Review Summary: a very enjoyable DVD release from a very hit and miss band.
Seeing AFI live here in Sydney, Australia, was a feature upon itself. Davey and the guys are incredible, no one matches their passion and excitement. Despite the awful sound, lack of security and medical help, the set was near perfect, even though Davey did not interact with the Sydney crowd, in fact, even if at all.
This is AFI's stunning DVD debut, I Heard A Voice. Recorded live at the height of their fame from Long Beach Arena, California, AFI played to their biggest crowd in all of their tour. Estimated at 13,000 people, its incredible to see. Dressed in the all white for the night attire, the set list is well decided, but often predictable. Live shows for bands is a different medium, and often more than not, many bands fail to bring the excitment of their records onstage. Its been a very difficult rite of passage for countless muscians. Davey and the guys pull it off effortlessly, and then some.
There truly is a A Fire Inside. From the "Whoa oh" Oh o's" of the eerie Prelude 12/21, you can literally feel the excitment of the crowd. This kind of empathy is crucial to live performances, and AFI do it so well. Then suddenly, it's all guns blazing to a incredible rendition of Girl's Not Grey, the best AFI have ever played it. The unbelievable performance of the song is enough to justify the purchase. The fire continues to burn brightly, through a huge mass of distortion and screams, guitarist Jade Puget strums the screeching opening chords to The Leaving Song PT2, amass the warmly appriciated singalong. Their performance is brutally beautiful, soon it seems that Davey owns you, as you cant help but to scream your lungs out to Kill Caustic, The Days Of The Phoenin and A Single Second, which features a suprising special apperance from a mystery guest (You have to watch it to find out ^^). Its very enjoyable and fun, but sadly the fire starts to shimmer as slower and lets face it, boring songs like Silver and Cold and Bleed Black (Great on Sing The Sorrow, but does not work live) start to sink from the speakers. At least the songs give the viewer time to breath (And blink). Thankfully, after preaching to the crowd for the tenth or eleventh time how much they mean to Davey (How come Sydney got screwed over?!), everything goes insane again, and thanks to some really clever camera work, Dancing Through Sunday is a massive blast that never seems to end, another highlight of the set list. Hunter and Jade (Bassist and Guitarist) are like, ahem grade two school kids, with their endless energy, leaping from Adam's (Drummer) stage and furiously running all over the stage, carefully avoiding each other and Davey.This Time Imperfect contains some of the best lyrics the band have ever written, but again does not translate on stage well. An explosive Death Of Seasons and old school favourite, Totalimmortal have the Cali mosh going completly wild and every single person on this night screaming along "I held a fallen star and it wept for me, dying". The crowd soon melts in Davey's hands after a stunning, if not patchy, performance of Love Like Winter, in which the stage is completly covered in white confetti, resemenet of Rammstein's Du Hast (Live Aus Berlin 1998). After Davey woo's the newbies, it's time to win back the 'cores and oldies, which he does, in a very dangerous but very impressive way, which he soon finishes God Called In Sick Today literally on the huge sea of people, kneeling on top of the crowd, and yes for the smart ones reading this, it's probably a metaphor for Davey and the guys being on top of the world, but thats only if you like to think too much. Finally, it's goodnight and farewell, for the fifty eighth time Davey has spoken and praised to the fans (grrr) and everyone, no matter if your a newbie or an oldie, everyone holds their heads high and arms raised in the air to AFI's biggest hit to date, Miss Murder. Nothing too special, but it does close the show well with a song that everyone knows. A breath taking experience, an even better show, despite the odd fault here and there. Highly recommend to the newbies of Davey and the boys.
Most of the songs are lifted from the massive selling DecemberUnderground, obviously. Almost like AFI's greatest hits set list, except shamefully excluding underrated classics like Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings), A Winters Tale, Fall Children, The Prayer Position and possibly the best songs ever written by Davey and the guys (Besides The Days Of The Phoenix, God Called In Sick Today and The Leaving Song PT2 *It's debatable!!!*), The Great Dissapointment, The Leaving Song PT1 and The Lost Souls. For shame! And would it really hurt anyone to hear long and forgotten songs like Lower It, The Despair Factor, Mini Trucks Suck and Who Said You Could Touch Me Anyway?.
Anyway, the set list is enjoyable and almost flawless. Perfect for the casual listeners.
- Prelude 12/21
- Girls Not Grey
- The Leaving Song PT2
- Summer Shudder
- Kill Caustic
- The Days Of The Phoenix
- Endlessly, She Said
- A Single Second
- The Missing Frame
- Bleed Black
- Silver And Cold
- Dancing Through Sunday
- This Time Imperfect
- Death Of Seasons
- Totalimmortal
- Love Like Winter
- God Called In Sick Today
- Miss Murder
Great quality and value for the casual listeners. Alot more of questions will be raised by the 'core fans, though. Bonus features included a photo gallery, extensive interviews with the band and a large number of various Despair Factor members (making this an essential buy for them) and a special hidden feature. Highlight the moth animation and hit enter/play on your control. Here you will find four different short indie style clips, both macabre and strange, most staring (or written) by Hunter. Interesting, but the bonus features are very light, and the main focus here is on the spectacle that is AFI. Dont expect too much, but hopefully next time around a few music clips or behind the scenes doco included would be more of a homage to Davey's much loved fans, as he quotes throughout the set, alot.
Worth every penny. But not that extra dime.
