By The crowd was growing impatient and the intense chant “Through our bleeding, we are one,” began as the lights dimmed and Davey Havok walked onto the stage.
Havok is the lead singer for the East Bay punk band AFI, which played a sold-out show at the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas Sunday night.
The Hard Rock is just a few blocks from the Vegas strip and has a few live music lounges, including the concert hall The Joint, which AFI played.
The first band of the night was Viva Hate, a rockabilly punk band from Los Angeles. According to the band’s Web site, the group was formed when Geoff Kresge left pyschobilly rockers Tiger Army to play more aggressive music. Kresge was actually part of early AFI lineup from 1992 to 1997. He is now in the circle of bands that have members formally associated with AFI that now tour with the band.
Another band in that exclusive circle is Love Equals Death, the second band to perform that night. Front man Chon Travis was originally in the punk band Loose Change with AFI guitarist Jade Puget. Love Equals Death is an original-sounding punk band that plays memorable punk anthems. Travis is also a prime example of a front man who is heavily interacts with the crowd.
When the fog cleared, Havok emerged with glittery, light blue eye shadow to start “Prelude 12/21.” He was dressed all in black, which was a change from AFI’s last tour in which the entire band wore pure white outfits and Havok wore lacey gloves. Now that the gloves were off, the true punk rockers had their edge back and were ready to deliver.
The MTV hit “Girls Not Grey” from the platinum-selling album “Sing the Sorrow” came next, followed by “Kill Caustic” from the group’s most recent album “Decemberunderground.”
The entire crowd sang along with “The Leaving Song Pt. 2,” “Summer Shudder” and “The Leaving Song” as Havok and Puget teamed up with bassist Hunter and drummer Adam Carson to deliver a powerful rock show.
Most of the night was a mix of songs from the “Sing the Sorrow” and “Decemberunderground” albums, which left longtime fans asking for older live favorites. Where were “Days of the Phoenix” or “Single Second?”
However, AFI did play “God Called in Sick Today” from the cult favorite “Black Sails in the Sunset.” Havok did his ritual crawl into the crowd and sang epically while standing on hands of the sea of fans.
AFI actually played some cover songs, which is something the band hardly ever does live. The group played Blur’s ubiquitous hit “Song 2” and another cover song from one of Havok’s personal favorites, which got no response from the crowd.
The band finished its set with most recent hits “Love Like Winter” and “Miss Murder” before disappearing into the Vegas night.
On previous tours, AFI often tried out new songs, set lists and performance techniques. However I found that this particular show lacked variety, instead providing more of the same.
Overall, AFI got the entire Joint rocking out but left some old-school fans begging for more of the “old” AFI.
