Two San Francisco Bands Pull Off Punk Show on BART Train

The San Francisco punk bands False Flag and Surprise Privilege played a packed show inside a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train last weekend, as KQED and 107.7 The Bone reported.

Powered by a portable battery and punk energy, the two groups organized the blue line BART gig to "show the world how fine our state-of-the-art public transportation system is," Surprise Privilege bassist Cody explained.

However, things got a bit chaotic once a hundred or so punk fans were onboard. "We weren't expecting that many people to show up," False Flag's bassist, Pretty, told KQED. "We didn't even know if we were gonna be able to play because the train was so packed." (See footage below.)

"History was made tonight!" photographer Rob Coons said alongside a viral video from the show.

"FALSE FLAG @falseflagsf (who are playing in the video) and SURPRISE PRIVILEGE @surpriseprivilege pulled off the punk show of the century by playing on a BART Train (our public transportation train here in the Bay Area for those who don't know)," the photographer continued. "Hundreds of people came out and not everyone was able to get on the main car. Chaos was king and memories were made. Absolutely legendary."

False Flag + Surprise Privilege Play Punk Show on BART Train - Jan. 6, 2023

The bands boarded the BART train at the 16th St. Mission station in San Francisco on Friday evening (Jan. 6). They rode to the Dublin Pleasanton stop as more than 100 fans squeezed in the along the way. On the way back to the city, they played six songs each.

The bands plotted the show's stops ahead of time to avoid any burden on the transit system. Still, six stops into their quest, the train was briefly stalled at the Fruitdale station due to an obstructed door.

"And BART police got on, and we're just like, 'Are you serious right now?'" Pretty added. "All we want to do is raise as much money as possible for BART," Cody said.

"The main reaction from the public I've seen," joked False Flag guitarist Strong, "is people talking about how it must have smelled really bad on the train."