Saturday 17/02/07 AFI, Sick of it All, The Dear and Departed @ The Rialto Theater, Arizona

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Tonight KFMA presents AFI to a sold out house. The noisy street in front of the Rialto is packed with people, hotdog vendors and traffic. A lad leans out the window of his car and yells then the manic crowd hollers back. It’s already begun.

The Dear And Departed come from the land down under. They’ve setup shop in America with a soon to be released debut album and the quality of their music is reflected in the company they keep. ‘Run Away’ poignantly starts at almost a whisper, escalates then Dan Under’s smooth and uncluttered vox easily wins us over as the audience starts to rock. A tentative beat begins and ‘Fireflies’ lights up the stage. It has excellent harmonies and a drifting melody that builds and crashes like waves. They have all the right ingredients suggesting their first album will be brilliant. We will see.

The moment they step on the stage it’s obvious the New York hardcore band Sick Of It All has a lot of performances under their belts. ‘Step Down’ takes instant ownership of the now fist beating crowd as the first surfers glide forward. Their music careens at out of control at brutal speeds whilst vocalist Lou Koller lays waste to our ears. Guitarist Pete Koller must be part bird because he spends almost as much time in the air as on the ground. With insane precision they perform the screeching ‘Die Alone’ to the “Die, Die” chanting mob. As hot today as they ever were it’s a pleasure to watch these awesome veterans of punk.