AFI

AFI (A Fire Inside) lands in Birmingham on 24 August 2026 at O2 Institute Birmingham. Formed in the early 90s in Ukiah, California, the quartet of Davey Havok, Jade Puget, Hunter Burgan and Adam Carson has moved from hardcore and skate punk roots to a darker, melodic strain of alternative rock. The breakneck energy of Answer That and Stay Fashionable and Very Proud of Ya gave way to the shadowed harmonies of Black Sails in the Sunset and The Art of Drowning, then the expansive textures of Sing the Sorrow and Decemberunderground. In the 2010s, Crash Love and Burials leaned into a more modern, streamlined sound, while The Blood Album and Bodies folded in new wave and synth touches without losing the guitar-bass-drums backbone.

On stage, AFI builds tension through tight vocal choruses, crisp rhythms and Havok’s sharp phrasing, switching from urgent chants to brooding, slower passages. The set tends to trace their arc from punk snap to nocturnal atmospheres, with the crowd woven into the refrains. In Birmingham, expect a band shaped by decades of writing and touring, still carrying that same fire inside.