A.F.I. has canceled the remaining dates of their North American tour after singer Davey Havok was diagnosed with nodes on his vocal chords. A representative for the band’s record label revealed that doctors advised Havok to go home and rest his voice or else risk serious damage. The representative said that he is expected to make a full recovery, although it will take at least a couple of months. A.F.I. released the following statement: “We have never cancelled any shows and are deeply disappointed to have to cancel these shows. Unfortunately our only course of action is clear. We truly… Read more »
Renowned rock band, AFI, have been making waves since 1998, and now, Davey Havok and Jade Puget have embarked on an adventure of their own, crafting a straight-edge hardcore group, appropriately titled XTRMST.
Despite all the territory they’ve covered in their near-thirty tenure, AFI retains an impressively conspicuous identity. It’s the Tim Burton condition in which, despite rejecting the confines of any categorical genre with each new release, they have an innate flair that renders them instantly recognizable. But that’s not to say that they exist outside the realm of reasonable comparison. We scoured the alternative underground to prove that point. And while we can’t promise the recreation of that first magical moment you first heard Sing The Sorrow, we did pluck a handful of new music recommendations from the AFI ethos. Representing… Read more »
It seems indicative of U.S. divorce trends that we could reasonably add National Ex-Spouse Day to the calendar between the bookends of April Fool’s Day and 4/20. Lo and behold, April 14 stands as the designated date for reflection on the heels of romantic dissolution. Officially, it’s a day to assuage anger and practice forgiveness—but let’s be real here: that’s about as engaging as a rainy day lecture on the history of watching paint dry. In the interest of feeding our delusion of music being a cure-all, we’ve opted for a decidedly more “teenage angst” approach in celebrating the sanctioned… Read more »
On an appropriately cold and rainy Friday night in the Minneapolis warehouse district, the Despair Faction, AFI’s fan militia, was working itself up, chanting the intro to Black Sails in the Sunset (”Through/Our bleeding!/We/Are one!”) and throwing up martial fist pumps. The all-ages crowd had already been primed by opening act Gallows, whose lanky, ginger vocalist, Frank Carter, spent half his time singing from the middle of the pit and the rest on stage, gobbing loogies with impressive trajectories. The Faction had just spent three years waiting for AFI to break their hiatus with a new album, Crash Love, and… Read more »
For four years, AFI isn’t the only fire Davey Havok and Jade Puget have had inside – they’ve also been trying to flesh out the debut album by their long-pending side project, Blaqk Audio. Now, finally, the LP is good to go.”It’s very different from AFI,” Havok warned us at last weekend’s Live Earth concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey . The album, CexCells, has been in the works since 2003 – around the time Havok and Puget told Rolling Stone that they were hoping to release the project in early 2004. When AFI broke into the mainstream with 2003’s… Read more »
After it caused the cancellation of 10 shows earlier this month, Davey Havok’s voice will have plenty of time to get back in shape. AFI have no plans to make up the canceled dates or to follow up their current hit single, “Silver and Cold.” Instead, they’ll hole up to work on their next album. “We’re on our third single now,” guitarist Jade Puget said. “A lot of bands only have one. Having four would be like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something, and I don’t think we’re quite there. We’re more than happy that we had three that… Read more »
Another year of touring isn’t frazzling AFI – quite the opposite. “I usually bug out off tour at, like, day 10,” explained drummer Adam Carson, who, along with his bandmates, is enjoying his first vacation since before Sing the Sorrow was released in March. “It’ll be nice to do another tour.” AFI’s latest jaunt launches February 18 in Bakersfield, California, with Coheed and Cambria and A Static Lullaby in the opening slots. A few weeks later, Thursday will replace the latter until the tour wraps in mid-March. AFI will then decide whether they’ll release another single and remain on the… Read more »
Coldplay turned out to be the big rock winners of Thursday’s (August 28) 20th Annual Video Music Awards, picking up three awards for “The Scientist” including best group video, best breakthrough video and best direction in a video. Good Charlotte went home with the viewer’s choice award for “Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous” and for the second year in a row Linkin Park scored the best rock video. The Queens Of The Stone Age video for “Go With The Flow” received the best Special effects award and the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” was awarded with best Editing in… Read more »
A.F.I. fans should check out the import section of their favorite record store for the upcoming Australian CD-single release of “The Leaving Song Part II,” from the band’s current album Sing The Sorrow. The Australian CD, which will be released on August 4 to coincide with the band’s tour there, includes three additional tracks-demo versions of “This Celluloid Dream” and “Synthesthesia,” plus a CD-ROM video for the band’s first single from Sing The Sorrow, “Girl’s Not Grey.” On the home front, “The Leaving Song Part II” is currently at Number 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. A.F.I. has been… Read more »