AFI – Live in Edmonton (December 18th, 2009)

Before the fifth annual Jingle Bell Rock show in Edmonton I sat down with Jade Puget and Hunter of AFI for an interview. In the interview we talked a bit about fans expectations, on their complaints that a band always sounded better “on their earlier stuff” to which Hunter commented that no matter what happens, nothing will ever beat the first time you were introduced to a band. CDs released before or after that first introduction may be better in one way or another but to that listener there is some morsel of intrinsic value associated with the first discovery that will never be surpassed; and as AFI rocked the proverbial house last night at the Shaw Conference Centre I couldn’t help but think he was right.

The first Jingle Bell Rock was back in 2005 and was, for all intensive purposes, completely epic. There were giant inflatable snowmen, Christmas decorations and a fantastical stage setup that, probably, led to the power going on two songs into the headliner’s set but even that made the night so much more memorable. Over the course of the next two years (I opted to skip last year’s festival since the band’s failed to interest me), Jingle Bell Rock never lived up to the initial offering. It was never anything to do with the shows – once the show was actually the best show of the year – but the Christmas theme slowly evaporated until last night where it was no where to be seen. While the stage setup and decorations never have any impact on the band’s performance, every time I think about Jingle Bell Rock I think of the inflatable snowmen and fake Christmas candles and their continual absence is saddening. Still, the stage is just a platform for what people really pay to see: the band; and after playing shows for more than eighteen years, AFI knows how to put on a good show.

Opening with some thunderous drums and glowing red lights, the Californian punk band jumped straight into The Torch Song and continued with little to no breaks for the entire hour long set. The band was decked mostly all in black, creating a nice contrast to the blistering white logo in the backdrop. Davey Havoc sported the only color in the band in the form of a shimmering gold suit as he channeled the spirit of David Bowie; but a David Bowie who wasn’t afraid to let a blood curling scream go every once in a while amidst some of the bands’ heavier cuts like Love Is A Many Splendored Thing and Kill Caustic. But even though Havoc’s vocals were strong no matter the range, be it the alt-rock Girls Not Grey or electro ballad Love Like Winter, he was occasional drowned out by Puget’s blistering guitar work which happened a few too many times for comfort.

As for the guitarists, Puget and Hunter were a never ending source of energy, suddenly exploding and crisscrossing the stage at a moment’s notice and even drummer Adam Carson stepped out from behind the kit to play some percussion during one song. They worked together, playing mostly new songs and a cover of The Cure‘s Just Like Heaven, and captured the crowd’s attention without the need for any gimmicks or pointless banter to create a nice send-off to 2009.

But just like Hunter said, people will always say they liked their first introduction better. For Jingle Bell Rock, the inaugural show with Rise Against will never be beaten and for an AFI show itself, I’ll have to pull out the old standard and say they were better last time they were in Edmonton in 2007; and I doubt anything will beat their 2003 show, a show I missed but one that people still talk about as they fondly remember the time Havoc walked, fully upright, across and on top of the crowd – a feat I hope to see him repeat one day.

Set list:

1. Torch Song
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song Pt. II
4. Veronica Sawyer Smokes
5. Ever And A Day
6. Kill Caustic
7. End Transmission
8. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
9. Beautiful Thieves
10. Dancing Through Sunday
11. Just Like Heaven (The Cure cover)
12. On the Arrow
13. Death of Seasons
14. Medicate
15. Miss Murder
16. Encore:
16. Too Shy to Scream
17. Love Like Winter
18. Silver and Cold