Saturday was AMAZING.

We left in the morning, but had several delays before arriving to Canada. Basically mistakenly believing we forgot a passport, really forgetting my ticket, and getting slightly lost at one point. Luckily the first two we’re before we got to Canada. We had to answer some extra questions at immigration when crossing over the border, but otherwise we didn’t really have any problems.

It was so muddy from all the rain. I was afraid I was going to slip in it. Ha ha. We got there a little bit before Alexisonfire played. They played a short, but fabulous set. I can’t wait to see them at Warped in July. The crowd was crazy while they played. After they finished, we headed over to the merch tent. I bought a Crash Love shirt. I haven’t tried in on yet, but I can tell it’ll look great on me. Hah.

Afterward, we headed back to the stage that AFI was going to be on. After slipping through to be as close as we could, we befriended some fellow Despair Faction (DF) members. They had pins with their board names on them. I thought that was nifty and made a note to perhaps fashion one for myself before the Fall. We chatted before the band came on and made plans to meet after the band played.

When AFI came on, I was engulfed in so much excitement. Saying they sounded great would seriously be an understatement. Despite a few technical difficulties through out the show, they did such a fucking fantastic job. I’m still in slight awe that I was able to experience it. And this was at a festival show! Can you imagine when I see them on their own tour?!

Anyways, details ^_^ …The set list was:

1. Girl’s Not Grey
2. The Leaving Song, Pt. 2
3. Kill Caustic
4. Summer Shudder
5. The Days of the Phoenix
6. Bleed Black
7. Silver and Cold
8. A Single Second
9. The Missing Frame
10. Dancing Through Sunday
11. Ziggy Stardust
12. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
13. Miss Murder
14. Totalimmortal
15. Love Like Winter

Davey was very entertaining in between songs. During one point, Smith was sweeping the stage and Davey thanked him, making a comment about how could he get mud on these shoes. Some smart-asses decided to respond by picking up mud and throwing it at him. He laughed it off by saying something along the lines of “I deserve that. I’ve had worse thrown at me, trust me.” At another point someone threw a flip flop at the stage and he dodged it and said if he had a flip flop, he would want to get rid of it too. He also talked about the steam room at his gym and how he couldn’t say more of what happens there because it is a “family show”. Ha ha. Oh and he dedicated a song to Rise Against (WEDNESDAY!), which made me super happy! He also stated that Crash Love is to be out in late September. I’m really hoping we’ll get some concrete dates for the release and tour soon.

After they finished up, Micheal and I headed over to the merch tent where we agreed to meet the DFers we met earlier. When we couldn’t find them, we scoped out the place to see if we would be lucky enough to find someone in the band. I know, based on others accounts, that Adam is not only super-friendly…but often makes an effort to hang out himself. When no such luck arrived we headed back to the tent. We high-fived some other people in AFI shirts. Finally, we found everyone from before. After chatting quite a bit longer, we made plans to hang out.

While, making our way though the parking lot we found a few people whose car was stuck in the mud. A lady frantically asked us if we could help. In good spirit, we all rocked and pushed the car until it finally gave and got unstuck. We all cheered and clapped. Ha ha.

So we (Micheal, Nikki, Angela, Mike, Graham, and me) went to Mike’s apartment/dorm to hang out for a bit, which was a really nice place. We checked the boards (because we are cool and spend Saturdays like that). Everyone thought we were super-hardcore for driving 4-5 hours from MI. After wards we went out for sushi. We were joined by a couple of other guys we met earlier (another Mike and Roy) who came in for the show from New York. I had sweet potato rolls, which were as good as others said they were. Micheal paid for me, which I was not expecting, but I thought was a really nice gesture. (Considering he was also doing all the driving…)

After wards we went to a bar, which isn’t my thing, but I still enjoyed hanging out. There was a DJ and dance music, but no dance floor. Strange. I suggested we leave a bit earlier than the others just because we were planning on going back that night. We exchanged numbers with everyone and made promises to keep in touch. After giving several hugs we walked with Mike #1 to the subway station, so he could give us directions.

On the drive back, I could tell Micheal was getting to sleepy to drive, so I suggested we stop to take a nap. We did so, and after two hours got on the road again. Passing the border to the US was, surprisingly, easier than when we crossed over to Canada. I had heard that it would be the opposite.

We finally got to my place at 7:00am on Sunday morning. Despite how much fun I had, after the long trip I was relieved to be home. We said our byes for now, and I crashed. Later I woke up to find a message from Angela making sure we made a safe trip. I really appreciated that. When I’m in Toronto again I will be sure to try and meet up with everybody. I also told them to call me if they were ever in MI. I’m sure I will meet up with everyone at the next show.

An After-note:

I included the extra details from the trip, to show what a positive experience I’ve had from being in the DF. Michael and I started dating shortly after the trip, and I am so happy with our strong, healthy relationship. We also made a trip recently up to Toronto and visited our friends we met at the show. The point I’m trying to make, I guess, is that being a fan of AFI and in the DF has brought me close to many wonderful people in my life. It truly means a lot to me.

Contact details:

Lia Adamopoulos

serpentxdreamer@yahoo.com