It’s been over four years since I’ve seen AFI in concert, and frankly, that’s just too long! But after seeing this tour rescheduled from last year it finally happened, and it was incredible. Just like they always are.
Let’s start with the openers though, Drab Majesty. From the first thirty seconds, this duo immediately reminded me of Blaqk Audio, which makes sense then why they were chosen to open for the band. Even though AFI’s sound differs significantly from both of those acts, it was still a nice contrast. Overall, I enjoyed their 80’s sounding industrial-techno sound, but with something like that, I need to check them out away from a live setting and with headphones on. I couldn’t really make out any lyrics, and over the course of fifty minutes, a lot of the set sounded too similar for me to really pick a standout. I did enjoy the overall vibe they were giving off, but I need some one on one time with them outside of the show. And I will do just that this week hopefully!
Now, onto the real stuff. AFI absolutely killed it with back to back bangers from the second they stepped out on stage. Also, these guys may be in their late 40s now, but they put on a show! It’s constant movement across that stage from all members of the band (Adam as much as he can, of course), and it’s entertaining as hell to watch. Heck, some of the jumps that Davey Havok was doing would probably injure most people in the crowd if they tried to do it themselves (myself included). They all had the perfect mix of interacting with crowd and with each other, but Jade will probably always be my favorite to watch with his twirling dance moves across the stage. At one point deep into the set, Davey made his way out on top of the crowd during “I Hope You Suffer” and it was so joyous to see.
As I said before, this set was back to back hits off of all of their records. Given that it’s the Bodies Tour though, special attention was paid to their latest full-length, Bodies. I really liked that record, so that was fine by me. Even two tracks from their EP, The Missing Man, made the setlist! Of course, they’d be fools not to play “Girls Not Grey” and “Miss Murder,” but I was tickled to hear “The Killing Lights” make the cut along with “Love Like Winter” off of the Decemberunderground record. Even though they aren’t very far into this tour yet, something I noticed is that no two sets have been the same. Or even remotely similar really! We got spoiled with other hits like “Beautiful Thieves” and “Silver and Cold,” but they even managed to appeal to “OG fans” with songs like “Malleus Maleficarum” and “Wester.” It was the perfect mix that they ran through without any obnoxiously long pauses. They checked in with the crowd about three or four times, but other than that, they were ripping through the setlist.
I beg of you. AFI are true performers, and extremely talented ones at that, so if you get the chance go see them! In fact, I might just pop over one state next weekend to catch them again. You just never know when another four years are going to pass…