AFI at the Roseland Ballroom: New York, NY

This entry was posted on Friday, June 23rd, 2006 by George Koroneos

AFI at the Roseland Ballroom: New York, NY (June 22, 2006) Photos by Miss Modernage

Nearly 11 years ago, AFI tore through New York City opening up for seminal New Jersey hardcore heroes Ensign, playing anywhere they could, including the singer from Heckle’s garage and the legendary Coney Island High. Every year they would come back, opening for bigger bands (The Offspring, Sick of It All, Snapcase), and every time they hit the city (or the Jersey shore) their sound would get tighter and their shows would get crazier. Watching singer Davey Havok storm the stage Roxy’s stage in 1997 wearing a Refused shirt, mascara, and bleached blonde hair, while hundreds of fans sang along to “Wake-Up Call,” you knew this band was going to be big—the question was just how big?

Two nights, sold out, Roseland Ballroom—That’s how big.

AFI opened with their latest operatic intro, “Prelude 12/21” giving the front row choir a chance to warm up their vocals before veering into “The Leaving Song Part 2,” of “Sing the Sorrow.” Dressed in black, the band jumped around stage in their usual bat out of hell mode. If they were using backing tracks, they were near unintelligible, only the techno tracks triggered by bassist Hunter were noticeable on some of the songs off the new album. Ever impressive, was guitarists Jade Puget’s ability to add layers of texture to the band’s complicated new compositions with only one guitar—and still do spin kicks off the drum riser.

The selection of songs leaned pretty strongly to the band’s last two albums, peppering hits like “Silver and Cold” and “Girls Not Grey” between the classic “Days of the Phoenix” and “A Single Second” from their Nitro years. The crowd sang back to ever word, overpowering Havok when he would whisper and blowing him out of the water on the band’s call to arms masterpiece “Total Immortal.”

Sadly, the show ended far shorter then it should have. After an hour, the band went with a somber encore of “Death of Seasons” and “God Called In Sick Today.” Havok mounted the crowd during the finale, walking over the converted as he’s done for years. Eleven years later and AFI looks nothing like the band that toured the states relentlessly trying to find their niche among elitist punks and angry hardcore kids. The band that took the stage last night was older, darker and the singer’s voice was way less nasally then years past, but they still had that fire inside them that sparked so many years ago—and they still rocked the hell out of New York City.

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