I saw them on Saturday at an intimate (and of course completely sold out) club show in Berlin. I drove 8 hours back and forth... Damn, was it worth the ride and the money (even though my car is on strike now...
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It was one of the, if not THE, most intense shows I've ever seen. Two hours AIC pure in such an intimate setting = almost too much to handle for me. I was so drained and dehydrated towards the end, I almost fainted while singing along. I had to literally hold on to my girlfriend...
Setlist was phenomenal: All the classics + 3 new songs. "A Looking In View" was ridiculously heavy with DuVall on 2nd guitar. And William delivered! He may not have that fragile aura that always surrounded Layne and made his character so special, but oh boy, that dude has finally found his place in the band: very agile and top notch vocal performance. He might should stick to only singing through "Rooster" instead of playing 2nd guitar, but that's the only very tiny gripe I have...
They also played the aforementioned "Check My Brain" as part of the encore and one or two (quite sure it was one) other new songs I can't remember the names of. All of the new songs were VERY dark, intense and midtempo. Kinda like an even more fucked up continuation of the s/t last album: slow, sometimes even drone-y or single-note based riffs with weird harmonies, almost atonal arrangements eventually dissolving into 'beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time' choruses - with a headbanger riff coming out of the blue, a la "Check My Brain".
This will be a very strong contender for album of the year! - But I also predict many haters, because this will be THE manifestation of an Antipop album: Harder to chew than a diamond but equally as beautiful...
Other songs being played (no particular order and as far as I can remember):
Rain When I Die
Man In A Box
Angry Chair
Them Bones
Damn That River
We Die Young
Sludge Factory
Would?
Nutshell
Again
Junkhead
Rooster
