A HEADY mixture of punk rock and metal is set to thrill audiences at the Colchester Arts Centre next week.

The first and biggest of the gigs brings American band Anti-Flag, formed in 1988, and known for their outspoken views on the US government, to the venue next Tuesday.

The band’s energetic live set is likely to get the arts centre crowd hot and bothered with numbers from their ten studio albums, including the latest CD, the People or the Gun.

The band, singer and guitarist Justin Sane bassist Chris Barker, guitarist Chris Head and drummer Pat Thetic, are playing Colchester as part of a European tour, taking in Slovenia, Hungary, Austria and Germany. Opening for Anti-Flag on Tuesday night are Brighton metal band the Ghost of A Thousand, who are now signed with Los Angeles record label Epitaph.

The band was once voted as one of Q Magazine’s top five metal bands.

The five-piece formed in 2004 with vocalist Tom Lacey, guitarists Andy Blyth and Jag Jago, drummer Memby Jago and bassist Gaz Spencer.

Their new album, New Homes, New Demonstrations, was recorded in Stockholm in last winter with the help of the Hives’ Pelle Gunnefeldt.

The album is “something unusual from the get go”, according to frontman Lacey.

The centre’s second gig is next Wednesday, when Canadian experimental duo Nadja, plus Toom and Cloaca.

Tickets for Tuesday’s Anti-Flag gig are £10 Tuesday, while £7 will get you into Wednesday night’s show. Doors open both nights at 8pm.

For tickets, call the box office on 01206 500900 or go to www.colchesterartscentre.

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