While the streets of Oakland were quiet on this particular Thanksgiving eve, the 1800 block of Telegraph Avenue was abuzz as AFI brought their “Bodies” tour to the Fox Theater in support of their 2021 release. Hailing from Ukiah California but having cut their teeth in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Petaluma, the Bay Area is close enough to consider this a hometown show for the boys, and the fans turned up in force in spite of the holiday, selling the venue out.
Drag Majesty kicked things off with a lengthy 45+ minute set of synth pop and clearly had some fans in the room, but most of the crowd was getting antsy in anticipation of AFI’s set. And when the band finally took the stage, the room was more than happy to assist front man Davey Havok with the lyrics to “Strength Through Wounding.” There’s something about the mind-meld of “through our bleeding, we are one,” that sets the perfect tone—this night was no exception.
AFI has been doing a pretty good job of keeping their fans guessing by mixing up the setlist for each night of the tour. With “Girl’s Not Grey” and “Love Like Winter” up next, they moved into unexpected territory. The old school fans were treated to “Perfect Fit” off of their 1996 release Very Proud of Ya during which Havok hopped onto the barricade for an audience sing-along that found a crowd surfer perfectly timing his arrival at the mic for the song’s refrain.
As the crowd settled down, drummer Adam Carson stepped out from behind his kit with an egg shaker as Havok announced their first ever live performance of “Caught” which required a restart after someone (Davey?) flubbed the intro, making it that much more memorable for those in the audience. The main set wrapped with “Silver and Cold” and a mic drop—actually the whole mic stand—but the band returned quickly with another oldie, “Third Season” off of Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes that had the pumped crowd more than happy to contribute plenty of “heys” and accompanying fist pumps before closing out the night with “Days of the Phoenix.”
With a near-perfect setlist and a top-notch performance, the only thing arguably missing was something off of Crash Love, but it would have been hard to argue that “Medicate” should have replaced “Perfect Fit” or “Caught,” which were true standouts in an epic night of music.
DRAB MAJESTY
A.F.I. SETLIST
Strength Through Wounding
Girl’s Not Grey
Love Like Winter
So Beneath You
37mm
Sacrifice Theory
Begging for Trouble
Wester
I Hope You Suffer
Escape from Los Angeles
The Conductor
Perfect Fit
Caught (Live debut)
Miss Murder
Silver and Cold
Third Season
The Days of the Phoenix
