Universal To Cut CD Prices To $10 or Lower

Billboard is reporting on a new initiative by Universal Music Group to cut CD prices across their entire lineup. Starting in the next quarter and for the rest of 2010, the company will test lower CD prices. Single CDs will have the suggested list prices of $10, $9, $8, $7 and $6. The label plans to release deluxe editions at a higher price point. With Universal the largest music company right now, the move is likely to push prices downwards at the other majors as well. This in turn, if it actually happens, will affect AFI as well as many other artists.

AFI is under contract with a subsidiary of UMG, Interscope Records. You can read the entire article here.

Richard’s AFI interview

A person named Richard interviewed Adam, Davey and Hunter (RENO) about their longevity, what A Fire Inside means, and recording.



Also a random short clip of them discussing area codes with the same interviewer can be seen here.

Help Choose The Despair Faction Favicon

A thread and a poll have been put up on the Despair Faction Message Board asking members to vote for their favorite DF icon to be used as the favicon, the icon seen in the Web address bar. Go here to vote.

Note: for an example of a favicon, look at the “AFINewsHQ” icon next to our address in the address bar.

More DF Presale Info For AFI+Green Day Tour

Despair Faction presale information has been posted for several more AFI+Green Day shows in August and September. These shows will be onsale at 12 noon on April 1. Click here to read the thread. (Only logged in DF members can access this thread)

* Camden, NJ
* Hartford, CT
* Dallas, TX
* Phoenix, AZ
* Irvine, CA
* San Diego, CA
* Montreal, CAN

You can purchase tickets for the first six show listed here. There is a special link to purchase tickets for Montreal. Remember, we will not give out the DF password, so please do not ask.

AFI "Swoops In To Save First Half of Bamboozle"

The Orange Country Register, a newspaper in California, has written an article praising AFI for “swooping in to save the first half of the Bamboozle California.” You can read the article here.

The writer, Kelli Fadroski, went on to say that “Frontman Davey Havok emerged strong, exuding confidence that has come from more than a decade of big-venue experience. Lately this group — including drummer Adam Carson, bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget — has been playing with great gusto, charging through its hefty catalog and bringing life to its newest recordings. AFI is in such sharp form now, in fact, that it’s virtually certain the almost 20-year veterans will shine on their coming tour with Green Day.”

East Bay Express Posts Review of Slim’s Show

East Bay Express has posted a review of the March 25th AFI show at Slim’s in San Francisco, CA here. Here is an excerpt:

“AFI stormed through a fourteen-song set with equal parts effortlessness and raw energy. Though their frequent touring could have easily resulted in a mechanical performance, every band member was lively and engaged the crowd.

Although Havok admitted he “couldn’t find the key” for one song played off the album Very Proud of Ya, the misstep was a footnote in an overall animated and memorable performance, and was most certainly forgiven when he front-flipped onto the flailing hands of concertgoers.”

KROQ’s Double Trouble with Green Day and AFI

KROQ is running a contest for the August 31 Green Day+AFI show in Los Angeles, CA. The prize is getting to “travel on the KROQ party bus to San Diego, hang with AFI and attend the exclusive Green Day sound check party.” To win, you have to be the 20th caller to 800-520-1067 during the week. Get the full details here at KROQ.com. Thanks to Shirley for the tip!

Early Summer Tour Dates For Tennessee, Indiana

Three new US tour dates have been added to AFI’s official site. You can find the news posting here. Presales for these shows start on Thursday, April 1.

Sunday, May 30 – Knoxville, TN @ Valarium
Monday, May 31 – Memphis, TN @ New Daisy
Wednesday, June 2 – Indianapolis, IN @ Old National Center

Live Post: AFI at Bamboozle Left

AFI will be preforming later on tonight at Angel Stadium at Bamboozle Left. Our administrator Mike and writer Alex will be interviewing Hunter before the show for our Answer That And Stay Fashionable Interview Series. In addition, they will also be livetweeting with pictures, updates, and the setlist. We will continually update this post throughout the night with any information we get.

8:46pm PST: Mike tweets “Angels and Airwaves are done!!!”
9:03pm PST: AltPressLive tweets “Everybody is anxiously awaiting AFI!”
9:25pm PST: Earlier today, AFI sat down with 98.7 FM at Bamboozle to discuss working out, dressing rooms, and tour. View the interview here. Thanks to Shirley for the tip!
9:29pm PST: Crowd shot
9:33pm PST: Shot From Stage
9:49pm PST: Another Stage Pic
9:53pm PST: Davey
3/28/10 5:21pm PST: Mark (Despair Faction Curator) has posted 27 high quality photographs from last night’s show here.
3/29/10 7:13 PST: Alternative Press has posted a high quality gallery here.
Setlist:
Medicate
Girl’s Not Grey
The Leaving Song Pt. II
I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
Kill Caustic
End Transmission
The Days Of The Phoenix
Beautiful Thieves
Dancing Through Sunday
Too Shy To Scream
Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
Death of Seasons
The Missing Frame
Love Like Winter
Silver and Cold
Miss Murder

The show is officially over. We will continue to update this post once videos and more photos arise.

DF Again Closed For Maintenance

The Despair Faction message board is once again closed for maintenance. Perhaps that new homepage is on the way… We will keep you updated!
Update: The boards are back up and running for now.

IShotYourBand.com Posts Gallery From Tampa Show, Portland Photos on Flickr

IShotYourBand.com has posted a huge gallery (over 100 pictures) of AFI at The Ritz in Tampa, Florida on March 16, 2010. To view the gallery, go here.

Also, a Flickr set from AFI’s show in Portland, Oregon on January 25th has been posted here.

Shirt from March 25 Slim’s DF Show

Thanks to Horror_Kid we’ve found a picture of a shirt printed specially for the Despair Faction show at Slim’s in San Francisco last Thursday, March 25. You can see the picture here.

AFI News HQ interviews Geoff Kresge: Part 3

Here’s the final part of our interview Geoff Kresge. First of all, all my appreciation and gratitude to Geoff for taking the time to fill out these amazing questions. It’s so nice to amazing that although he left AFI 13 years ago, one can really tell it’s still a big part of his life. Thanks, Geoff.

We really hope you enjoyed this interview!

P: Do you find yourself playing AFI songs when you’re home alone?

GK: No. I haven’t played any of those songs since my last performance with the band, which is coming up on being 13 years ago. I have listened through some of the session tapes in the recent past, but typically once I finish a record, I only listen to it occasionally. I’ve probably heard ATASF ten times or less since it was recorded. Even fewer for VPOY. I still feel attached to the songs, I just don’t generally listen to my own albums. I mean, while you’re making a record you hear those songs so many times during the recording and mixing and mastering stages that it’s enough to last a long time. Haha!

P: If I’m not wrong, you were on stage with AFI for the first time in 12 years now singing Nyquil at the record release show for Crash Love. How was it? How did the band approach to you about this?

GK: That’s right! It was completely unplanned though. I didn’t have any idea which song they were going to play until I got onstage and asked Hunter what was going on. He started to hand me his bass, but as I mentioned, I haven’t played those songs for so long that I couldn’t have played the bass parts if my life depended on it! I was quite surprised that I could remember the lyrics. It really was a blast singing that song with them though.

P: Pablo’s personal favorite oldskool AFI song is one that you wrote both lyrics and music for: Love is a Many Splendored Thing, which is now a new-fans favorite “old song” due to it being revived for live shows. Can you tell us more about this song? What’s the story behind it? How did you come up with the lyrics?

GK: Ah, that’s kind of a silly lyric. It’s not my best work by any means, but it was inspired by someone I knew at the time and how I felt about them and their attitude towards me. It was just a way of blowing off some steam. If I had known that they would still be playing that song more than fifteen years later, I probably would’ve put a little more effort into the lyrics. Hahaha!

P: What’s the thing you’re the most proud, and the thing you regret of doing with AFI?

GK: The thing I’m most proud of? Being a part of getting ourselves out of the garage, into the studio, onto a vinyl record, touring, building the band up to what it was at the point that I decided to leave in 1997.

The thing I regret? I’d love to be one of those people that says, “I have no regrets,” but that old line is a bunch of crap. Anyone that would actually say that is full of it. Haha! Of course there are things that I regret from my time in the band, but nothing can change those things. Even if those things could be taken back or reversed, would the end results be favorable? There are mistakes that all four of us made, individually and collectively, but those mistakes paved the way for other things – other successes, other mistakes, and so on. I don’t think the band would be the same now if any one or two of the things that happened in the past were to be altered or erased, as much as I or anyone else may wish that certain things had happened differently.

P: AFI has around 10 songs in video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Have you had the chance to play them yet? What songs from your era do you think would be fun to play in such games?

GK: I don’t really play video games, so I’m not really sure how to answer this one. I have played Guitar Hero a few times, but I don’t know which of those songs, if any, would be fun to play in that format. Maybe “Advances in Modern Technology”?

P: Geoff, you most likely are the most tattooed AFI (former) member. What are your tattoos of? What was your first tattoo?

GK: Well, I think Davey and I probably have a similar number of tattoos, to be honest. My tattoos are done in the “traditional” style of tattooing, even if the themes of my tattoos are not exactly of a traditional nature. I have too many to list what they all are, but I have always tried to chose my tattoo artists based on their own particular style of tattoo art. My first tattoo was Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat Fink, which is a character I have loved since I was very young. It’s not very well done, technically, but it’s there. Hahaha!

P: Do you follow the sXe philosophy?

GK: At one time, I would have said “yes”. Of course there’s the old slogan, “If you’re not now, you never were,” but from my point of view, the straightedge lifestyle has, over time, grown to include too many political aspects and far too many rules for my liking. I know that the scene is not as intense as it was during the 90s, but there are still parts of it that I do live by and parts that don’t apply to me. Personal morals and personal choice are more important to me than putting a label on my lifestyle.

P: What made you change from electric bass to stand-up bass? How was the change like? Was it hard, or it was just natural?

GK: I actually started to take an interest in playing the upright bass some time in 1990-1991, before I joined AFI, but I wasn’t able to afford one at the time. I actually bought my first upright bass after the recording of VPOY, but at that point I didn’t really have much free time to dedicate to learning it, figuring I would learn how to play it when we took our next break from touring. I didn’t realize that the next break in touring would be because I had decided to leave the band, but that’s how it turned out.

Making the transition from electric bass to the upright bass was very challenging. I thought that I would be able to translate my skill level from one to the other, but I found out quickly that it just wasn’t possible to do so. I became very discouraged with the learning process and I didn’t even begin to feel confident as an upright player until several years later, after I had played a lot of shows and had done a lot of touring, where I was playing night after night. It was basically like learning to play an entirely new instrument, at least in my case.

P: Anything else you want to add?

GK: Just that people should visit the Official Key Lime Pie Records page at: myspace.com/keylimepierecords so they can check out the “official” discography that has the correct information for all of the early releases. There have been a lot of mistakes in older discographies, so for collectors, this is the ultimate resource for information for those releases, from recording session data to official pressings and variant versions.

Also check out my official page at: myspace.com/geoffkresge for updates on what’s happening with my other projects. It doesn’t get updated as much as I’d like it to be, but keep checking in!

P: Thank you so very much for this interview, Geoff! We really appreciate all your time and wish you the best of luck!

GK: You’re welcome. Thanks to you too.

Official Message Board Gets New Skin

For the past few weeks, the Despair Faction & Official Message Board has had a default, plain look without any of the black and gold of the Crash Love era. That all changed this morning with a new skin that is similar to the one we have seen since Crash Love was released last fall. What do you think?

Note: the board has been running on the latest version of vBulletin for a few weeks now, so there are some extra features and changes.

Slim’s Show Tonight in San Francisco

Tonight, AFI is playing a small sold-out show at Slim’s in San Francisco, CA. There will be several hundred Despair Faction members in attendance, including board moderator Talia. She will be tweeting the setlist live from the DF Twitter feed, and we will keep you updated on the setlist and other happenings at the show right here.

Our writer Alex is also in attendance tonight, so we will get updates throughout the night from him as well. He’ll also be writing a review of the show, which we will post at a later date.

7:17pm PST: DF Tweets: “DFers are headed inside! I’m guessing Scarlet Grey goes on at 8. Stoked!” Accompanied with that tweet is this TwitPic.
8:21pm PST: DF Tweets: “The wonderful Scarlet Grey is on!” Accompanied with this twitpic.
8:54pm PST: DF Tweets: “Said Radio just took the stage!” Accompanied with this twitpic.
9:06pm PST: DF Tweets: ” Eric hinted at some covers on the set…will let you know as they come! kick and guitar starting off “killer” as i type…“
9:14pm PST: DF Tweets: “A view from the stage!” Accompanied with this twitpic.
9:21pm PST: DF Tweets: “Said Radio done. 40 minutes until @AFI goes on! Excited?”
9:48pm PST: DF Tweets: “screen (slim’s version of a stage curtain) is goin up…”
9:52pm PST: DF Tweets: “looks like either a decently long set or a set with options! either way, awesome! that’s all i’ll say for now…”
10:03pm PST: DF Tweets: “here come the heartbeats…!”
11:34pm PST: DF Tweets: “
df, if you missed out tonight, no worries. hopefully mark and i will be able to give you all some highlights. keep yer eyes peeled!”
Epic win*:

Medicate
Girl’s Not Grey
The Leaving Song Pt. II
I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
Kill Caustic
End Transmission
It Was Mine
Coin Return
Beautiful Thieves
Dancing Through Sunday
Too Shy To Scream
Theory of Revolution
On The Arrow
...But Home is Nowhere
The Interview
Miss Murder
Darling, I Want To Destroy You
Love Like Winter
Silver and Cold
*setlist

Pablo’s note: This is the first time they have played Coin Return in (at least) 10 years, and Theory of Revolution for the first time in 11 years! This is also just the second time they’ve played It Was Mine and Darling.

AFI In Second Round of MTV’s March Madness (Updated)

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, we defeated the Foo Fighters with an astounding 83% to 17%. Now, in the second round, we are up against Shinedown. You can vote here to help AFI advance. Onward to victory!

95.5 KROCK Video from Soundwave

Australian radio station 95.5 KROCK posted a video to their YouTube channel with AFI and other Soundwave bands. It’s kind of pointless, but entertaining. You can watch it here.

Guitar World interview with Jade

Guitar World did an interview with Jade Puget. Jade talks about the guitars he has used during the recording sessions, producers, Blaqk Audio, and the band’s 10 year anniversary. Here’s an excerpt:

“Pretty crazy. It sure doesn’t feel like I’ve been in this band 10 years. But, you know, you’re not living in the real world when you’re in a band; you’re in kind of this fantasy world, so it’s easy for it not to seem like reality and for time to pass very quickly.”

To read the full 5 page interview go here.

Introducing "Battled" Tournament of AFI Songs!

We’ve put 64 AFI songs into a championship bracket titled “Battled.” Over the next couple of weeks the songs will advance depending on your votes in polls on the sidebar, until at last we will have a champion. You can check out the bracket HERE and even fill it all out if you like. Below is an outline of how the rounds will work:

* First round: 8 matchups at a time, 24 hours each
* Second round: 4 matchups at a time, 24 hours each
* Sweet Sixteen: 4 matchups at a time, 24 hours each
* Elite Eight: 2 matchups at a time, 48 hours each
* Final Four: 2 matchups at a time, 72 hours each
* Championship: 1 matchup, 72 hours (can be extended if tied)

Many thanks to our staff member Mark for coming up with the name of the tournament as well as the bracket and names of the regions: “Desperate Streets,” “Midnight Runner,” “Shattered Seasons,” and “Poetry In Despair.”
Longtime readers of AFI News HQ may remember our last AFI song tournament back in the spring of 2009, which featured 128 songs. The Days of the Phoenix emerged as the ultimate winner. Can a song from Crash Love unseat it from its glory? Enjoy the voting and thanks for helping us find the fan favorite!

99x AFI/Green Day Ticket Presale

In tour on March 25, 2010 at 9:38 pm

Members of the radio station 99X’s Freeloaders Club can get presale tickets to Green Day and AFI at the Verizon Amphitheater on Friday, March 26 from 10am – 10pm. If you are a member click here to get them. If you’re not a member, registration is easy.

Citi Cardmembers Able To Buy Select Green Day Tickets Now, Ticket Prices Revealed

Thanks to a tip from one of our readers, Fooget, we now know that Citibank Card members can currently purchase tickets to the following Green Day shows:

* August 8th, 2010: Alpharetta, GA
* August 14th, 2010: Holmdel, NJ
* August 16th, 2010: Mansfield, MA
* August 23rd, 2010: Clarkston, MI
* August 28th, 2010: Englewood, CO

Ticket prices are as follows:

* General Admission: $69
* Seats: $85, $69, $59
* Lawn: $35, $20

AFI in April Issue of Big Cheese Magazine

In an email from Veronica Sawyer, there was a paragraph about AFI recently being featured in Big Cheese Magazine. The email stated:

“This month the guys at Big Cheese magazine caught up with Davey in Los Angeles to interrogate him about the inspiration behind the new record, their upcoming European tour and what the future holds for AFI. Remember to check out the April edition of Big Cheese to read the double page interview!”

Fun Fact: Days Of The Phoenix Played On MTV’s Top 20 Moments of Spring Break

Days of the Phoenix’s chorus was just played on MTV’s Top 20 Spring Break Moments as the show headed into a commercial break. Just a fun fact of the day!

Vote For AFI In MTV News’ Musical March Madness

In honor of March Madness, MTV News has set up the 65 biggest names in rock music, split them up by regions, and has set them up against one another to see who is the biggest band of them all. AFI has been put against Foo Fighters with MTV declaring the Foo’s as the 3rd best band in the Midwest with AFI being named as 14th (why AFI is in the Midwest category confuses us too). To knock the Foo Fighters out and advance AFI to the next round, click here to vote.

Ben from Scarlet Grey Performs With AFI

Ben from Scarlet Grey, who is currently opening for AFI, recently performed Love Like Winter on stage with AFI at House of Blues in New Orleans on March 19th, 2010. View the performance below.

Espy Rock Interviews Hunter

Michael (owner of Espy Rock) recently interviewed Hunter in regards to Crash Love, AFI and their change in writing style, how they develop the set list, why they don’t play some songs, and influences. You can read the interview here

Questions For Hunter Now Being Accepted

Mike will be interviewing Hunter next week for our “Answer That and Stay Fashionable” video series. If you have any questions for him, please comment on this post and make your voice heard.

As a side note, Jason’s interview with Adam will be up in a few weeks. Beware: it’s worth watching.

Questions For Hunter Now Being Accepted

Mike will be interviewing Hunter next week for our “Answer That and Stay Fashionable” video series. If you have any questions for him, please comment on this post and make your voice heard.

As a side note, Jason’s interview with Adam will be up in a few weeks. Beware: it’s worth watching.

Tour Dates with Green Day Revealed

Thanks to Alternative Press, we now have the itinerary for the Green Day tour with AFI. All the shows will be sold at a flat rate and a number of lawn seats will be sold for $20. You can buy tickets here. According to a news update on AFI’s official site, more dates for the tour will be announced soon and Green Day’s management has confirmed this. According to GreenDay Authority.com, tickets will most likely range from $50 – $70. We will keep you updated.

August Dates:
3 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center – On Sale 4/3
5 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center – On Sale 4/17
9 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – On Sale 3/27
11 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live – On Sale 4/9
12 – Hartford, CT – Comcast Theater – On Sale 4/2
14 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC – On Sale 3/26
16 – Boston, MA – Comcast Center – On Sale 3/27
18 – Toronto, ONT – Molson Canadian Amphitheatre – On Sale 3/27
23 – Detroit, MI DTE – Energy Music Theater – On Sale 3/26
26 – Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Center – On Sale 4/2
28 – Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheater – On Sale 3/27
30 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion – On Sale 4/3
31 – Los Angeles, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater On Sale TBA

September Dates:
2 – Chula Vista, CA – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre – On Sale 4/2

Beautiful Thieves 7" limited to 500 pressings

RecordStore.co.uk has put up the Beautiful Thieves 7″ for pre-order with additional information. The 7″ is limited to 500 copies and the b-side is numbered with an etching. You can purchase it here for the time being.

It will be officially released on April 12, 2010. There is no information about a bonus track yet, but we have been told by management that it will contain a bonus track.

A pre-sale occurred earlier this month but sold out within a few hours. Thanks to BrttnyD on the OMB for the find. The picture on this post is the artwork for this release.

UPDATE : Sold Out.

UPDATE : The AFI website has sent out a blast of emails prompting the pre – sale of the Beautiful Thieves 7′. The link given in the e-mail is also RecordStore.co.uk which you can find at the top of the post. The site indicts the vinyl will be back in stock soon.

Jade posts official Torch Song guitar tab

Jade has posted a guitar tab for Torch Song as he had promised before on his blog. His posts reads:

“I would recommend opening it in a Microsoft text file (.txt), to make sure it lines up correctly. There are some overdubs that I didn’t include but all of the main tracks are in there. Mangia!”

To download the tab go here.

New Feature: Fan of the Month

In an effort to incorporate our readers more into our work and to get to know everyone a little bit better, we have a new feature entitled “Fan of the Month.” If you are selected to be AFI News HQ’s Fan of the Month, you will get a feature post on the site as well as the chance for the band to recognize you (Hunter and Adam are regular visitors here).

If you would like to become a Fan of the Month, click here and fill out the form. Our first fan will be announced on April 1st. If you are selected, you will be notified by email one week prior to April 1st. If you are selected, you must be willing to provide a picture of yourself. We hope you guys enjoy this and hopefully meet some new friends.

New Feature: Fan of the Month

In an effort to incorporate our readers more into our work and to get to know everyone a little bit better, we have a new feature entitled “Fan of the Month.” If you are selected to be AFI News HQ’s Fan of the Month, you will get a feature post on the site as well as the chance for the band to recognize you (Hunter and Adam are regular visitors here).

If you would like to become a Fan of the Month, click here and fill out the form. Our first fan will be announced on April 1st. If you are selected, you will be notified by email one week prior to April 1st. If you are selected, you must be willing to provide a picture of yourself. We hope you guys enjoy this and hopefully meet some new friends.

987FM Radio Interview

Darren Rose, a DJ at 98.7 FM, recently interviewed Davey in a phone interview where they spoke about Bamboozle, what its like being in a band, where the best AFI shows are and why, their upcoming tour with Green Day, and more. View the video below.

Interview With Hunter Before Pensacola, FL Show

Internet bloggers Charles Trippy and Alli Speed did an interview with Hunter before the Pensacola show in Florida yesterday on an abandoned trolley. The interview portion starts at about 4 minutes into the video, and after the interview are various clips of footage from the actual show.

AFI News HQ interviews Geoff Kresge: Part 2

Here is part two of my interview with Geoff Kresge. Many thanks to this amazing guy for answering all these great questions.

You can read part 1 here. Part 3 will be posted next Friday. He talks about his performance with AFI a couple of months ago, and more! Once again, if you like, please say thanks, as Geoff will read this entry!

P: You used to play live songs that were not released yet. Were songs like Don’t Make Me Ill, Half Empty Bottle and I Want To Get a Mohawk, which were played in 1994, supposed to be released on certain albums, but didn’t make it?

GK: Hmmm… All of the songs you mentioned did get released on ATASF. If you’re asking whether or not there were ever songs that we played live but never released, then yes, there are quite a few unreleased songs that did get played live. Some of those songs never got played more than once or twice, some got re-worked into other songs, some were recorded but never released… Probably somewhere around six or seven songs in all.

P: I mean, those songs were performed live before they were released on an LP/EP. The first time Don’t Make Me Ill or Half Empty Bottle appeared on an AFI release was on August 1995 on ATASF, indeed. But they were performed nearly 10 months before that at the record release show for This is Berkeley on December 1994. My question is, were these songs supposed to appear on a release that never happened, or were cut out, or you just played them because they were new but hadn’t had the chance to put them on a release yet?

GK: Oh, I see what you mean. “Half-Empty Bottle” was recorded for an EP that we were planning, before we signed with Wingnut Records. “Don’t Make Me Ill” was never recorded until the ATASF sessions though. I guess the most simple way to explain it is that before we did ATASF, there were a lot of songs that were performed live, but still unreleased. There were six songs recorded at that session and we had planned to release four of those songs on an EP. I believe the EP would have included “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”, “Half-Empty Bottle”, “I Wanna Get a Mohawk” and “Yürf Rendenmein”, although one of those may not be correct. I have the master for the EP, but without digging it up I wouldn’t be able to say for certain that the tracks are 100% correct.

P: What were some of your personal favorite songs to play live?

GK: Honestly, I can’t remember what my favorites were at that time, but probably whatever the newest songs we had at the moment were. Of course there were times when we would bring back a song that we hadn’t played in quite a while that ended up being a lot of fun once we brought it back too. If I think about it in present-day terms, I would guess that some of my favorites would have been “Theory of Revolution”, “Half-Empty Bottle”, “Yürf Rendenmein”, “Advances in Modern Technology” and “This Secret Ninja”. I do, however, clearly recall that my least favorites were “Perfect Fit” and “Soap Box Derby”, although they are perfectly good songs. They just weren’t much fun to play for some reason.

P: What songs did you used to play to do soundchecks?

GK: From what I can recall, the songs we soundchecked were sometimes songs that we felt needed to be rehearsed a bit more for whatever reason, but more commonly we would do songs that had vocal parts from Davey, Mark and myself, so the sound engineer could get the proper mix of the instruments and all of the vocals. There were also times that we used the soundchecks to work on new songs that hadn’t been released yet.

P: You said something that really interests me. You said: “under a different set of circumstances, Jade would have been on ATASF”. What’s the story behind this?

GK: That was in the Nitro Box Set liner notes, right? I pretty much covered that in one of my replies above, but again, it would be interesting to see what would’ve happened if Jade had joined us at that time. Things would have been quite different, I’m sure, but I guess we’ll never know.

P: From what you said in the Nitro Boxset, it seems that your favorite post-Geoff album is Black Sails. With Sing The Sorrow, Decemberunderground and Crash Love coming out after the Nitro Boxset’s release, do you still feel the same, or do you like one of the latter 3 records better than Black Sails?

GK: There are things I love on every album they’ve done, from Black Sails through Crash Love. The thing about it is that they are all a progression, from one album to the next, where new elements and influences come to light. It would be much more difficult to say which album is my favorite at this point, although I would lean more towards Crash Love at the moment, because I think that they kind of revisited some earlier influences this time around and made an awesome “rock” album.

P: How do you feel about AFI’s direction? Are you satisfied with AFI’s current sound?

GK: It’s cool. As I mentioned above, there are elements that they’ve incorporated into each new album that add to the sound of the band and I think everything they’ve done since Black Sails has been really cool. I always look forward to hearing what they come up with on each new album.

P: Unfortunately, AFI’s setlist only comprise songs from their major label releases, leaving ATASF, VPOY and SYMAOYE out, because Davey says he’s over those records. With you being on the first two, how do you feel about this?

GK: They do occasionally bring out an older song or two, but I would love to see them doing more of the older stuff and mixing it up a bit more. I know that the band is focused on what they’ve been doing over the last few albums, which I completely understand and that’s their right. With eight albums and well over 100 songs in their catalog, it would be hard to keep going back to the same old songs when they have so much great material to choose from. I don’t blame Davey and Adam for not wanting to play the songs from the first couple of albums. We played those songs over and over for several years, tour after tour, so I think it’s probably a lot more fun for them to play the newer songs that haven’t been played thousands of times!

P: How do you feel about ancient songs such as Nyquil, Self Pity, Don’t Make Me Ill and Half Empty Bottle being performed by AFI in 2010?

GK: I wouldn’t really call them “ancient” just yet, but I think it’s really cool. They have a lot of fans that aren’t familiar with anything before Sing the Sorrow, so I think it’s great that they’re doing some of the older songs again. Personally, I’d like to see them do three or four of those songs in every set, but the band has changed a lot over the last few albums and I understand that those songs don’t really “fit in” with the newer material in a live situation.

ModernHell Singer Sings With AFI

Longtime AFI fan and singer of the band ModernHell, Alex Miracle, got the unique opportunity to sing “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” with AFI on March 16th in Tampa, Florida. You can view a video him singing with Davey here. Alex has gotten recognition for his band’s cover of the song, which you can hear and download for free here.

Tampa & Pensacola, FL – 3/16 & 18/10 Setlists

Tampa, Florida – 3/16/10

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. File 13
8. Beautiful Thieves
9. Dancing Through Sunday
10. Too Shy To Scream
11. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
12. On The Arrow
13. Death Of Seasons
14. Miss Murder
15. The Interview
16. Love Like Winter
17. Silver And Cold

Pensacola, Florida – 3/18/10

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. The Days Of The Phoenix
8. Beautiful Thieves
9. Dancing Through Sunday
10. Too Shy To Scream
11. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
12. On The Arrow
13. Death Of Seasons
14. Miss Murder
15. Love Like Winter
16. Silver And Cold

Reax Music Posts Photos From Tampa Show

Reax Music posted many high-quality photographs of AFI playing at The Ritz in Tampa, Florida on March 16th, 2010. View the photographs here.

Thanks to Ben for the tip.

Davey and Adam on 97x’s "The Bandmate Game"

Davey and Adam stopped by the studios of Tampa Bay’s x97 for an interview about Zu Boutique, the upcoming tour with Green Day, and even played a “did you know” type game about each other. A video of the interview has been posted here.
Thanks to AshleyxNicole on the boards for the find!

Win Tickets to the San Francisco Slim’s Show

Punknews.org is holding a contest to win two tickets to next Thursday’s show at Slim’s in San Francisco, CA. This is the show that tickets were sold to the DF at a discount, and later to the public. The winner will only win the tickets, and transportation is not provided. To enter the contest, and for all the rules, go here.

AFI News HQ’s AFI Song Cover Contest (Updated)

AFI News HQ is proud to announce our AFI Song Cover Contest. We know many of you are talented musicians and we want to see your work.

Your Task: Create a video of yourself covering an AFI song and upload it to YouTube. Once you upload it, tag it as aficovercontest. Keep in mind that these covers can be vocals, bass, guitar, or drums. You may also upload an audio recording of your cover.

Prize: TWO (2) winners will be announced on May 1st, 2010 and will win a Crash Love booklet signed by AFI. If you are chosen as a winner, you will need to provide your mailing address.

Rules:

* You must be 13 years or older.
* Your cover must be your own work. If you copy someones video and we find out, you will be disqualified.
* You have until 11:59pm PST on May 1st, 2010 to submit your video. Anything later than that will not be accepted.
* You may enter up to 3 videos, but you are only eligible to win ONE (1) of the prizes.

If you have any questions for us, post them in the comments.
Update: Please post your video links in the comments since the tags seem to not be working. If you’d rather send your video links to our email (afinewshq@gmail.com) that is also acceptable.

Jacksonville, FL – 3/15/10 Setlist

Seems to be almost identical to Saturday’s set, only with the substitution of Wester for Days Of The Phoenix, and the loss of The Interview. Thanks to Monkey1450 from the omb for the info.

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. The Days Of The Phoenix
8. Beautiful Thieves
9. Dancing Through Sunday
10. Too Shy To Scream
11. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
12. On The Arrow
13. Death Of Seasons
14. Miss Murder
15. Love Like Winter
16. Silver And Cold

AFI interview with B-Sides TV

B-Sides TV talked with Davey and Jade about what its like playing Crash Love live, the longevity of the band and the statement of Crash Love being “timeless.” This is the same interview in which Davey and Jade weighed in on the Conan and Jay late-night switch. You can view the interview in its semi entirety here.

Hunter Posts New Video- More Vocal Outtakes

Hunter posted a new video on his Facebook page, and said he will be blogging about it tomorrow. It’s another video of him doing vocal warm ups in the studio, and you can watch it here.

Update: His blog about it can be read here.

Charlotte, NC Setlist – 3/13/10

AFI played a show last night at The Fillmore in Charlotte, NC. Before the show, I interviewed Adam backstage for our interview series. We’ll be posting that in a few weeks’ time. Here is the setlist, possibly slightly out of order:

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song, Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. Wester
8. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
9. Beautiful Thieves
10. Dancing Through Sunday
11. Too Shy To Scream
12. On The Arrow
13. Death Of Seasons
14. Miss Murder
15. The Interview
16. Love Like Winter
17. Silver and Cold

Hunter Posts "Rabbit Plays Drums" Video

For the third video in his mini-series, Hunter has posted a spot titled “Rabbit Plays Drums” to his blog. It features an Energizer Bunny-esque rabbit drumming along to old pop songs. Check Hunter’s last few blog entries for his other videos.

New Blaqk Audio Splash Page

There is a new splash page on Blaqk Audio‘s official website. It features a short clip of clouds passing by while the piano part of a song play in the background.This a splash page which means we might see new stuff on their homepage soon.

Jade also made a post on his blog regarding the Green Day tour along with a link to BlaqkAudio.com you can read about it here.

Nashville, TN Setlist – 3/12/10

AFI kicked off their southeast road swing last night with a show at Rocketown in Nashville, TN. They played 17 songs, including one “Reno’s Choice” song. You can find some good photos taken by Meredith here.

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song, Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. Ever And A Day
8. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
9. Beautiful Thieves
10. Dancing Through Sunday
11. Reno’s Choice (OK, I Feel Better Now)
12. On The Arrow
13. Death Of Seasons
14. Miss Murder
15. The Interview
16. Love Like Winter
17. Silver and Cold

AFI Touring With Green Day in August 2010

AFI will be opening for Green Day on a tour beginning on August 3, 2010. The first date will be at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey. The complete dates will be announced soon, and we will post those as soon as we get them.
We should also mention that this has been rumored for a few months now, and incredibly they have turned out to be true. This tour has been confirmed through the official Green Day site, and Green Day Authority has a news post about it here. The promotional poster is below:

AFI News HQ interview with Geoff Kresge: Part 1

Here’s part 1 of my interview with Geoff Kresge. First of all, a public Thank you to Geoff for being so nice, so down to earth and so kind to accept this interview for our site. I was really blown away with this interview. It was way way better than I could ever imagine. Geoff will be reading this entry so say thanks if you enjoyed it! :)

On part 2 and 3, Geoff talks about AFI’s current setlists, his favorite post-Geoff albums, live AFI shows from his era, favorite AFI songs, and more!

Here we go!:

On the second week of March 2010, Pablo had the opportunity to interview former AFI bassist and songwriter Geoff Kresge.

Geoff Kresge was a member of AFI from 1992 until April 1997, appearing on releases such as Dork, Eddie Picnic’s All Wet, Fly in the Ointment, and on AFI albums Answer That and Stay Fashionable and Very Proud of Ya.

After receiving a great response from our readers with questions for Geoff, these are the ones he kindly answered:

Pablo: Nowadays, Davey and Jade are the primary songwriters for AFI. Back in the day, you used to write music and lyrics for many AFI songs. What was the writing process like back then? Was Davey open to singing lyrics he did not write? How were Davey and Mark as co-songwriters?

Geoff Kresge: Before I joined the band they had a lot of songs that I assume they had all written together – probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 songs that they had recorded on their first couple of demo tapes. As I was about to join the band, they had decided to stop playing nearly all of the older songs and they needed new material as soon as possible so we could start playing shows. I started bringing in my own songs right away – probably within the first couple of times we practiced together. The first music I brought in became “Who Said You Could Touch Me?” and “Rizzo in the Box”. The first complete song I brought in, with music and lyrics, was “Your Name Here”.

As far as writing with the guys, Davey was always very quick to come up with lyrics and ideas, but also always willing to try new things out musically, as was Adam. Davey never voiced any negative opinions towards singing my lyrics. I never really wrote with Mark, except when he needed an extra part here or there, or arrangement stuff. Mark and I only have one shared songwriting credit that I can recall, and that was for me adding a bridge section to one of his songs, which ended up on Answer That and Stay Fashionable. There were other times that the four of us worked on arrangements together – usually minor changes, like whether we should cut parts out or move them around within the body of the song, that none if us felt warranted additional writing credits on the albums.

P: On the Nitro Boxset, regarding your comments about Answer That, you say, and I quote: “Around this time there was some talk of changing the group’s lineup due to some discontent within the ranks”. What was wrong with the band at that moment?

GK: Without digging up too much dirt, let’s just say that there were some personality conflicts within the band before the recording of ATASF. I honestly don’t know what the issues were, but Mark had a personal problem with me at that time. I don’t think he ever realized how close we came to asking him to leave the band – which was very close. After some serious consideration, we decided to ask Jade Puget join the band at that time. I met with him and asked if he would be willing to join the band if we did decide to replace Mark. He said he would join if it came to that. He and I had previously been in a different band with Adam (and no singer), so we were fairly close to that lineup already at one point. Who knows what would have happened if we had actually gotten Jade in the band at that point? Maybe the first album would have been closer to what Black Sails in the Sunset ended up as.

P: You and Davey seem to regret recording “Man in a Suitcase”. What’s the story behind this cover, and what’s wrong with it?

GK: Regret is probably too strong a word in this case, although it is certainly appropriate when describing some later events.

For me, and probably for Davey too, it just didn’t fit in with what we were trying to do, musically, at that point in time. Also at that time, there was a whole trend happening within the punk scene where bands were doing ska-influenced songs, which to me was kind of a bad idea. Adam really wanted to do the song, and since he wasn’t able to write his own songs to bring into the band, we all eventually agreed to do it. It’s still one of my least favorite songs from that era. (Sorry Adam.)

P: If I’m not wrong, although there are 24 songs from the VPOY sessions, 10 of them are re-recordings. Out of the other 14 “new” songs, only 7 of them were consistentely played live. How’s that the other 7 new songs like Modern Epic, Shatty Fatmas, Take The Test, Cult Status and Soap Box Derby were not played often, or at all, and you kept playing old songs like Advances in Modern Technology and Aspirin Free?

GK: You’re right, there are 24 songs from those sessions that actually got released, between the cassette/CD and vinyl versions, but there are actually 13 re-recordings! There are some earlier versions from other sessions and other releases. The completely “new” songs for the VPOY sessions were “No Dave Party”, “He Who Laughs Last…” , “Wake-Up Call” , “Cult Status” , “Perfect Fit”, “This Secret Ninja”, “Soap-Box Derby” , “Consult My Lover”, “Take the Test” , “Shatty Fatmas” and “Modern Epic”. To the best of my recollection, the reason behind playing songs such as “Advances in Modern Technology” and “Aspirin Free” is that we had already been playing those songs for a while before VPOY was released. Those two had previously released on the split 7″ we did with Heckle. I don’t think we actually ever learned how to play most of the “new” songs after they were released, although we did do a few of them, as you mentioned.

Some of the re-recordings were done for the VPOY album because the earlier versions were only available as “limited edition” pressings, so we kind of assumed that there weren’t many people that knew those songs.

P: You talk about some “somewhat lifeless songs” that were on Very Proud of Ya that didn’t make it for Answer That and Stay Fashionable. In what way are they lifeless and what songs are these?

GK: I think what you’re referring to is something I may have said about why certain songs weren’t included on the Answer That and Stay Fashionable album. It’s not that the songs themselves were “lifeless”, just that the versions we did for ATASF didn’t seem to have the right “feel” at the time. I’m sure that if I listened to those versions now, I’d say that they are far superior to the versions that ended up on Very Proud of Ya. The songs in question are “Who Said You Could Touch Me” and “Rolling Balls”, which ended up as vinyl bonus tracks on VPOY.

The other way that I’m interpreting the question is in reference to the VPOY album and the overall production and sound of that album, which I may also have described as “lifeless” at some point. That is definitely something that I have spoken out about ever since that album was released, and the reason for that is that what you hear when you listen to that album is not what you’re supposed to hear. There are a lot of things that had to be left off of the final master, from guitar solos to additional songs that should have been included in place of some of the older material that made it onto the album. The recording of that album was a very difficult process for all four of us and I don’t think any of us were happy with the way the record turned out in the end, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it at the time because of budget and scheduling issues.

If we would’ve done the recording with Andy Ernst, who we did nearly every other session with between 1994 and 1997, it would’ve been a far better record in my opinion. There are alternate versions from other sessions that represent those songs (plus the songs we didn’t get to put on the album) much better than the official release. If I had the opportunity to remix that album or compile an “alternate version” of that album, I’d feel a lot better about it – even though so much time has elapsed since the original release. That’s how strongly I feel about it.

P: There are two “unknown” words on two VPOY songs you wrote music for. One of them is on “Shatty Fatmas”, and the word is cajz (“You try to cajz everyday, I wish that you would get away”). Another one is in “Consult My Lover” and it’s “SP” (You’ve got some S.P. Something to show to me. Well, I have seen it before”. What do these words mean?

GK: I actually gave the meanings behind those words in an interview a few years ago. Those words were (and still are) slang words that we and a small group of friends use. The useage is hard to describe in written text. I think it’s better to leave these up to the imagination of the listener after all.

P: Are there any unreleased AFI song from your era? Is there any chance of a release?

GK: With every studio session we ever did, we recorded extra songs. Sometime alternate versions, sometimes songs just didn’t make the final cut for one reason or another or were recorded for later use. There are entire sessions that never got released, which I still have in my archives. Some of them we planned to release as EPs on my label, Key Lime Pie Records. We just never got around to releasing some of that material, even though much of it is just as good as the material that did get released. From what I can recall, there were at least two EPs that were ready to be sent to the record pressing plant (and a Dork reissue) that just ended up not happening.

There were also 14 to 16 songs of mine that we were working on after VPOY that were meant to be on the third album. There are some recordings of those songs, but after I left the band they decided to start over and have Mark write all of the music himself for the next album. So there are approximately 20 original songs and a few covers that were never released in any format, maybe more.

As far as any of that stuff ever getting released, I don’t really know. I think it would be really cool to get those recordings out there. A lot of the sessions would have to be properly mixed, since some of the recordings were really just for our own reference and were never mixed properly. We’d literally be talking about a “lost album” scenario, since the majority of the material that’s unreleased was my version of what the album after VPOY would have been.

Charlotte Observer, Pensacola News-Journal Articles

The Charlotte Observer has posted an article summarizing the band’s history and evolution in anticipation of AFI’s show in Charlotte, NC on March 13. Click here to read the article.

Also, the Pensacola News-Journal has posted a brief Q&A with Jade here. This is in anticipation of AFI’s March 18 show in Pensacola, FL. The article notes that the last time AFI played in Pensacola in 2004, they played at the Bayfront Auditorium, which no longer even exists.

On an unrelated note, AFI recently tweeted a link to their Glogster contest. We haven’t neglected to cover it! Instead, we had already posted about it here on March 2.

Jacksonville’s X1029 Meet and Greet Tix Giveaway

X1029, a Jacksonville, Florida radio station, is giving away Meet and Greet tickets today at 6 o’clock PM. Call 904-340-1029 to win.

HeraldTribune.com Speaks To Hunter

HeraldTribune.com recently spoke to Hunter regarding his work Crash Love and his pride in his work. Hunter said that Crash Love is “the hardest for me to play. When I pull it off, I get a little sense of pride.” Read the full article here.

AFI unleashes their "Sorrow" on MTV

In celebration of “Sing The Sorrow” MTV talked a little about the songs and some of AFI’s history. Here is an excerpt:
“Though they first got together way back at the beginning of the ’90s, it took a new millennium for A Fire Inside (AFI for short) to get the sort of recognition they always deserved. On this day in 2003, the band released their sixth album Sing the Sorrow“

To read the full article go here.

Jade Remixes for VNV Nation’s "Crossing The Divide"

According to this article published by Plugin Music, the electronic band VNV Nation will be releasing ‘Crossing the Divide,’ a collection of remixes from their current album by Jade Puget, Rotersand, Reaper, Leæther Strip, Architect and more. It will be released in May 2010.

Davey talks to KROQ about live favorites

Davey talked to Kat from KROQ about the fans’ favorite song that AFI has played live this tour. He says that fans seem to be reacting positively to “Too Shy to Scream”. To listen to the mini clip go here.

AFI to Play at Verge Festival in Milwaukee

A new music festival called Verge has announced that AFI, along with Weezer and Three Days Grace, will be one of the headliners at the 2 day festival June 4th and 5th. Thanks to Lora Stubenvoll for the tip!


Friday, June 4th
Three Days Grace
Eagles of Death Metal
Crash Kings
She and Him
Nico Vega
Reni Lane


Saturday, June 5th
Weezer
AFI
Cold War Kids
The Raveonettes
Rogue Wave

Contra Costa: "AOD is Pinnacle of Goth Punk"

Contra Costa College, a community college in San Pablo, CA, has posted an article on their website declaring The Art of Drowning “the pinnacle of the Gothic-Punk genre.” View the article here.

Tigerweekly Talks To Adam

Tim Jones, a writer for the Baton Rouge newspaper Tigerweekly, has let us know about an interview he recently conducted with Adam. In it they spoke about the Beautiful Thieves video, the concept of Crash Love, and live shows. View the interview here.

Winner and Runner-Ups of Twitter Background Contest Revealed

The winner and the 2 runner-ups of AFI’s Twitback contest have been revealed. The winner’s (whose name has yet to be revealed) background is currently AFI’s Twitter background. Also, congratulations to our very own administrator, Mike, for winning second place and our writer, Kera, for finishing in 3rd place.

Here are the winning entries:
1st place
2nd place
3rd place

AFI News HQ to Interview Ben of Scarlet Grey

After a few emails back and forth, Benjamin Grey of Scarlet Grey, has agreed to do an interview with us regarding his friendship with AFI and the excitement of touring with them. Davey and Jade are featured on Scarlet Grey’s new album, Fancy Blood, in stores April 1st. If you have any questions, feel free to submit them in the comments.

Davey and Jade featured on Fancy Blood

Ben Grey, lead singer and frontman of the band Scarlet Grey, has let us know that Davey and Jade have done some guest work on the upcoming Scarlet Grey album titled “Fancy Blood.” Davey contributed guest vocals on the song “The Sky And I” while Jade did some work on the title track, “Fancy Blood.”
Scarlet Grey’s new album is due out on April 1, 2010.

Reax Music Interview with Davey

Reax Music did an interview with Davey regarding Crash Love, Blaqk Audio, style, and record labels. Here is an excerpt:

“Yeah, we have plans releasing, Bright Black Heaven, this year for the new Blaqk Audio album. We have been working on it since we finished Crash Love and we currently have 35 new songs recorded for the record.“

Despair Faction Message Board Update Explained

Gavin, the Despair Faction Administator, recently made an announcement regarding the recently upgraded Despair Faction Message Board. In short, he describes some new features, including a new homepage with fresh content from Gavin, the band, and Mark. (For more on Mark’s new position as Despair Faction curator, click here). Here is the full statement:

“Welcome back, everyone!

We have completed a major software upgrade here on the DF. You will discover a whole host of new and useful features have been added and many familiar options and page layouts have undergone some changes. Blogs should be more integrated into the experience of the site, we have a very convenient informational sidebar for recent threads and blogs, and the entire flow of the site should be more readable and clean. We expect you will also see that things are faster to load and faster to display.

The white style that you see now is the default style for our software and will not be staying. As resources allow, we will gain a custom style more in line with what you would expect from AFI and the DF. Hang tight for that, we consider it a high priority and will be working on it very soon.

This upgrade also lays the foundation for two very exciting things. First, we expect to have DF registrations and the new exclusive DF store up and running in the next month. Second, we will be adding a fresh new homepage to the site.

This new homepage will consist of new Despair Faction content by the band, DF staff, and longtime AFI fan/friend/DFer Mark Oshiro, aka PanasonicYouth. You may know him from Begin Transmission, this very site, nationally-televised AFI stage diving, and of course AFI shows worldwide. He will be our new content curator. We will be publishing Despair Faction news, AFI tidbits, photos, video, contests, blog entries, thread highlights, and whatever else we pull together from the band and from you, the Despair Faction. The front page of the site will highlight the very best of our community. We are very excited.

This is an ongoing process and we’ll be rolling things out over time. Look for updates to the site and words from the administrators in the usual places, here on the site and on Twitter.“

Mark Oshiro Is New Despair Faction Content Curator

Mark (PanasonicYouth) has been named as the official Despair Faction content curator, and he just told me that there is “a huge part of the new site that hasn’t debuted yet.” For weeks, fans on the Despair Faction Message Board have been wondering about Mark’s new position. Mark says that he will be a big part of the new site. (read the update below for details)

The Message Boards have been in and out of maintenance for over a week now, and currently the boards have been upgraded to vBulletin 4.0. For now the theme is the default vBulletin theme, though administrator Gavin says a custom design will come in the near future.

UPDATE: Gavin, the Despair Faction administrator, has now said: “…we will be adding a fresh new homepage to the site. This new homepage will consist of new Despair Faction content by the band, DF staff, and longtime AFI fan/friend/DFer Mark Oshiro, aka PanasonicYouth. You may know him from Begin Transmission, this very site, nationally-televised AFI stage diving, and of course AFI shows worldwide. He will be our new content curator. We will be publishing Despair Faction news, AFI tidbits, photos, video, contests, blog entries, thread highlights, and whatever else we pull together from the band and from you, the Despair Faction.”

Buyer Beware: The Lowdown is A Letdown

Dear Readers, AFI: The Lowdown, an unofficial band biography, was released recently and as a heads up to our readers, we would like to inform you that this is a huge letdown. From the fake British-accented man who narrates the band biography to the old interview that was conducted in 2006 and was ripped from an existing video on YouTube, the fifteen dollar price tag is hardly a bargain. Furthermore, the band as well as the band’s management did not authorize the selling of this product. We hope this helps you in your buying decision.

-The AFI News HQ Team

More DF Message Board Maintenance

The Despair Faction is once again down but they are promising some big updates this time around saying “the site may be down for some time, and when we come back, things will look and feel pretty different. We are doing lots of work to get ready for the new DF store and registration process, coming in the next few weeks. Hang tight.” We will keep you updated.

UPDATE: The boards have been updated to vBulletin 4.0 and Gavin, the administrator, has said that he will soon design a custom skin to replace the current default skin.

AFI News HQ to interview former AFI bassist Geoff Kresge: Submit your questions now!

We are extremely pleased to announce that AFI News HQ will have the honour to interview former AFI bassist Geoff Kresge (current Tiger Army stand-up bass player).

Geoff Kresge has granted an interview with AFI News HQ which will take place this week. Please submit your questions in the comments field or to pablo@theartofdrowning.net! Feel free to ask anything about old AFI, new AFI, or Tiger Army.

Geoff Kresge was AFI’s second bassist after Vic Chalker left the band. Geoff was in the band from 1992 until April 1997. He played in all the releases from Dork EP until Very Proud of Ya. The latest record where he appeared was Sing The Sorrow, doing backing vocals.

Unlike nowadays when Jade and Davey are the only songwriters, Geoff composed music and even wrote lyrics for many AFI songs. One of them is now-revived “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”, which he wrote music and lyrics for, amongst others.

The interview will be sent to him on Monday night, so please submit your questions asap!

FYE Giving Away Tickets to 3/12 Nashville Show

For Your Entertainment (FYE) is giving away tickets to AFI’s March 12 show at Rocketown in Nashville, TN. To enter your chance to win, stop by the local store at 2400 West End Avenue in Nashville. Click here for the full details.

In other tour-related news, AFI’s March 25 show at Slims in San Francisco is now completely sold out!

Beautiful Thieves 7" for Preorder, April 12 Release

Last month, we reported that the Beautiful Thieves single would be released on super-limited 7-inch vinyl sometime in April. Now preorders are beginning to pop up online for the single, which will be available for release on April 12.

Click here to preorder from BetterLeisure.com for £1.75 British pounds and click here to buy it on their eBay page. If you buy it there, it will be held until the release date.
Credit goes to Defoni on the message boards for finding this!

We need Crash Love GuitarPro tabs!

Hey guys,

We’re after someone to make GuitarPro tabs for the Crash Love songs.

If you can make them, please make them with guitar, drums and bass. Vocals aren’t necessary. If you make a tab, please export it first as a .midi and submit to afinewshq@gmail.com. If we like it, we’ll ask for the .gp5 file and we’ll use it for the site. I will upload any AFI full show on DVD as a reward and send it to the tab creator. So if you make all tabs you’d be getting a lot of shows!

Please and thanks for helping us out!

New Macbeth Projects In The Works

Macbeth Footwear just tweeted saying that they were going to have “lunch with Davey Havok to talk about exciting new things….” We will keep you updated.

Last month Davey launched a new line of Macbeth shoes.

New Merch + Update on Official Store

The official AFI Bandmerch store has been updated with a new theme, and has 3 new items for sale.

* Stack Men’s Slim T
* Gold Heart Junior’s T
* Future World Track Jacket

To view a full listing of the items featured in the store go here.

DF Reserved Ticket Emails Sent Out

If you are a DF member who sent an email to the Despair Faction regarding the Slims show, check you email. If you haven’t recieved an email saying that you got a reserved ticket, plan on buying a ticket this Saturday at 10 AM PST.

If you were one of the lucky people who did recieve an email, don’t forget to bring the necessary items needed to pick up your ticket. There is always a chance that people who recieved a ticket won’t be able to make it, so continue to check your emails to see if you are granted a ticket later on this week.

IGN Interview With AFI

IGN Music has posted an interview with Davey, Hunter, and Jade that covers touring, the fan reaction to Crash Love, and various philosophical subjects. Click here to read the interview. Thanks to Brian from IGN for the tip!

AFI @ Slims Show Ticket Information

Last week we reported that AFI will be playing a show at Slim’s in San Franciso, CA on Thursday, March 25, 2010. AFI just announced the show on their website and provided us with details about purchasing tickets.

• AFI @ Slims on March 25th, 2010. Special Guests: Scarlet Grey and Said Radio
• Tickets on sale on Saturday March 6th at 10 AM PST
• 2 tickets per customer. Tickets are only available online or by phone (888-233-0449)
• Tickets will be issued at the show. Therefore, no hard tickets will be available at the time of purchase.
• All ticket purchasers will have to present photo ID and the credit card used for purchase at will-call on the night of the show. ONLY the person whose name is on the card used to purchase the tickets can pick them up. All purchasers and their guests must then enter the venue immediately upon receipt of their tickets from the will-call window.
• No refunds or exchanges. Doors at 7:00. Show at 8:00

Win Tickets to Slims Show From Channel 92.3

MegaTanner, a DJ on Channel 92.3 in San Francisco, will be giving away tickets to the Slims show this Thursday and Friday between 3 and 8 PM. Listen for your chance to win tickets.

Live 105- "Big AFI News Announcement" (Updated)

Live 105 just tweeted that there will be a major AFI announcement this Thursday at 5:00 pm PST. If any more information comes out we’ll update this post.
Update, 3/4- The big announcement was the show at Slims on the 25th.

The Force Merch Now Available

Exclusive merch for Hunter Burgan’s former band, The Force, is now available here through Sam Merch. Hunter was a member of The Force until the breakup in 1998, a year after he joined AFI to record and tour on Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes.

The available merch is a hoodie, three t-shirt designs, a sticker, a button, and vinyl.

Hunter Posts "Eye On Music" Video

Hunter has posted the third in his series of dramatized video sketches relating to Crash Love to his blog here. In this spoof on old music shows, Richard Betterfeld “interviews” Hunter. This video was available on the iTunes LP edition of Crash Love.

Pics & Vid of AFI Playing With Jane’s Addiction

A video and a few pictures have been posted of Adam and Davey joining Jane’s Addiction onstage during the Soundwave Tour in Perth, Australia on March 1.

• Davey playing with JA (photo 1, photo 2)
• Adam playing with JA (photo 1, video 1)

Here is the setlist from the Perth show:

1. Medicate
2. Girl’s Not Grey
3. The Leaving Song, Pt. II
4. I Am Trying Very Hard to be Here
5. Kill Caustic
6. End Transmission
7. Love is a Many Splendored Thing
8. Beautiful Thieves
9. Dancing Through Sunday
10. Too Shy to Scream
11. Silver and Cold
12. Love Like Winter
13. Miss Murder

VeronicaSawyer.com Photo Contest

VeronicaSawyer.com, an AFI site geared toward UK fans, is hosting another contest. This contest has the same instructions as the previous Veronica Sawyer contest. How to enter:

• Pick any AFI song/lyric
• Take a photo that represents your interpretation of the song/lyric
• Upload your photo to the Flickr group HERE
• Tag your photo with the song title and your country code

The prize winner will receive a pair of tickets + photo pass to photograph AFI live from the photo pit at a UK April show of their choice, and the band will select a photo from the show, which will then be printed, framed and signed by the band. The contest is for UK only, although entries from other countries will be accepted. To view more information about this contest go here.

AFI just tweeted: “Our friend @v_sawyer is running some great competitions for us in the UK – check out her site for the first of many.” We’ll keep you posted on future contests.

Radio AFI Debuts on Slacker Artist Showcase

A press release was just posted regarding a new radio station called Radio AFI. The press release stated:

AFI and Slacker, Inc. today launched Radio AFI, a radio station featuring songs from the long-running California quartet as well as artists that have inspired their unique sound along with commentary and introductions from AFI band members. Radio AFI is now available for free in the Slacker Spotlight on the web, on home entertainment devices and leading smartphones.

Radio AFI can be accessed in the Slacker Spotlight station category from any Slacker Radio application or direct on the web at www.Slacker.com/RadioAFI. To get the free Slacker mobile application, simply direct your mobile web browser toSlacker.com.

“Radio AFI is a truly eclectic mix of music including songs that inspire us and what we love to listen to,” said Davey Havok, AFI lead vocalist. “Slacker is doing new and innovative things with music and we’ve enjoyed building this experience to provide our fans with a personal look into our world.”

Radio AFI was programmed by AFI lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer Adam Carson, bassist Hunter Burgan and guitaristJade Puget. The station provides listeners with AFI hits and deep tracks combined with handpicked music that has influenced the band featuring artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye to Nine Inch Nails and Bad Religion.

“Our Artist Showcase provides artists an opportunity to share their passion for music and connect with their audience in a unique and compelling way,” said Scott Riggs, Director of Radio at Slacker. “By working directly with AFI, we are offering their fans the chance to discover rare insight into their favorite band in a personal radio experience unlike any other.”

Whether listening on the web, webOS smartphones, BlackBerry smartphones, iPhone and iPod touch, Android-powered smartphones or a Slacker-enabled Sony TV or Blu-ray player, Radio AFI listeners have instant access to the group’s favorite music along with artist profiles, album reviews and album cover art with unique commentary from AFI members.

92.3 AFI Interview

Channel 92.3′s Mega Tanner interviewed AFI in the back of their tour bus when they played the Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz California. They talk about the Fresno show plus the fire outside, California dates, and Crash Love.
AFI INTERVIEW – FEB 2010 from SFBA on Vimeo.

March 15 Show Venue Changed to Freebird Live

The show scheduled for March 15 at the Plush in Jacksonville Beach, FL has been changed. The new venue is Freebird Live located at 200 North 1st street. The show date and show times remain the same. If tickets have been purchased for the Plush they will gladly accept them at the new venue, and refunds will also be available the day after the show. Freebird Live venue tickets are sold here.

Glogster holding creative AFI video contest

Glogster is holding an AFI contest. You need to choose a song from Crash Love, and put it with movie scenes. Please note that the movie scenes should be your own! No copyright infringement. Contest ends March 25, 2010.
There will be three places. All three win a Camille Rose GIRL’S signed CD bundle, so if you’re a guy you either wear the girl’s tee or you give it away. First place gets a handwritten letter from the band.
Click here for more info. Considering the site is from Czech Republic, I’m assuming it’s open for everybody! Thanks to Melissa for the tip!

EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Muirhead Portraits of Hunter

Ryan Muirhead has sent AFI News HQ a few exclusive photos shot on medium format film of Hunter in Las Vegas. If you have great taste and want to buy one of these fantastic prints or any other prints, feel free and visit here.

Pictures from Luna Big Top

FasterLouder.com.au has posted pictures from AFI and Gallows’ performance at Luna Big Top on February 23. AFI’s pictures begin on page 6, you can view them here.

Nova Interview at Soundwave

Backstage during the Melbourne date, Nova FM interviewed AFI about the Soundwave lineup, the evolution of their music, stage presence, and touring in support of Crash Love. You can view the interview here.

Despair Faction Undergoing Maintenance (Updated)

(Originally posted on Friday, February 26) The Despair Faction tweeted that they will be working on the boards all weekend, so expect downtime and slowness. This may be something important, and we’ll update if any more information comes up.

Update, 2/27: the DF went down for everybody on Saturday afternoon, and it will be online sporadically or not at all through the weekend. The DF advises that you follow them on Twitter for updates.

Update, 2/28: The DF is still down from time to time, but Gavin has posted a news item on the boards saying, “…we’re hosted on a new and very fast machine, we’re moving to exciting new forum software that you will love, we have a new staff member with special and awesome duties who will be announced soon, and we are preparing for the return of DF registration and the new DF store later this month.”