A.F.I. w/ Tides of Man feat. Jonny Craig

Posted 20 November 2009 Live Music Review

November 18, 2009

Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Written by Kate Dingle

When AFI announced that their show at the Pompano Amphitheater had been moved to Revolution Live, the speculation about the reason for the last minute venue change did not die down until the house lights went down.

When Tides of Man and vocalist Jonny Craig took the stage, all seemed right in music land. The rumor mill had stopped working and allowed the music to take control. With Jonny Craig leading the way, Tides of Man kept things cool, calm, and collected. With smooth melodies behind him, Craig’s vocals were raw and uninhibited, to say the least. Ending their short set with an acoustic number, Tides of Man and Jonny Craig kept things nice and relaxed in preparation for the powerhouse that was soon to come.

By the time the house lights were brought down for a second time, folks seemed to forget about the fact that the show should have been somewhere else. The sound in the building was deafening and it only got louder when front man Davey Havok emerged from the wings. Accompanied by blinding strobe lights, the guys from AFI kicked things off with “Torch Song”. It seemed as though the quartet from California was playing for their lives, with nothing to lose and having the time of their lives while doing it. The onstage antics and performance these guys delivered was that of a well seasoned act. And that’s the way it should be, given that they have been a unit since forming in 1991 and having the same lineup since 1998. Throughout the nearly 18 song set list, AFI rocked out with “Kill Caustic”, “Triple Zero”, “On The Arrow”, and (crowd favorite) “The Leaving Song Pt. 2″. Their three song encore included the smash hit “Miss Murder”.

Overall, it was quite an eclectic night of music. Jonny Craig and Tides of Man kicked off the night with a set that was part jam session, part bleeding heart. AFI kicked things up and brought the house down with each chord played. As it turns out, the devoted AFI fans weren’t bothered at all by the venue change. Even those parents who traveled hundreds of miles so their kids could see their idols seemed more than happy to alter their travel plans and change hotel reservations. And I’ll bet that a group of lifetime fans were born out of that small group of parents. Who would’ve thought?

Photos by Christina Mendenhall