AFI, The Bleeders @ ThebartonTheatre, Adelaide, (14/11/06)

Fri 17th Nov, 2006 in Gig Reviews

I have a confession to make; I’m a Decemberunderground fan and it’s because of Miss Murder that I went to the show. Apparently fans either love or hate the new AFI album, and to regain some form credibility I have since fallen in love with this band and have  purchased a copy of the much talked about album, Sing the Sorrow, which I unfortunately missed the boat on back in 2003. But on to the actual show…

Way before any bands took to the stage the over enthusiastic crowd had to be pushed back to repair the stage barrier. Thankfully, I was safely settled along the side balcony; with a perfect uninterrupted view, no one touching me and room to actually breathe. The floor filled fast, with most of the seats quicky taken as The Bleeders appeared on stage. While never hearing this band before, I had heard good things about them and was impressed. The five piece from New Zealand performed some solid rock songs, without any ‘fancy’ screaming, which was a pleasant surprise. Their front man, moved across the entire stage and the crowd were quite into it.

A brief and premature chant for ‘AFI’ went up just after The Bleeders’ final pieces of equipment were dragged off stage.

The restless crowd let out a deafening scream when Davey Havok finally emerged. Dramatically dressed in white and surrounded by a white set,

AFI opened with Prelude 12/21 before powering into Girl’s Not Grey when the rest of the band appeared. The entire crowd began moving enthusiastically for The Leaving Song Part 2. Again the crowd were asked to step back; the band stopped playing with Havok pleading with the chaotic masses to step back or “people will die”. The pause in proceedings forcing the enigmatic front man to encourage some quiet and a brief, albeit strange, Q and A with the audience. He also interestingly announced that he hadn’t actually been planning to talk at all; I believed this towards the end of the night, when I realised that he hadn’t in fact talked at all, not even to announce song titles.

The band threw themselves around the stage with clear precision. The moves seemed well practiced but not tacky. The whole stage had a lighter feel about it, with subtle lighting creating shadows and highlights without detracting from the actual performance. Interestingly, the majority of their songs tonight came from Sing the Sorrow.

The band re-emerged for a two song encore. The first finishing with Havok jumping off the front of the stage before being held aloft, standing up right by the crowd. Final song of the evening, Miss Murder, sent the audience into another frenzy. While not the strongest performance of the night, it was a fitting set closer.

Time for another confession: I went to the show without any expectations and came out amazed and excited. AFI continue to push the boundaries by not following the rules of whatever genre people want to classify them as.