It was a warm Saturday evening in Orange County, as shuttle buses transporting people from off site parking made their way to The Observatory music venue. Normally, this venue holds events inside their music hall, however on some occasions, their front parking lot is transformed into a full fledged festival ground.

The surrounding streets are closed down and lined with food trucks and various other vendors, and a massive stage looms in the far side of the once empty lot. The reason for this change in scenery for the venue was due to the punk rock legends in AFI bringing their highly anticipated tour back to Southern California, alongside opening acts L.A. Witch, Kumo 99, and Mareux.

L.A. WITCH

As the sun began to set and the crowd was still disembarking from shuttles, the first band L.A. Witch took to the stage. The trio warmed up the crowd with their blend of psychedelic garage rock, and their reverb heavy guitar melodies had people rocking their heads to the beat.

KUMO 99

Afterwards came a sonic shift with the electronic duo Kumo 99. Their high energy and digital sound was reminiscent of an underground nightclub as industrial techno beats and heavy drum and bass filled the open night air.

MAREUX

Up next was the electronic project, Mareux. His blend of darkwave and gothic post punk sounds were accompanied by heavy fog filling the stage. This created an almost haunting atmosphere as droning electronic vocals rang through the night and a soft breeze would blow the smoke across the stage. Mareux ended their set with their popular cover of The Cure’s “The Perfect Girl”, and left the stage to massive cheers from the crowd.

AFI

After an almost 45 minute break, the lights dimmed and it was finally time for AFI to take their place onstage. The crowd was absolutely buzzing with anticipation. As each member appeared one by one and the faint intro of the song “Strength Through Wounding” came through the overhead speakers, the crowd began to chant the song lyrics in unison, “Through Our Bleeding, We Are One!” And away they went, the band launched into a ferocious set full of classic and some newer songs. Crowd surfers soon began to fly across the barricade as security tried their best to catch them. It was very apparent the band was enjoying their time playing onstage, just as much as the crowd was watching them.

Led by frontman Davey Havok, full of passion and charisma, he held constant engagement with the crowd while simultaneously jumping off every platform he could get on. Guitarist Jade Puget was showcasing his expert musicianship, dancing back and forth between a blend of heavy punk riffs and intricate melodies, all while completely swinging his guitar around like it was weightless. Bassist Hunter Burgan held down the low end while also leaping into the air, only to quickly retreat back behind the fog. Drummer and founding member Adam Carson rounded out the rhythm section, establishing a solid foundation for the band’s sound.

AFI is known for rotating their setlist per show while on tour, creating a unique experience every night. Currently out on tour in support of their 2025 release, Silver Bleeds the Black Sun, they played four songs off that record, “Behind The Clock”, “Holy Visions”, “Marguerite”, and “Nooneunderground”. About halfway through their set, Davey took a moment to speak to the crowd and mentioned this show was their largest headlining show since 2006. It definitely seemed like they tailored their setlist to mark such an occasion, playing songs from every era of the band's discography.

They concluded their show playing fan favorites such as “The Days of the Phoenix”, “Miss Murder”, “Silver and Cold”, and “Totalimmortal”. During the last song, Davey climbed onto the barricade and began to step onto the crowd. Yes, onto the crowd. They held him overhead by his feet and he stood atop everyone, peering far down into everyone’s eyes. He then asked to be brought down to the ground, seeming to join in with the crowd for the last chorus.

Before the eager crowd could enclose him, Davey shouts into the mic, “If you don’t know the words, get away from me!” As the final chorus hit, you could hear members of the crowd shouting into the microphone. I can only imagine the absolute chaos that went down in the crowd as I’m sure everyone nearby wanted their moment to sing alongside someone like Davey Havok. But he was quickly lifted back up over the crowd and over the barricade, as he climbed back onstage, he thanked everyone for coming out one last time, and the band hit their final notes, concluding the show.

Bringing together the sounds of garage rock, electronic techno, darkwave, and punk rock all in one evening, AFI showcased all of their influences that has made them the band they are today. Still punk rockers to their core, they’re not afraid to experiment and evolve their sound. And the fans are right there alongside them. The only thing left for them to overcome were the long lines as they waited to board a shuttle back to their cars.

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