Photos: AFI bring full-throttle energy to the sold-out Santa Ana streets

Before AFI set out on the Holy Visions tour this Fall they stopped off in Orange County to play a special one-off parking lot show for diehard SoCal fans. Joined by LA Witch, Kumo 99 and Mareux, the four bands descended onto the closed-off streets around The Observatory on Saturday night, turning the venue’s festival grounds into a sold-out sea of black clothing, sweat and unresolved teenage angst.

As the sun started to dip below the treeline and the earlybirds were still filing in from the shuttle lots, the psyche-rock trio LA Witch opened the night with a grungy but chill set that felt less like an opening set, and more like 3 friends jamming out in a garage without even noticing the crowd in front of them. It was a low-key start built for a crowd still finding its footing, more slow simmer than boil.

LA Witch at Observatory OC, September 19th, 2026

Kumo 99 continued to turn up the heat just as the sun started to set. Powered by pulsing drum and bass production from Nate Donmoyer and a wash of colored lights behind them, the LA based electro-punk duo showcased their unique style of dance music. The singer, Ami’ Komai, who has deep roots in the LA hardcore scene, effortlessly bounced and spun across the stage with a kind of joy that proved contagious. Even the line snaking toward the AFI merch in the back of the parking lot couldn’t help but sway and nod their heads along to the beat.

Kumo 99 at Observatory OC, September 19th, 2026

By the time Mareux took the stage, the sky had gone fully dark and a layer of fog had settled over the boards. Three figures in black walked out, unhurried, and slowed the whole night’s pulse down with it. The drummer split time between a traditional kit and a set of electronic pads, laying dark wave rhythms under a frontman working in sunglasses and a smooth, goth-inflected baritone. Two songs deep into a set built almost entirely on synths, the singer and the sample player both grabbed guitars, folding a bit of analog scrape into the digital atmosphere they’d built. They closed strong, chanting to the crowd “If you know this last song, lose your fucking mind” as purple lights swept the stage and the singer bounced through the set’s final, moody send-off of “The Perfect Girl” by The Cure.

Mareux at Observatory OC, September 19th, 2026

AFI hit the stage right at 9:30 p.m and were welcomed by a wall of noise from a crowd that had been waiting all day for this exact moment. With the fog starting to lift, the band members each made their way onto the stage. Silhouetted by the blinding screen behind them, Adam Carson was the first to take his rightful place behind the drumkit, followed closely by bass player Hunter Bergan and guitarist Jade Puget holding his guitar high in the air. As the first tones ran out Davey Havok wasted no time claiming the stage as his own, climbing and leaping off of platforms mic stand and all. Carson anchored the sonic attack through a haze of smoke, Burgan locked in on stage right, and Puget playfully engaged with Havok while tearing through riffs that swung effortlessly between punk snarl and melodic shimmer.

The band opened cold with “Strength Through Wounding” before diving straight into “Girl’s Not Grey,” “Love Like Winter,” “Holy Visions” and “A Single Second”, a run that set the tone early and never really let up. From there the set moved fluidly across eras: “Snow Cats,” “17 Crimes,” “The Killing Lights,” “Behind the Clock” and “Beautiful Thieves” kept bodies moving, while “Bleed Black,” “Marguerite” and “I Hope You Suffer” dragged things into darker, heavier territory.

Before “Beautiful Thieves,” Havok paused to tell the crowd this was the band’s biggest headline show since 2006 (when the band headlined the Long Beach Arena for the filming of their DVD) a small aside that landed with real weight in a room full of people who’d clearly been along for the ride that long or longer.

The back stretch of the set brought the loudest response of the night. “Nooneunderground,”and “The Days of the Phoenix” turned the grounds into a proper sing-along and despite Havok recently commenting that “It breaks my heart to have Miss Murder be the defining song of AFI” the band threw down a powerful performance of the fan favorite before stepping off stage, only to return for an encore that opened with “Silver and Cold”, dedicated, Havok noted, to the late Lou Koller of Sick Of It All, and closing the night out with “Totalimmortal.”

Twenty plus years in, AFI proved Saturday night like a band still climbing rather than one looking back. For nearly ninety minutes, AFI gave Santa Ana everything they had. Havok never stopped moving, pacing, climbing, pushing toward the crowd like he needed to close the distance himself, while Carson, Burgan and Puget locked into a groove tight enough to carry the whole set on momentum alone. The band and the crowd fed off each other from the first note to the last, and by the time “Totalimmortal” closed things out, the energy hadn’t dipped once. It was a full-throttle set from start to finish, and a reminder of exactly why people keep showing up.