Near perfect set from gothic punk rock legends
As far as gigs go, this one was near perfect; AFI were on top form, the sound was great, and the crowd was the best you could ask for. The Electric Ballroom isn't quite the intimate setting we were promised but neither is it huge. From the first song, Davey Havok and co were clearly happy to be there and so he kept telling us. The set proved to be pretty mixed - a surprise no less, what with a new album coming out - with old and new alike to keep all fans happy, even if the majority were under 20.
Anticipation built and built until the doom-ridden opening to Miseria Cantaria rang out and the whole place erupted and the mosh pit became a swirling, raging mass. So begins a storming rendition with passion that carries right through the gig, but more memorable than that is just how humble Havok is; countless times, he seems shocked at just how many people knew the words to all the songs. At one point, after asking how many people had been at their first ever Electric Ballroom gig, he stopped to count the raised hands - it was touching to see.
This gig felt like it was largely about the past with Havok mentioning their first Electric Ballroom show on several occasions; "We played a cover song at the first gig, and we're going to play another song from the best band in the world!" For those who didn't know that band is the Cure, it may have been a surprise, but that didn't stop this one - 'Just Like Heaven' - sounding great.
If there was one bad thing about the whole set, it was the version of 'Miss Murder'; disappointingly, AFI played the short version instead of the video version, and it felt like a whole chunk had just been left off. There was no build up, no nothing and it didn't come across particularly well. Some may have complained about there being too many songs from 'Sing the Sorrow' but the band's back catalogue is pretty big and they never played with anything less than passion. Besides, you really can't argue with a storming closer like 'God Called in Sick Today' - an oldie as it happened to be.