AFI Bring A Full Crowd To The Rave

On October 16th The Rave was on stop on AFI's Holy Visions Tour to celebrate their 12th studio album "Silver Bleeds The Black Sun". I missed them on their last tour so I was so excited for the opportunity to cover them this time around at one of my favorite venues. I was first introduced to AFI when their album "Sing The Sorrow" came out in 2003 with their big hit "Girl's Not Grey". I knew, and still know, every word to that album. I bought that cd and wore it out! Shortly after that I heard that was not their first album, in fact, they had five albums before that. So, those were added to my music collections, the style was more punk then their 2003 album but I loved all of it.

Fast forward to 2026 and many albums later, AFI is still going and still just as big as they were in 2003 when they hit it big. I had fallen away from keeping up with them, life gets in the way sometimes, so I was interested in what direction they had went over the years. They are known for really changing their music up and trying new things. I gave the new music a listen and it was way different from the AFI I knew, it gave me huge 80's vibes but with Davey's touch, and if you know him you know what I'm talking about. I'd seen that he had changed his appearance up from the last time I had seen him (music videos), which he is also known for. I'm familiar with the more Emo Davey with the black hair and the side angle bob and makeup. This look was very different! It made me even more excited to see what they've been up to.

When I got to the show it was packed! They were in The Rave, the smaller room downstairs from the ballroom but it was a full house! This was my first ever AFI show so I didn't know what to expect, it was so crowded I had a hard time walking through the edge of the crowd to get to the photo pit. The merch line was one of the longest lines I've seen, and I arrived a little later in the night. (Don't worry, I got my shirt eventually).

It was time for the band to start, the crowd got even thicker as every one pushed their way to the front. The band members came out one at a time, Davey then took his time walking onto the stage and the crowd started screaming. The music started and Davey started singing, I knew this was going to be good. They started the show with "Strength Through Wounding". The crowd was jumping and singing along, I felt the energy radiating from the stage and knew it was only going to get crazier from here. Then one of my absolute favorites "Girls Not Grey"! I couldn't help but sing along as I was taking my photos.

I was told ahead of time about Davey's energy on stage, and they weren't lying! It was so hard to keep up with him, and the other members were jumping around and spinning. I have never seen that kind of energy on stage before, he was swinging his microphone around, the mic stand was flying everywhere, Davey was jumping and running all over the place. I looked behind me at one point and the entire crowd was feeding off him and the rest of the band. It was quite the visual and an experience to have being right in front of it all, and the view I had.

When I was done shooting I tried to find a good spot but it was so crowded I ended up in the very back on the room next to the bar! It was ok, I had my moment up front and was perfectly happy watching the rest of the show from the back. It was amazing seeing them on stage and seeing a sea of hands flying in the air, crowd surfers making their way above the crowd and everyone singing along. At one point Davey jumped into the crowd too! Then it was time to go home, this was a hard show to leave, but great memories and photos were made for me. I would love to see them again but just as a fan next time, and really be able to take in even more of the energy and experience these guys bring to their shows.