Live Review: AFI mark Birmingham return with career spanning sold-out O2 Institute gig

You wait more than a decade and a half for one – and a whole load turn up at once!

It’s been 16 years since the US punk quartet were last in the UK to play headline gigs. However, in recent days they’ve headlined shows in London and Manchester, played at the Outbreak leg of All Points East in the capital and on Monday night to a capacity crowd at the O2 Institute in Digbeth.

During their time ‘away’, AFI have continued to release albums and tour – just largely in the US and only making it over to the UK for the occasional tour support slot.

Which, all goes some way to explain the genuine excitement and buzz around the Institute.

After rising through the mid-1990s California hardcore punk scene, AFI gained a cult following with a succession of gothic-punk tinged albums before finding huge mainstream success which catapulted them onto the front covers of magazines and websites around the world, into arenas and onto major festival stages.

Any act’s commercial popularity always has a peak, but one of the keys to AFI’s longevity has been the constant evolution of their sound and image (more on the latter later) which they’ve been quietly refining for the last few album cycles.

While recent records have long since abandoned the chaotic punk of their albums which straddled the turn of the century, their latest LP Silver Bleeds The Black Sun… saw AFI settle firmly into a mature sound owing more to the likes of Bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy than anything they’ve done before.

And it’s this album which has finally brought the band back to the UK on their Holy Visions tour.

AFI’s 17-song set at the Institute was a triumphant journey through their back catalogue infused with a healthy dose of new material.

A band with a penchant for intro tracks, when the house lights of the Institute dropped, drummer Adam Carson, guitarist Jade Puget and bassist Hunter Burgan brought their set crashing into life with 1999’s Strength Through Wounding – with frontman Davey Havok appearing just as it’s chanted ‘gang vocals’ kicked in.

In unison, the 1,500 inside sang its “through our bleeding we are one” hook along with the frontman before AFI followed it up with one of their biggest hits, Girl’s Not Grey from 2003’s Sing The Sorrow album.

AFI remain a joy to watch. Their stage presence and energy is as powerful as it’s probably ever been.

There’s barely a minute where Havok, Carson and Puget are stationary, with the trio flinging themselves up into the air off one of the three ‘ego risers’ at the front of the stage all night.

And, when not providing backing vocals, both guitarists are pulling-shapes, posturing and continually exchanging positions.

Havok spent most of the night either thrusting his mic stand high into the air, vaulting off risers or kneeling down, reaching out towards the front rows.

While the stage was dimly lit for much of their set, it’s impossible not to mention AFI’s frontman in a bit more detail. If AFI’s music has evolved, so has Havok.

This album cycle saw the singer emerge sporting a horseshoe moustache and curled fluffy hair combo which in Birmingham – like other shows on this tour - was paired with an oversized-pink vest and black skinny trousers. It’s a visually striking look – but one he pulls off with aplomb.

By comparison – Carson and Puget’s evolution during the past two decades has extended nothing much beyond subtle facial hair.

One of the early highlights of the first half of AFI’s set was Ever and a Day from 2000’s Art Of Drowning LP – a slower paced track which leans more heavily into their gothy-punk roots more than much of their set.

However, bringing their sound back up to date, Behind The Clock from their latest record perfectly showcased the band’s latest sound which sat perfectly alongside the likes of 17 Crimes.

There was little chatter from Havok during their set, however, the frontman did pause to joke with fans about struggling vocally and to thank them for their support.

This came before launching into The Boy Who Destroyed The World from 1999’s All Hallows EP - a track which won’t have done much to aid what Havok had just explained.

Yet it received an ecstatic response from fans who likely wouldn’t have expected a deep cut like it to feature in 2026 AFI’s repertoire.

Blasphemy & Excess was another highlight and showcased again how well the band has settled into their new sound and how great the new material comes acorss live.

AFI rounded off their Birmingham return with fan favourite Days of The Phoenix and their commercial juggernaut Miss Murder.

In 2026 – AFI’s 17 song set was (almost) everything you could want from the band at this point in their career.

With Havok’s voice clearly favouring their more recent material it’s a testament to him and the band that they’re still willing to dip so far into their back catalogue.

Hopefully, the ovation the band received at the end of the night will go a long way to ensure it’s not another 16-year wait for fans this side of the Atlantic.

AFI played:

Strength Through Wounding

Girl's Not Grey

Love Like Winter

Holy Visions

Ever and a Day

End Transmission

Behind the Clock

17 Crimes

Bleed Black

Beautiful Thieves

The Boy Who Destroyed the World

Nooneunderground

Endlessly, She Said

Blasphemy & Excess

Silver and Cold

The Days of the Phoenix

Miss Murder