As the cold wind blew down South London's streets, a tentative crowd of mid twenty-somethings eagerly awaited the final curtain call of one of Canada's finest post-hardcore exports, Alexisonfire. Not quite knowing what to expect, or how to feel, I went in with a fairly open mind. Hoping to hear some of the old classics as well as some of the later tracks, all I really wanted was a send off perfectly embodying the years of blinding shows they gave the UK during the 00s. A tough one for me personally, as AOF are without a doubt my ultimate faves, so it was a mixed affair.
They jumped into life surprising us all by opening with Crisis, the title track from their 2005 album. Immediately I was knocked by the sheer energy coming from these men. It was almost as if they had never played a show before. Expecting a few slips and mistakes - it was after all, incredibly early on in the tour - they were almost faultless, with Dallas's haunting vocals pitch perfect and echoing through Brixton as most of the crowd just stood in awe at what was happening.
They surprised us even further by bashing out some even older tracks such as Waterwings and .44 Caliber Love Letter further on in the set. It looked like they really had taken into consideration what the fans would want to hear combined with what would make the ultimate Alexisonfire setlist. They hardly stopped in between songs, just relentlessly thrashing out the songs back to back. When they did stop to talk it wasn't cliched or cringe worthy, just pure and simple thanks - staying so true to everything Alexis always did so well, proving they were never about image or fakery, but just creating incredible music.
The fact that I hadn't purposely listened to them for several months up to the show meant that I was often thrown with a curve ball of emotions hitting me all at once, and the sheer power of the chorus in Boiled Frogs got me in a choke-hold, and resonated with what seemed to be a fitting theme for the night "my youth is slipping away."
The ultimate surprise of the night - and one that made me squeal like a kid on Christmas Day - was the outing of the very title of this here blog, Charlie Sheen vs Henry Rollins. Not many of the crowd knew this one, and I heard it wasn't played the night after, but for the Switcheroo Series fans among us, it really got our blood pumping. I screamed every single lyric like I meant it - and I don't often do that at shows anymore. A real throw back to my youth.
They ended the set with slightly predictable Happiness By The Kilowatt, but by that point no one was complaining at all, and seemed to join in arms at the sight of losing this amazing band, and enjoying their last five minutes on stage before they linked arms and took a final bow.
Alexisonfire stayed true to themselves throughout the whole show, didn't disappoint at all, and gave themselves the best sending off any band on a reunion tour could hope to achieve. The crowd almost left in silence, stunned by what we had all witnessed. Hats off to you Alexis, you really showed Brixton that night, one i'll talk about forever.
FULL SETLIST
Crisis
Get Fighted
Waterwings
Old Crows
Control
You Burn First
We Are The Sound
.44 Caliber Love Letter
This Could Be Anywhere In The World
Midnight Regulations
Pulmonary Archery
No Transitory
Dogs Blood
Keep It On Wax
Accept Crime
Boiled Frogs
Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints
Charlie Sheen vs Henry Rollins
The Northern
Accidents
Rough Hands
Young Cardinals
Happiness By The Kilowatt
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