AFI Decide Sing the Sorrow Wasn't Enough

There is a version of this announcement that reads like a victory lap. Twenty-three dates. Two countries. A back catalogue thick enough to be a coffee-table book. AFI are in their fourth decade now; they could phone it in and we would still buy the t-shirt.

They have never phoned anything in. That is the unsexy but actual reason this tour matters. Their most recent record was strange and a little mean and uninterested in being your favorite, and the spring leg leaned on it harder than the algorithm would have liked. They will do the same thing this fall. They will play Sing the Sorrow songs because they wrote those songs — not because TikTok rediscovered them.

The run opens Sept 26 in Mexico City and closes Oct 28 in Tucson. The middle is thick with theatre dates that are slightly too small for the band, which is exactly the right size. Davey Havok still sings like he has a personal stake in every consonant. Jade Puget still plays guitar like the room owes him money.

Openers TBA at the time of this writing. Historically that has meant a band you have not heard of and will not stop talking about by November. Bring earplugs and a black shirt that is not also a uniform.