American Football live @ Complejo Art Media, Buenos Aires, Argentina (21/11/23)

Hey, everyone! I'd been waiting for 22 years to catch these guys live—a band I never thought I'd see in person, just like SDRE, Elliot, GUK, and many others. I had the chance to see Get Up Kids in Buenos Aires a few years back, and it was awesome! Went with my music buddies. I was planning to fly to Brazil to see them, but luckily talked to Lamos, and he suggested I wait, as they might have a show in Argentina. As soon as you entered, you were hit with the 'merch' stand. A crappy cap and two shirts. One was decent, so I bought it fast, as a souvenir. As for the gig itself, what can I say? I just couldn't believe my eyes and ears. The venue wasn't completely packed, but it was pretty damn full, and the atmosphere was amazing. The opening band, an Argentinian group originally from Mar del Plata called 'Buenos Vampiros,' was pretty good, honestly. They had a shoegazy, post-punk new wave sound, with clear influences from Joy Division, Morrissey, The Cure, and similar bands. Now, for the big moment, let's clear some things up. I've been listening to this band since my early 20s, so I have to be honest: I was expecting more songs from their first LP. I get it; they like the new songs, and I do too, but since it was their first time here, maybe their last, who knows? I was expecting them to skip maybe one or two. Instead, they played just a few of them. I'm not criticizing at all, just sharing my story. The midsection of their set was full of songs from their 2nd and 3rd LP. I like the songs, but we were all expecting more from their first record. I couldn't hold back my tears when they played 'Stay Home' (my favorite song from them at the moment. Yes, I've been rotating them for like 20 years now) and my excitement when I heard the opening riff from 'Honestly.' These songs are tied to my 20s and mean a lot to me. I listened to them during special moments in my life; it's the soundtrack of my life, as they say. Anyway, I digress. I couldn't record the whole event because my phone kept telling me I had no storage left. I had to delete other stupid videos to make some space, and even that didn't work. So, this is what I managed to record. Also, during some songs, the mosh was strong, so I was moving and jumping, accidentally stopping the recording of some songs. Apologies. I was sincerely amazed by the young audience—kids in their 20s. You have to remember, to me, AF is my treasure band. I used to be in a band called 'Light End Of Fuse' here in Argentina during the early 2000s. My high school friends and I made some corny emo music; you can cringe at our lyrics on YouTube. Fun times! We were one of the few emo bands at the time. Others were Baltimore In Love, Andes, Jokes on Me, It's up to you. I could never picture this moment, 20-something years later. Another thing I have to mention is that at some point, some kids started chanting some political crap, which I despised. It doesn't matter your political stance; you shouldn't bring that crap to a music concert. I certainly wouldn't push any of my ideologies while listening to an AMERICAN BAND. It really bothered me and the people around me too. As for the setlist, I don't have it all, but these were the best moments. During "Never Meant," you can see Mike doing a 'mind-blown' gesture to the band as he realizes how we were chanting the lead parts of the song. That's typical in Argentina. You can listen to Dave Mustaine from Megadeth talking about it too. In the end, the xylophone player had to grab the mic and said something like: 'I'm not supposed to say this, but I've been playing with these guys for a couple of years, and you are the greatest audience, you guys are insane.' The guy was so thrilled. And so were we. It was great seeing Nate, Mike, and both Steves. I'm a big fan of Mike's music. One of my friends had a buddy back in the early 2000s named Josue, who bought stuff from Polyvinyl and Jade Tree online. In the early internet years, my friend introduced me to amazing bands, and he had many compilation records—Joan of Arc, Fugazi, Cap'n Jazz, Get Up Kids, The Promise Ring, and many others. I stayed until 3 am at the door with a handful of other dudes to see if the band would come out to take a couple of pictures, but unfortunately, they left in a van. They greeted us through the windows. Anyway, I hope they come back to play a longer set. If you read all this, hope you enjoy the video. Did my best to capture this moment and added a bit more to the story.