AFI Brings Joy Through Its Sorrow to Devoted New York City Fans

AFI's fan base, the "Despair Faction," put more emphasis on the faction aspect than the despair. Although prone to wearing every shade of black available at Hot Topic, the group is a friendly bunch at the band's shows, waiting for hours outside the venue and selling out concerts as soon as tickets go on sale, as they did for the October 10 show at Webster Hall in New York City. Perhaps they enjoy the music more than the mood, or perhaps being in the presence of cult-of-personality vocalist Davey Havok (although guitarist Jade Puget certainly has his admirers) pushes the clouds away for brief moments. The positive vibes made even the fan club's official slogan, "through our bleeding, we are one," (frequently chanted) seem like a good thing.

The band's music, of course, was up to its usual standards of tragic. It played its only (possibly) happy song since 1997, "Girls Not Grey," second in the set before jumping into recent single "I Hope You Suffer," an atypically aggressive approach to heartbreak from the band.

Havok wrenched his face like James Brown leading into every dramatic line (his pause prior to the catchline of "Suffer" was uncomfortably humorous). He reached back to the band's hardcore days for his most entertaining antics however, frequently punctuating the entrance to a chorus by jumping from atop Puget and bassist Hunter Burgan's amp stacks, at one point backflipping into the crowd. The front-row fans were more than happy to catch Havok, demonstrating reverence unlike the annoyance they displayed when crowd surfers took to the waves for the openers.

The hardcore scene, which can call New York City a home, was well represented by the acts present, if not the majority of the fans. First opener Coming mixed hardcore lyrics about geometry with a healthy rock-out spirit, but couldn't get a mosh going even when requested. Touché Amoré crammed 22 songs into what seemed like a half-hour, a pace that finally got the mosh going. Vocalist Jeremy Bolm shared the microphone with any surfer that made it to the security fence, and spoke on behalf of one fan that security decided was a bit too fired up. AFI themselves, although avoiding much of their earlier, more punk-based work, gave a shout out to New York legends Sick of It All for the band's support earlier in their career.

AFI has always been one of the better bands for audience contributions, as the band comes with a heavy dose of Misfits gang-vocal influence. Most of AFI's catchy choruses were designed for multiple vocalists, so when Havok opted to drop out randomly from hooks, the vocals of the crowd felt less forced than the typical rock show.

AFI closed with "Silver and Cold," the third song from its triumvirate of Sing The Sorrow hits, a departure from the traditional closer "God Called In Sick Today" (which was played prior to the leaving stage the first time). Fans didn't seem to mind, as "Silver" is indeed one of the most melodic in the band's discography, and they left Webster Hall far happier than their idol's music.

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