The first time I saw (or heard) AFI was on April Fool's Day 1997 and I HATED them. Being "Mr. Serious Hardcore Guy" at the time, their goofy skatepunk totally missed the mark with me. Being 23 then, I wrote them off as slop for 14-year-olds, entry level garbage. They landed on my radar two years later when I saw an ad for Black Sails in the Sunset and thought, "this is no different!"
The offending ad
Fast forward to the Summer of 2000. The girl I was dating at the time and I were given free warped tour passes and when we looked at the board during a lull in the line up, I said "Hey, let's go make fun of AFI!" we walked over to the stage they were slated to play on, and they came out and blew us away. I CANNOT express how good they were. I became an instant fan. They mentioned that they weren't even supposed to play that day but asked to be added as they hadn't played buffalo is so long and had gotten many letters requesting that they do. I'm glad they did. At a merch table I got a free sampler cassette with some garbage Vandals song and the enticing Sacrifice Theory for the upcoming record AFI record, The Art of Drowning. I was smitten; it immediately changed how I wrote songs for my band at the time, The Control. I soon owned Black sails in the Sunset, All Hallow's and Art of Drowning. This stuff was a far cry from the band I saw in 1997 and right in my wheelhouse: Spooky Melodic Hardcore.
The girl I was dating on that fateful Warped Tour Day eventually broke up (after seeing AFI another time in 2001) and my first wife and I started dating. Thankfully, she was already into AFI and together we went to the BEST AFI gig I ever saw January 1/29/03. Sing the Sorrow leaked a few weeks later and at first, we were taken aback, she even joked "Did they lose a bet or something?" Within a week I couldn't stop listening to it. We saw them 3 more times in 2003.
AFI at the Opera House 1/29/03 (shot with a potato)
AFI at the Opera House 1/29/03 (shot with a potato)
AFI continued to be an influence on me, my next band Dead Hearts- every record had to have the huge intro ala AFI. When we were in the studio recording our most popular record Bitter Verses, we stopped at a record store on the way to the studio (6/6/06) to grab the CD for DECEMBERUNDERGROUND and Derek, Tom and I were like "uhhhhhh?" it was just OK at best. I like songs but over all that record falls so flat for me. I saw them in Toronto two weeks later and everything was white- their clothes, the back drops, the fucking tree they had on stage. WHITE. I was bummed. They were good but some of the songs weren't. Crash love followed up December... and I stood outside their show handing out flyers because aside from two songs, the record REALLY sucked and the band looked like Maroon Five. Burials followed- I like that one mostly and I took my son to see AFI when he had just turned 3 (he starts middle school soon). I firmly like the Missing Man ep. But really, it's been slim pickings since 2003.
My son at his first gig- AFI 2018
The author at the 20th STS show 2023
I did have a BLAST at the 20th anniversary of Sing the Sorrow in LA 3 years ago and both other times I've seen them in 2022 and 2025. Each time they played a few classics I hadn't seen and are still a great live band, it's just not the same. I don't like the last two albums at all and although I respect them as artists wanting to continue to grow, the stuff they write now isn't what I look to them for. Plus, they were VERY GOOD at writing the songs the wrote from 1999-2003 and fairly mediocre at writing the kind of stuff that came after. They were so locked in, but now the freeway has so many exits, they never quite get to the destination. Last time I saw them, they did do Malleus Maleficarum, so perhaps all is forgiven. As a matter of fact, Black Sails in the Sunset turned 27 today!
Anyway, on to the list of every AFI song I've seen performed live:
Answer That and Stay Fashionable:
Half-Empty Bottle
Brownie Bottom Sundae
I Wanna Get a Mohawk (But Mom Won't Let Me Get One)
It's been a long time since I've jumped into blogland. in the past 3 1/2 years since my last post, I did try my hand at doing a very similar podcast, utilizing some of the content I've touched on in my writing, but after three episodes deleted the whole thing. Let's consider it a pandemic dream that is best left to the black void of the ether.
How cool
Something has happened to me over the past 5 or 6 years and it's probably been a long time coming: I got into Japanese metal and hardcore, mostly from the mid 80's to late 90's. I think this comes from the fact that many current American and European bands aren't speaking to me creatively (or musically!) and that I have gotten full-bore back into record collecting. Thumbing through the crates and rarity walls on the left coast has had me fumble into many an insanely rare Japanese record, temporarily satiating my desire to have the coolest record collection in my wine country suburb.
Gastunk 1986
Jurassic Jade, Doom, X (Japan), Ghoul, Aion, Gauze, Death Side, Poison (Arts), Judgement, Shell Shock, Paintbox, Crow, Gudon, The Execute, Gism... The list goes on and on, but my current fascination is with GASTUNK. I know I am WAY behind the curve on this one particularly, but I think this journey makes sense.
I first became aware of Gastunk as many in the US "of a certain age" did: through Pushead and the masters of making bands relevant through t shirt wearing; Metallica. Kirk and Lars wore their shirts in photo shoots and Pushead not only painted an incredible portrait of frontman Baki, but also used it on the Gastunk LP he himself released on Pusmort Records "Under the Sun" in 1987.
Those of us who read Thrasher magazine in the late 80's couldn't help but trip over something Pushead related- either writing, art or Zorlac Skateboard ads with his signature skulls puking or bleeding all over it. Pushead's style appealed to aggro adolescents everywhere. Let's face it, across the board, his shit rocked. He even interviewed Glenn Danzig for christ's sake. He did the art not just for Metallica's shirts, but also their SKATEBOARD. Pushead was achieving the things a landlocked 14 year old could only dream of. Top all that off, he had an AWESOME band (Septic Death) and an incredible record label (Pusmort).
Metallica liked Gastunk, Pushead liked Gastunk, looking at pictures in metal magazines and skatezines- it seemed like everyone liked Gastunk, but I didn't. I heard about 45 seconds of "Under the Sun" and wrote them off forever. Later Skater.
Metallica, T Shirt Champions
Two years ago (nearly exactly), however, that all changed. I had come across a test press of the INCREDIBLE 1986 "A Farewell to Arms" LP compilation featuring Lip Cream, Outto, Ghoul, The Execute, Gauze and you guessed it... Gastunk. When the record arrived, I put it on and went about my business in my living room. At the end of side A, something magical happened: I heard an absolutely perfect song. A seamless blend of metal and punk that at the same time was neither, yet BOTH. That song was The Eye's by none other than Gastunk... Perhaps further research WAS actually needed.
Thanks to all things digital I was able to find many of their releases on Archive.org to explore and got right into re-evaluating all things Gastunk. Holy shit were they a great band. Their first self-titled EP and "Dead Song," their first LP (both from 1985) are incredible! "Vanishing Signs" and the "To Fans" EP (1986) are right in that pocket as well, but the other singles and EPs from that year start to slide a bit. Then I got to my former nemesis, "Under the Sun," and it was like wrecking a "new-to-you" car. It sounded less confident and cheesy. The material after was practically indigestible. But MAN, that stuff from 85-86 kept me engaged, I listened to it over and over and over. I read every scrap about the band I could online and procured physical copies of "Dead Song," "Vanishing Signs" and "To Fans." I then found that there were two versions of "Under the Sun" released- the original Japanese version on Vice records released in June of 1987 and the US version on Pusmort in November 1987- this version had the vocals redone in English and a different mix. I sought out the original and boy oh boy, it is 100, if not 1000, times better and I now consider myself a fan. Gastunk is all I want to listen to, all the time. Maybe I'll give that last LP another shot too but let me revel in this small victory first.
Unfortunately, Gastunk barely made it out of Japan before breaking up in December 1988. Though, in early 1988, they DID play two US shows: one In Long Beach at Fender's Ballroom in February with Nuclear Assault and another, 36 years ago today, at The Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood. Video shows it's a far cry from what was going on in '85, but they were a band that continued to play their classic with the new/ current stuff their entire career... Oh to be a fly on the wall on 3/14/88.
I never expected to write a part 3, but here we are... (part 1, part 2)
Maybe something bad, maybe something good
4 years ago this month, I ventured with some friends to the annual "This is Hardcore" fest in surly, yet wonderful Philadelphia, PA, I went for the camaraderie and not to really see a specific band per se. The Jerry Only fronted version of the "Misfits" were headlining Saturday night, which had the most bands playing that I was interested in (Killing Time, Cro-Mags, and after the fact, surprisingly, Biohazard were a highlight) so I was kinda looking forward to that, especially when I saw they were going to play Earth AD in it's entirety. Alex, Milford and I had traveled to "Natefest" earlier in the year and it was a solid crew to be travelling with.
Alex, Milford and the Author.
The shows were what festivals always are: fun at times, but arduous at best. The Misfits came on late on Saturday and the Crowd was initially amped, but without a front man, the 39 song set just seemed to drag after like the 8th or 9th song. As the set steamed a long, Milford turned to me and said "I'd never thought I'd be so bored hearing these songs." I agreed. This line up was not BAD they played just fine and was certainly better than some of the late 90's and early 2000's shows I had seen, but it was unbelievably NOT captivating. If you watch the video of the set, it seems like they lose the crowd pretty fast.
After that, I pretty much thought I was done seeing the Misfits (again), why would I want to watch songs I absolutely love be so absolutely mundane? Not to mention, but I had seen the whole "Danzig and Doyle" thing twice and they absolutely crushed the 8 or 9 Misfits songs they did for those shows, plus they were sandwiched in between absolute classic Danzig material. On that 2005 tour, Danzig had his best post-John Christ era guitarist, Joe Fraulob, on guitar. Sad that he didn't make it longer, he could actually play the leads with the skill and feel they require. On the 2006 tour he had Kenny Hickey, another totally legit stand in for John Christ. Those dudes, plus Doyle, put the 2015 Jerry trio to shame. Not to mention in 2006, they did a bunch of Samhain songs too, apparently at Kenny's behest.
Joe Fraulob and the 'Zig 2005, by Maurice Nunez
Kenny Hickey, lifted from a Myspace fan page (lol)
Listen, I love Danzig... Misfits, Samhain and the eponymous band, it just strikes a chord with me. But this love comes with conditions. Danzig's last two records, Skeletons and Black Laden Crown were bargain bin fodder and the Misfits without him is so fucking spotty, it's really not worth the effort. But two weeks ago, tickets for the June 29th "Original Misfits" show in LA practically fell in my lap and I made plans to go and I am so glad I did.
Werewolf bar mitzvah, spooky, scary
I gave my spare ticket to Adrian, who plays guitar in Tuning on the condition that we take his car. It also worked out that we could stay at his brother's place in Ventura. The trip was planned and actualized fairly quickly and soon enough we were at the Banc of California stadium. We ran into, and then hung out with, Andy Coretex (who was responsible for the Tuning record even happening) and his family the whole day. The thing is, although we checked out where our far-away-from-the-stage seats were, we never actually sat in them, as there was a snack area, with a much closer view of the stage had a railing you could watch the show and eat at- and that's where we stayed for the whole show.
I'm having the time of my life here.
The Cro-Mags set was hit and miss, I'm not sold on this latest Harley incarnation, the Age of Quarrel songs sounded terrible, but the Best Wishes songs ruled. Anti-Nowhere League sucked, flat out and The Distillers were terribly uninteresting in this setting. Rise Against were pretty good, I really like their first few records and don't terribly mind the radio rock hits, plus Dead Hearts played with they when they were on the way up and they were really fucking cool. The crowd started to fill out 1/2 way through their set- by the time the Misfits took the stage, there were A LOT of people in that stadium.
The Misfits raged through 30 songs, all played with intensity and with 100% devastating effectiveness. I've gone over the set a hundred times in my head the past three day and it's been tough to really find the words to describe it aside from the typical- AWESOME! AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! But that's exactly what it was, awesome, amazing and incredible. I highly doubt the Misfits reunion shows that came before or that will come after will be as good. I think this is the prefect show to finally put the Danzig baby to rest, end on a high note. Especially considering there will be no higher note than the HILARIOUS $10 parking lot bootleg I got with a terribly drawn likeness of the current band on the front and the MICHAEL GRAVES era on the back! Bravo!
17 years ago (the year 2000!) I did a 'zine called Martyrs and Motherfuckers. My friend Mark was kind enough to scan in the first issue for me, as I never kept one. I did three 'zines total; Blood on the Floor, Prick and the one you'll find below for your reading pleasure (I was also a regular contributor to Mark's 'zine Hello My Name Is) I cringe at some of it, but overall, I think it was a good 'zine.
(PDF link at the bottom of the page)
If you'd like to download a pdf of this illustrious piece of JDS history, you can do so HERE.
