Rock band AFI was not messing around Saturday night at Kia Forum in Inglewood as it delivered a biting, passionate performance of its entire “Sing the Sorrow” record.
Though there was palpable excitement as thousands of fans had gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of their favorite bands’ biggest albums, there was a heavier, moodier vibe — heightened by a thick fog that had rolled in following the daylong rainstorm and the ominous red lighting shrouding the venue — that complemented the now decades-old release.
For one night only, the band, which originally formed in Ukiah and the Bay Area 33 years ago, played “Sing the Sorrow” straight through for the first time and, according to its social media sites, “the last time.”
Generations of fans lined up early, some even braving the rain the night before, to get their wristbands so they could buy exclusive 20th-anniversary merchandise and be among of the first inside the venue to get as close to the stage as possible. Members of Generation X mingled with millennials, some of which brought along their Gen Z offspring to enjoy the evening that explored the lyrically dark and musically experimental album.
“Sing the Sorrow” was the sixth studio release by the band and its mainstream breakthrough, supported by the singles “Girl’s Not Grey,” “The Leaving Song Pt. II” and “Silver and Cold,” all of which received massive play on the radio and had popular music videos in rotation on MTV and MTV2. Recorded between 2002 and 2003 at Cello Studios in Los Angeles, it was co-produced by Nirvana’s “Nevermind” producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig and the late Jerry Finn, who had previously helmed pivotal albums for bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Rancid, Tiger Army and, one of the evening openers and early AFI influences, East Bay punk rock band Jawbreaker.
After sets by Jawbreaker, Chelsea Wolfe and Choir Boy, the crowd was ready when the first notes of “Miseria…
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