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I put a lot of thought into whether or not I should go to this show. On the one hand, I had never seen AFI live and have always wanted to. On the flipside, they would probably only play newer material (not that bad of a thing, but I would really love to hear some songs off of Black Sails in the Sunset or the All Hallows EP), the admission was $23, and I had to work at 6:15 the next morning. I decided to head to Lupo's and make my decision at teh door (I pondered a coin flip, but was too lazy to fish a quarter out of my pocket). Once I got to Lupo's and saw a tractor trailer truck parked on the side of the building, I knew this show would be too ridiculous not to go to.
The crowd was pretty packed, although surprisingly no sold out. Lupo's had opened up the balcony seats, which gave a pretty good view of the stage. I paced all around the club, impatiently people watching while waiting for The Static Age to take the stage. The crowd was a lot less gothic and cross dressing than I expected. there were also security guards or detail cops that looked like the conductor from "The Polar Express."
Its been awhile since I last listened to The Static Age. Its been so long that I couldn't really remember what they sounded like, though I do remember liking them. They took the stage to the sound of cheers (although I'm sure not many people have ever heard of them), before playing a set of dark 80s influenced indie rock. They were decent, although not as good as I remember them being.
How enjoyable The Explosion is depends on how many drug they're on during their set. They didn't seem to be on that many drugs this time, although the temposwere much slower than they should have been, making them almost boring except for the fact that the songs are fucking awesome. Most of their set came off of Black Tape, although they did play two and a half songs off of Flash Flash Flash ("No Revolution" is on both albums). I was pleasantly surprised to hear a drum solo, as that is a rare occurance at a punk rock show (though its part of Murphy's Law's set). They ended with "Here I Am," even though they had to stop towards the end because of some douche in a crowd (the singer said something about punching someone in the chest). I enjoyed them, and it seemed like about 10-15 other people in the crowd had heard of them before this night as well (it seemed like they made a few new fans).
The crowd was very excited for AFI. They went nuts when someone announced where the fire exits were, and again when AFI's banner dropped. The lights went dim and the crowd fittingly went nuts as they went into "Prelude 12/21." The band were all wearing white (including the techs), which gave off a "Clockwork Orange"/"Insane Asylum" feel, which was cool in an incredibly corny sort of way (I'm guessing they were going for a winter feel with all white equipment, drums and guitars).
I'm not sure if it was his gazelle like movement on stage, his costume or his make up, but Davey Havok reminded me of a puppet (or the missing member of The Dresden Dolls). His voice demanded attention and he had the crowd hanging on his every move, going ballistic after every word he said between songs. Guitarist Jade Puget looked like a skinnier version of Barf from "Spaceball" (mostly due to the haircut).
I also noticed that Havok's singing voice was much different from his talking voice. While his singing (not the screaming) was high pitched and leaning a bit feminine (his voice is amazing and very versitile), his talking voice was deep and incredibly masculine, like someone about to drink you under the table, playing and talking sports with a girl in each arm. Its contrasts like these that make AFI such a great band: they have at least one aspect that everyone can enjoy.
Musically, they were air tight. Everything they played (they played songs from Sing the Sorrow and The December Underground) sounded incredible, rekindling my interest in The December Underground. The crowd spent a lot fo time singing along, enjoying the complete audio and visual (white get up, cool stage lighting) package that AFI put on for them. I was expecting to be a little disappointed, doubting that they would playing anything off of Black Sails in the Sunset, but I left Lupo's with a smile on my face, and very impressed with AFI's live show.
Written by: RF
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