My take on AFI's kickass show in Eugene, OR, earlier this year... There were maybe 400 tickets total: 200 at the door, and then some a the UO bookstore and some record store in Eugene, but those were gone within hours once they went on sale. The rest of us had to wait outside for about an hour and a half to get in. Oh well, we only missed the first half of the first band (some local group that wasn't all that exciting). The second band was the Explosion, and none of us had ever heard of them before, but the general consensus was that they were pretty damn good. They did a lot to get the crowd worked up, which of course included the formation of a mosh pit. Me, Matt, Mike, and a couple others from our group got in it for a bit before retiring to the back of the crowd, saving strength and hearing for AFI.
Anyways, after the Explosion finished, the crowd cleared a bit, and Matt and I moved up towards the stage, where we'd decided to wait (why risk being stuck in the back?) until the tech crew was done setting up. The mildly cramped crowd became nothing short of a sardine can when the lights came down. Fortunately, I was literally right up front, with only two [small] people between be and the 24-inch-high stage, which we could move right up next to. The jack-o-lanterns lit, and then O Fortuna started. Crowd goes wild. Adam comes onstage, followed by Jade and Hunter. They stat playing Strength Through Wounding. We start chanting. Davey comes out just in time for the "Through the darkness..." verse. He looked way cool, too... he was wearing those shiny black PVC pants and long-sleeved mesh shirt, but had a PVC vest thing on over that. I usually don't like the way people look with black eyeshadow/lipstick.. they remind me of Marilyn Manson, but Davey looked really good. They say he wears the makeup for effect, not to be goth. Well, it sure as hell added to the effect!
So anyway, the crowd sings with him, then chants more (duh, what else would we do?). Just like on Black Sails, Strength Through Wounding led straight into Porphyria, which led straight into Exsanguination. By this point, it was insane down on the floor... about every three or four minutes, the pit would surge forward, crushing everyone in the front, then fall back, and half of us would fall. Fortunately I managed to stay standing the whole time. It was really rather nonviolent where I was, with the worst being people grabbing my face and hair trying to surf to the stage. The singer form the Explosion kept getting into the pit, onto the crowd, then onstage, and on one of his trips up managed to kick my square in the back of the head. But he was way cool anyway, so it was all good. I was standing just a bit to the left of center stage, from my perspective, so Davey was basically right in front of me, with Hunter being just to my left (and often close enough to touch). Davey was definitely close enough to reach most of the time, and was often teasing the crowd, staying back just out of their reach. When he wasn't doing that, though, he'd reach down to us... it was so fucking awesome. At one point, about five or six songs into the show, he dove offstage and landed right above me. Talk about incredible! Actually supporting Davey Havok out there crowd surfing with us, in the middle of a song, mic in hand! So he finally got back onstage, did a couple more songs, then took out a couple bottles of really cold water, which be proceeded to dump out onto the front rows. I was lucky enough to get a huge splash right in the face, which felt great, since WOW Hall is maybe 60' wide and 100' long, and there were about 300 of us in there. Then he made a cross and blessed the crowd. It was neat.
About 30 minutes into the set, the band took a break for a couple of minutes, with only Adam remaining onstage (Hunter and Jade both got out new guitars at this point). An handful of people started calling for Halloween, which they didn't play. I thought that was neat, though.. they didn't play any covers, only their own stuff.
So Adam starts playing this really basic bass drum rhythm while the rest of the band is offstage. At first most people didn't pick up on it, but it was the same tempo and beat of "Through our bleeding, we are one." Maybe a dozen of us up front started chanting that, then more. Adam kinda raised his hands, telling us to pick up the volume. Within seconds we're all chanting/yelling at the top of our lungs. Enter Jade, Hunter, then Davey. Continue concert. They went on for another 30 minutes or so (all told, it seemed like they played for at LEAST an hour, if not more). Most of that wasn't downtime, either... They were all about the music, the fans, the energy. The crowd probably put more into this tiny little show than most crowds at the huge venues can even dream of. It was simply incredible.
After the show, I could barely walk, had a massive ringing in my left ear, and was totally lacking any range about mid-tenor in my voice. I didn't have my car there, though, so I couldn't hang around and talk to the guys, who eventually came out and mingled with the crowd, which still upsets me. I'm hoping I'll get another chance, though. Just in case any of you haven't figured it out yet, this show _KICKED_ASS_!!! It was really the first concert I'd ever been to, and now I'm spoiled... I don't think I'll ever see a better show. Ever. Four of the guys that went to the show with me didn't really care for AFI's music, but they all agreed that the show was more than incredible (and that's saying something). I hope to hell they come through there again, or that at least I get another chance to see them at such an intimate venue... I really want to get a chance to meet them.
Here's the [almost complete] playlist from the show. The first four songs (if you count O Fortuna) are in order, and they played Totalimmortal for their encore. The rest of the songs are in no particular order (I wrote them down about two hours later when I got home). I'm also missing one... I can't remember which one it was =( Anyways.. the list: O Fotuna, Strength Through Wounding, Porphyria, Exsanguination, Malleus Maleficarium, The Prayer Position, No Poetic Device, Weathered Tome, At A Glance, God Called In Sick Today, Fall Children, The Boy Who Destroyed The World, The Lost Souls, The Nephilim, Ever And A Day Sacrifice Theory, Of Greetings And Goodbyes, Smile, A Story At Three Days Of The Phoenix, Wester, 6 To 8, The Despair Factor, Third Season, Totalimmortal.
God I can't wait until this summer.. through the greatest turn of luck, I'll get to see them twice at Warped. I just hope it's half as good as this show was...
-JJ
