AFI In Vancouver

Iconic Band Takes Over An Iconic Venue: AFI In Vancouver

Every now and then, Commodore Ballroom gets that one show that transcends everything. The kind where you hold onto your ticket stub just to prove you were actually there. A band performs that you’d swear needed a theatre or an arena, yet somehow they chose this room and it feels just right. Last year it was Jack White who gave us one of those nights. This time around, AFI in Vancouver joined that conversation.

I knew months out this was going to be a war to get into. Thirty minutes before presales dropped there were already over ten thousand people ahead of me in the queue. By the time I got to the front there was nothing left. Gone in minutes. But life finds a way and somehow, a few months later, I was standing inside the Commodore with a few thousand other people. Ready to celebrate one of the most influential bands in the emo and goth world. And yes, I say goth intentionally because after last year’s Silver Bleeds The Black Sun. AFI is very much in a new era.

Silver Bleeds the Black Sun

About eight months before this show, AFI fans got their first taste of what was coming when Davey Havok sat down with Alternative Press and unveiled a whole new look. The perm, the moustache, the sandals. For longtime fans locked into the 2006 Decemberunderground era it felt almost jarring. But for those who’d been around even longer it was just another Tuesday. AFI have always reinvented themselves and Silver Bleeds might be their boldest swing yet. The best way I can describe this record is that it’s music Dracula would put on after a long night. It’s dark, moody, alienating in the most beautiful way, and completely soaked in a gothic atmosphere. Somehow making it feel more punk than anything they’ve done in years.

Released on October 3rd, 2025, thirty four minutes of pure heaven dropped into the world and people lost their minds over it. Critically and commercially it was a hit. With fans calling it an addictive palette cleanser that felt nothing like what came before and everything like what the band needed to do next. Personally I had it on repeat for days. Jade’s opening guitar riff on Voidward is the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks the first time you hear it. Davey pushing his vocals into this deep bassy register felt genuinely surprising. And the closing track “Nooneunderground,” with its quietly nostalgic title for a band that refuses to live in nostalgia. Wraps the whole thing up like a punch you didn’t see coming. By the time it’s over you’re stunned and already reaching for the replay button. It was proof that AFI are completely unafraid to blow up their own blueprint, and Vancouver was ready to hear every second of it live.

Vancouverunderground

It had been nearly a decade since AFI last played Vancouver and just like the time before. They came back to the Commodore. Walking up to the venue the line was genuinely the longest I’ve seen there all year. People showed up in Blood Album shirts, Crash Love hoodies, Sing the Sorrow tees, Decemberunderground merch. And mixed throughout all of it were fans already rocking fresh Silver Bleeds gear. The debate on the way in was predictable and fun. Would they lean into the classics or go deep on the new record? People had opinions. But the second those lights went dark and a red haze eclipsed the room, nothing else mattered.

Adam Carson, Hunter Burgan, and Jade Puget took the stage first and launched straight into “Strength Through Wounding.” Then, stage left a silhouette emerged. That hair, unmistakable now, sent the room into an absolute frenzy before Davey Havok even opened his mouth. He just stood there center stage and owned every inch of it. Then all hell broke loose. Hunter and Davey throwing jumps and high kicks, Jade whipping the guitar behind his back, the whole room completely unraveling. And before anyone could even catch their breath, the second song was “Girl’s Not Grey” and every debate about the setlist dissolved instantly.

The Setlist & Finale

AFI In Vancouver kept this one beautifully balanced. Silver Bleeds was well represented with “Holy Visions,” “Voidward,” “The Bird of Prey,” and “Behind the Clock.” All making appearances, but the band also took the crowd on a full tour through the discography. We got deep cuts like “The Boy Who Destroyed the World” off the All Hallows EP. Sitting right alongside crowd favourites like “Love Like Winter” and “Beautiful Thieves”. And then “Miss Murder” happened and the Commodore just completely lost it. Bodies flying, crowd surfers everywhere, the kind of chaos that track has always deserved to live. Vancouver won the gamble on that one.

Watching “Miss Murder” do what it always does live is something else when you think about where that song came from. The music video was inescapable, Much Music and MTV had it on constant rotation. It launched AFI into a level of visibility they had never seen before. All of that history was in the room and you could feel it. The final stretch of the night moved through “On The Arrow” before closing things out with “Silver and Cold,” and by the end it felt like the soundtrack to an entire generation’s youth had just played out in ninety minutes.

Davey, Adam, Hunter, and Jade gave their final thanks to the city and you could tell the love in that room was completely mutual. There is really no single word for what AFI in Vancouver was. Electrifying works. So does jaw dropping, heart pounding, or just completely unreal. Walking out onto Granville Street afterward everything felt a little lighter and a little more alive. The way only the best shows can make you feel. And the only thought running through everyone’s head was the same, when are we doing AFI In Vancouver again?

Thank You

I’d like to thank AFI In Vancouver and their incredible management team for allowing me to experience the insanity of A Fire Inside. The next stop for the group is this weekend at Sick New World where we’ll get another round. Otherwise, you can find a future tour date here: https://afireinside.net/tour/