetic as ever. Hairlines may be a bit higher, bellies a bit lower, but the tunes were just as fast, just as topical, and just as well executed as ever. I have been proven wrong... the reunion show might not be such a terrible thing. The REUNION TOUR, however, is another story altogether.

John Rash

John Rash is a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist based in Oxford, Mississippi. John earned his M.F.A. in Documentary and Experimental Art from Duke University and B.F.A. in Art Education from UNC-Greensboro, and now works as Assistant Professor of Film Production and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. His documentary films and photographs often focus on topics of identity, counter-culture communities, social justice, and environment and have been shown in festivals and museums around the world. John has received multiple awards for his documentary works including the Soul of Southern Film Award from Indie Memphis Film Festival for Negro Terror, History+ Best Documentary Award from the North Carolina Museum of History for Our Movement Starts Here, and an Emmy nomination for his film about South Carolina-based photographer Sam Wang. John is also the founder of the Southern Punk Archive which aims to preserve the stories of DIY punk communities in the American South. In 2025, John was an Artist in Residence at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai and a resident artist at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, TN in 2022.

https://www.johnrash.com
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Brother Reade. Winston Salem, NC 11/30/07.

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