Concert Recap: AFI in Myrtle Beach, SC (October 21, 2025)

For most of my life, AFI has been one of my all-time favorite bands, and one that has always seemed to be just out of reach when it came to seeing them perform live — for the last 15 years, AFI has rarely played within a few hours of my hometown of Jacksonville, NC, and there would frequently be conflicts on the few occasions that they would play within my radius, even if it was as a support act. Needless to say, when AFI announced their fall 2025 tour, which included a stop in Myrtle Beach, SC, I knew I had to cancel any and all plans that could possibly get in the way and finally see this band live. As expected, the decade and a half wait was worth it, and I've been itching for their next tour announcement since the show ended.

AFI has an eclectic range of musical influences, which makes for interesting choices when it comes to support acts. It's always a wild card to see what kind of opener they'll have, because there are so many different genres that would fit in with different aspects of their sound. For this tour, the electronic duo TR/ST got the show started, with their dark electronic sound turning the crowd of rock fans into a dance floor for a few minutes. While I normally tend to do a fair amount of research on openers that I'm not very familiar with before seeing them, I unfortunately only knew a handful of TR/ST songs, but I still had a great time seeing them perform. Vocalist Robert Alfons did double duty by also working the synths and sample loops, and drummer Lia Braswell had incredible stage presence while keeping the rhythm locked down. I love getting to see electronic artists with live drummers, because it's a completely different listening experience, not just sonically, but also because the temporal subdivisions are so much more noticeable and impactful a lot of the time. For their brief time on stage, TR/ST made a great first live impression, and I'm hoping they return to the area in the future.

AFI's set began with the back-to-back punch of "Strength Through Wounding" and "Girl's Not Grey," which immediately sent the crowd into a frenzy and got their set started on the right note. From the moment they stepped on stage, the band had the entire audience in the palm of their hand, with everyone singing every word to every song and reciprocating the same energy that the band was displaying during their performance. Whether it was a fast-paced banger like "The Lost Souls" or a more mellow track like "Silver and Cold," the audience was along for the ride every step of the way.

AFI is easily one of the most unpredictable bands on the planet, between the long pauses between studio albums and playing a different setlist every single night they're on tour, so it's fun to speculate what songs will be played each night. The opening and closing handfuls of tracks are relatively the same night after night, but the fun begins in the middle section, with the band switching out deep cuts and fan favorites so frequently that no show is ever the same. They always do a great job of balancing new tracks with older hits and classics, with some highlights for this show including "The Missing Frame" from 2006's Decemberunderground and VOIDWARD, I BEND BACK from their new album Silver Bleeds the Black Sun..., but I think the biggest standout had to be the performance of the 33-second punk rager "Hearts Frozen Solid, Thawed Once More by the Spring of Rage, Despair, and Hopelessness," which hadn't been performed live since 2018. It's such a rare track that it hasn't been played live more than once in a calendar year since 2003, so for Myrtle Beach to get that moment was incredible.

With AFI having been a band for almost 35 years now, and this specific lineup being together since 1997, it's fair to assume that they'd have slowed down a little bit by now since they're getting older and have been at it for a long time. Despite their musical maturation over the years, their live performance is just as energetic as you'd expect, with each member constantly moving around the stage with the same ferocity that they had in their early years — if Adam Carson wasn't restricted to sitting behind the drum set, I'm confident he'd be pacing around with the rest of the band. While some fans may voice concerns about the band getting older in age, the band proves that their age isn't a factor in their live shows, because they haven't lost a step. Even with this being my first time seeing them live, it still felt like seeing the same band that I grew up idolizing, and not a group that was once great but slowed down as their career continued.

AFI Setlist:

1. Strength Through Wounding
2. Girl's Not Grey
3. Love Like Winter
4. Behind the Clock
5. The Lost Souls
6. End Transmission
7. The Missing Frame
8. Hearts Frozen Solid, Thawed Once More by the Spring of Rage, Despair, and Hopelessness
9. VOIDWARD, I BEND BACK
10. 17 Crimes
11. Holy Visions
12. The Boy Who Destroyed the World
13. Blasphemy & Excess
14. I Hope You Suffer
15. Silver And Cold
16. The Days of the Phoenix
17. Miss Murder

I've been to a lot of concerts this year, and getting to finally see AFI live is easily one of my biggest 2025 highlights. The setlist was just as epic as their performance on stage, and the energy from the crowd was contagious. This was AFI's first show in Myrtle Beach since 2009, and I hope it's not another 16 years before they return to the area.

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