Tickets

When the event went on sale back in November, I wasn’t able to get tickets. Demand was crazy and so were the prices. A day prior to the show date, they announced that some additional tickets were released so I decided to give it another look. They appeared to be on the side, almost behind the stage so I was going to pass again. However, the resale options caught my attention and the price was more reasonable compared to when they first went on sale, so I decided to go for it. This was the day before the show. I think this is the first time I’ve used Ticketmaster’s Verified Resale option. Pretty seamless experience. Of course, I still really hate the mobile ticket thing. I’ll pay extra for a printed ticket and I have when that is an option. In this case, there wasn’t which is increasingly common. So this is my ticket stub keepsake:

Total for 2 tickets was $288.55. By the way, this process works fine in GrapheneOS. It’s just a little cumbersome to have to disconnect from the VPN and type my KeePass master password to access my Ticketmaster password in order to access the tickets for entry and then hope I don’t have to reauthenticate by the time I get up to the ticket scanning person. Much simpler to just have a printed ticket. Plus no potential network issues.

Sing the Sorrow

I’m actually not big on the Punk and Emo genres. But this album hit all the elements to captivate me in 2003; melodic, atmospheric, dark, gothic, and a guitar solo. Song structures were vastly more sophisticated compared to their earlier output. There were intros, loud parts, quiet parts and poetic lyrics throughout. I may have added a word or two to my vocabulary during this period. Coming back to that guitar solo, it was unexpected when I first came across it. During this time, I was listening to a lot of guitar solo heavy music, so that definitely contributed to this album becoming a staple in my music rotation. It was like, “Hey, this punk rock guitarist can actually play. Nice.” Turns out, it would be the addition of guitarist (Jade) in 1999 that was instrumental for the AFI sound I most enjoyed (1999-2003). My favorite song is The Great Disappointment so that was the highlight for me.

The show

They played Sing the Sorrow front to back. No more, no less. Cue Simpsons Spinal Tap.¹ The standard release comes in at 55:54 so I can understand some fans being upset. Especially those who booked flights and hotels for this “once in a lifetime global event.” However, they did do exactly as promised. General parking was $45. This margarita in a can was $16.50 🤦‍♂️:

But I did get a free sticker, which is cool.

Overall, the price was well worth it for a unique experience. This makes the 2nd and possibly the last time I see them as I haven’t really been into their current stuff. The first time was in 2006 at the Long Beach Arena. Yes, the I Heard a Voice show.²

Also, I have a bootleg here if you want to check that out.

Were you there? Let me know in the comments. 👇