Listen, the beginning of October put me in a real pickle. I could have seen AFI in Columbus over the weekend, but my sister and I already had tickets to see comedian, Nate Bargatze. And because we went to see AFI in Cleveland on Tuesday instead, that means I missed out on White Reaper in Columbus. Why is everyone touring at the same time?!
But for me, AFI is so, so good that I will snatch up a ticket to see them whenever I can. I just never know when the next album will come out, or when the next toruing cycle will be. There was a time where they went five years between albums! They are also a band that I could see either disbanding or going on hiatus forever without ever mentioning it, so I take advantage when I can. This time around, Davey has transformed himself into a gothic Bob Ross (thank you random person on the internet for this accurate comparison), which makes everything he does seem a bit silly at the moment, but I just love them so much that I’m not that inclined to care.
What was pretty magical was being stood in front of two women around my age seeing AFI for the first time. They were just floored with how good Davey sounded. I’ve seen them at least a half dozen times and am still always impressed with how good he sounds. The rest of the band is flawless, so it’s hard to be impressed when I know that they will always reliably be that good. And for rocking in their 50s, they are still goofing all over that stage and jumping around like it won’t be a little tough rolling out of bed in the morning. Forever impressed with how cool they are.
The setlist, while it wasn’t my favorite I’ve ever heard, was full of really solid tracks. Given that they just released a new album less than a week ago, there were several tracks from Silver Bleeds the Black Sun making their live debut. As a big fan of the second sinlgle “Holy Visions,” I absolutely loved hearing that live. What a vibe. “I Hope You Suffer” totally crushed, while the audience favorite surprised me by being “Beautiful Thieves.” Of course, how can a person not lose their shit every time they hear “Girls Not Grey,” “The Days of the Phoenix,” or “Silver and Cold”? I’m always thrilled when “Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings)” makes the setlist, and last night was no exception.
With all the good of that setlist, I couldn’t help but feel a little slighted at not getting “Miss Murder.” Don’t you think that, along with countless others, should be mandatory setlist staples? Perhaps that’s just a bias of from when I found AFI in my life, but still. Instead, we got “Love Like Winter” – a banger, but then somewhat surprisingly, “Endlessly, She Said.” I’m actually okay with that! But perhaps my biggest disappointment with the setlist was absolutely nothing was played from The Blood Album. A crime. Maybe the next tour we’ll get something….whenever that might be.
All in all, it was great to see the guys again. And their crowds are always usually really passionate in an endearing way. “Through our bleeding, we are one!”