This show was absolutely fantastic. I missed the first two bands because I was interviewing Davey and talking to him. What I missed was a local Albany band and Ann Beretta. I wish I had been able to catch AB, because I love them, but hell, it was worth missing them. I saw Catch 22's set, and it was pretty decent, seeing as how I'm not really a fan of their music, but they put on a great live show. Their guitarist played a Gibson SG, which I thought was kinda interesting for a ska band. But overall, their playing was pretty good. I liked them live.

Now, on to the real reason you're all here. Myself and Eric were somehow able to squeeze our way through two fat, sweaty kids to end up on person back from the stage before AFI began to set up. The second I saw the pumpkins being placed on the amps, I knew what was about to happen. I couldn't wait. Before AFI hit the stage, Smith walked on with a bull-horn, and had a concerned look upon his face. He yelled to the crowd, "Hey! We've got a serious problem here! I'm sorry to announce this, but AFI will not be able to play tonite!" Now, it was obvious it was just a little April Fools joke being played on the crowd, but I still wanted to hear what reason Smith had for AFI not being able to play. Before Smith could reveal this, some kid in the crowd shouted out, "April Fools!" an Smith replied with a loud, "Fuck you!" and proceeded to walk off stage. I found out later from him after the show that he was planning on saying something stupid like, "Davey sprained his ankle" or "Davey can't sing tonite because he's really wasted."

Anyways, on to the show, smoke filled the stage as the lights dimmed low. Four figured entered the stage, and the crowd started cheering and screaming before they even picked up their respective intruments. As AFI began their set with Strength Through Wounding, the entire crowd began to push forward. During this rush, I somehow managed to snag a spot right up on the stage. Unfortunately, the stage was just high enough so that the edge of it dug into my thighs and hurt like hell. After about three songs, I couldn't take it any longer, an pulled myself out of the crowd and onto the stage. There I sat for the remainder of the set, taking 3 rolls of film. Several times throughout the night, Davey would maken announcements between songs about various things, such as a birthday announcement for Mikey, an whatnot. A few times it was to try and get the crowd to move back a little bit, so that those in the front weren't so crushed. It was a good effort, and a kind thing to do, but it unfortunately didn't really work out. Overall, it was one of the greatest shows I've ever been to, regardless of when Jade, during the middle of Totalimmortal, had to quickly switch guitars, and missed a cue. Even though Jade missed this cue, the crowd was right on time with the song, and continued to sing. It was great.

Its been known that AFI will give encores if the crowd really wants them to. However, on this night, the crowd wasn't very into the AFI chant for some reason. Which really sucked because it took forever for us to convince them to come back out an play an encore. Smith came out an said, "You guys are still here? They didn't think you guys really wanted an encore." Now, this statement was either true, or it was AFI's way of getting the crowd back for not letting Smith trick them before. Either way, teasing us for five minutes worked great. Once they took the stage again and played God Called in Sick Today, I was in heaven. Great show. Grrreat show. Here's Pictures.

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