I like a lot of
bands, but sometimes there are bands where I keep stopping and marveling at
them, because they are just so good. AFI is one of those bands.
It would be easy to
focus on lead singer Davey Havok's unique vocal qualities as the source. That
is certainly part of it, but it is not the whole story.
Although part of my
concert prep involved going to Everyday Music and clearing out their AFI
section, I did most of my listening, both before and after the concert, via
Spotify. One thing that worked well for that was a set of brief commentary
tracks for each song on the new album, Burials.
It was nice to hear
the individual voices: Havok, Jade Puget on guitar, Hunter Burgan on bass, and
Adam Carson on drums. However, you can get that through a few "making
of" videos on their Youtube channel as well. This was more. They were
talking about the music and sometimes it was about the composition or the
inspiration or the performing, and sometimes it was talking about developing
their part or their appreciation of someone else's part. I really don't feel
like I am doing that justice, so it's probably best to just listen to it for
yourself. Mainly, it highlighted their depth, their passion for the music and
for getting it right, their commitment, and their unity. It was a beautiful
thing.
And it was not
surprising at all. Bands don't get that good accidentally. It is as easy to
fall into a rut with rock as with any other line of work. With AFI, they just
keep going other places, and so they are always surprising, and always reaching
somewhere new, and I can't imagine them ever being boring.
I first became
aware of AFI on Sing The Sorrow, with the "Girl's Not Grey"
video. I remember being amazed by the emotion of the album. "Miseria
Cantare" especially just shook through me. It felt like anguish with some
resentment; I could never describe how I thought it felt without using a
scenario involving vampires.
I did not know at
that time that they had been around for long enough to release a retrospective
album the next year (2004), and then I lost track of them, like I did with most
bands, and did not know they had continued to do interesting things. I found
out just in time to get a concert ticket.
On a shallow note,
the band does not look like they have been rocking for over twenty years. It
makes no sense that Jade turns 40 this month. Together, they are probably a
pretty good advertisement for straight edge/veganism/vegetarianism.
Davey is probably
the most different. From 2003 I remember him with long flowing hair and his clothing
and demeanor all worked together so that the overall aspect was that of some
ethereal creature of the night. The hair is short now, and he is still dressed
in black, but it's not the same. He looks more mortal now, and yet, there are
moves that he does at times in concert where I remember that skater waif. Then
he walks on the crowd and seems not mortal in a completely different way, and
yet he still politely thanked the audience pretty much every time we applauded
after a song.
I would love to
give a few songs that would give a good idea of the band's breadth, but it's
kind of too daunting. There is too much to choose from. It is also unnecessary,
because just listening to any one album gives a pretty good idea of their depth
and versatility. Things they do well are guitars, drums, bass, vocals, and
choral style bits on the chorus. Really, what they do well is music.
They're not
necessarily for everyone, as there is a bit of a dark side to them. I feel like
there's a thread of casual cruelty through most of their videos, though I think
that's more reflective of a worldview than an attempt to perpetuate it. For all
the ugly things in the world, they keep extracting a lot of beauty.
Actually, I'll go
back to the commentary track for that. Listening to that sent me to the lyrics,
and combining both of those, it felt like a lot of the material was from the
past. I don't know that it was blatant, but it seemed to be dealing with the
pains of youth: first loves, first betrayals, and first times coping with how
callous people can be. And yet, from the commentary, there also was a sense of
a lot of confidence. It's okay to look back at that now. We're ready for it.
This is, of course,
possibly way too much extrapolation, but maybe that's the point. You aren't
likely to get the same kind of yearning for understanding from mediocre music.
I'm very glad I
went to the concert. There were some issues that were not the band's fault, so
that will be a separate post on Monday. Also, by the time I got off work and
made it downtown I missed the first act, Coming. I feel bad about that, but I
bought some of their music and will review them Thursday. I knew Halloween week
would bleed into other weeks, and that's okay. Somehow it seems appropriate that
it does.
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