On a cool and gray day in April, AFI brought its appropriately named “Death of Spring” tour to the Newport Music Hall for a sold-out show.
The San Francisco-area goth-punk band – the name of which stands for A Fire Inside – sprinkled its show with hits from its 12-year catalog. Rabid fans screamed along with lead singer Davey Havok’s gloomy lyrics, and mosh pits were near constant throughout the show.
Drawing supporters from across its diverse fan base, the band hosted all comers Friday. Like an inter-clique liaison, the concert drew goths, punks, metal heads, burnouts and others together – each group taking something a little different from the music.
Far more realistic than The Breakfast Club, AFI draws such diverse fans through the themes developed in their music. Havok practices songwriting on the grandest scale, singing about love, hate, betrayal and sacrifice, making the most expansive subjects real and relevant.
During a five-year, six-album run, the band proved itself among the most prolific and talented acts in all of punk music. However, following 2000’s “The Art of Drowning,” AFI disappeared from the public view, and its cult following languished. The band re-emerged this year with Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana) to produce the new album.
AFI has always been enigmatic. Havok’s stage attire suggests a glam rocker; he wears heavy mascara, fishnet stockings, a long black mane, and writhes maniacally on the floor. However, prior to “Sing the Sorrow,” his band tended to sound more like early Offspring than anything else.
With the new album, Vig has helped Havok capitalize on his goth-chic appearance by developing a sound that more fully embraces this style. With incessant chamber strings, techno pulses and at least a few choral pieces, Vig and Havok have been able to adjust the band’s sound without hindering its musicianship. In fact, “Sing the Sorrow” is among the best produced albums AFI has ever made.
Unfortunately, following a three-year hiatus, fans expected a more traditional album, and AFI purists worry about the band’s intentions. Punk fans have always been ready to point the “sell-out” finger, but here it may be justified.
The band has enjoyed national recognition since it hired Vig, and record sales have been excellent, taking into account the band’s small, but dedicated audience. The question on Friday was whether AFI could translate its new album into a quality live show – the true measure of the work.
Results were mixed.
Although songs from “Sing the Sorrow” were among the best played, fan reaction was lackluster. Even the excellent “Miseria Conatare: The Beginning,” and new single, “Girls Not Grey,” received tepid feedback compared to older hits like “The Lost Souls” and “My Michelle.” During the latter, rolling mosh pits engulfed the entire floor of The Newport.
Three punk bands opened for AFI, the best and last of which was called Strike Anywhere. Despite a solid set, the band felt the need for an obligatory three-song warning, prompting sarcastic cheers from the crowd. For AFI fans who have been waiting three years to see this concert, opening bands are just one more roadblock before the real show.
The mood of the crowd was wary. Willing to throw themselves whole-heartedly into older hits, fans seemed uncertain about how to react to songs from “Sing the Sorrow.” While the album has done wonderful things for AFI’s short-term success, it may have alienated the band’s long-time fans.
AFI’s core fans are near maniacal in their dedication (witness the fan tattoo section on the band’s Web-site) and the band cannot afford to lose them, even through lofty – and excellent – experiments like “Sing the Sorrow.”
