August Burns Red and The Amity Affliction - The Spring Horizons Tour

Metalcore giants, August Burns Red and The Amity Affliction are teaming up and co-headlining the heavily anticipated and stacked lineup of the "Spring Horizons Tour", bringing along support from Boundaries and Heavensgate.

From the jump, the energy filling and taking over the haze filled air of the Rave in Milwaukee was high intensity. The frenzied crowd embracing every aspect of this metalcore show, sprinkled with the perfect mix of hardcore ruthlessness. Moshing, two-stepping, circle pits, walls of death, and an almost immeasurable number of crowd surfers, overtook the room from start to finish. You could actually feel the pulse of the crowd as you entered the room, like a metronome keeping the attendees in time with every breakdown.

Unfortunately I missed opener Heavensgate, so my night didn't actually begin until Boundaries took the stage. I have been a fan of Boundaries after first seeing them on a Lorna Shore tour a few years ago, and was most excited to see their growth on stage. I was not disappointed. Even though they can dominate much smaller rooms, in that DIY hardcore style, they belong on stages this big. They have that big stage "headliner energy", commanding and directing the crowd, and bringing a wild intensity high energy performance alongside some of the heaviest breakdowns you will witness. I can't wait to see where they go from here, as their new album "Yearnings" is dropping on July 17th, via Sumerian Records.

I loved the stage setup of this tour package. It was a brilliant job of utilizing teamwork across the entirety of the tour, with a shared LED screen backdrop and side panels incorporated into the sides of the drum riser. It was much more efficient than each band bringing their own production, when multiple drum sets are crowding the stage for the openers, and they don't have as much room to work with. It made for a much more cohesive production, with load out/load in times between bands much less, and all bands using the same stage. It was an exemplary decision that really paid off, and one that I personally loved.

August Burns Red was next up, and they were next level. Always consummate professionals, ABR took to the stage and the crowd was an explosion of energy. There was an immediate and continuous waterfall of crowd surfers coming over the barricade, so much so, that frontman Jake Luhrs gave multiple shoutouts to security for keeping everyone safe and even took the time to try and slow things down so that security could have a breather from the relentlessness of the bodies coming at them. The technical prowess of a band like ABR is more than apparent. They play with such precision and power, delivering breakdown after breakdown over their 13 song set. Featuring tracks from 6 different albums, including their latest release "Season of Surrender", and alongside what I can only describe as a "Blue Man Group"-esque drum solo featuring all members of the band, minus Luhrs, lined up on stage with their own drum. It was wildly creative and fun, and the crowd definitely loved it.

The Amity Affliction were closing it out on this night, and to me, it feels so great to see the cohesion and oneness of the band seemingly return to them, not only on the stage, but also in the studio, as this tour coincides with the release of their ninth and newest studio album, "House of Cards", which dropped on April 24th. Through all of the contention, strife, and controversy surrounding The Amity Affliction over the past couple of years, with the dismissal of band founder and co-vocalist Ahren Stringer, I firmly believe that they have come out on the other side of it in a much better place, where all band members are on the same page and have the same goals once again. They seem healthy and happy for the first time in a long time and it shows.

It shows with their newest album, (which is soooo good!) and it shows in their live performance with new addition Jonny Reeves, playing bass and doing clean vocals. Now formerly of Kingdom of GIants, Jonny seems to be the perfect addition to longtime vocalist Joel Birch, guitarist Dan Brown, and drummer Joe Longobardi. Playing 14 songs off of 8 different albums, including 4 off of their newest release, it was an eclectic setlist of singalongs and heavy, heavy breakdowns. The emotional set was in stark contrast to the high energy set of ABR, but that's what is so great about these two bands touring together, and the crowd was absolutely loving it. Both metalcore, both their own styles, both veterans of the scene, and that makes this tour one to bookmark in 2026.

For remaining and future tour dates and tickets, you can visit https://theamityaffliction.net or https://augustburnsred.com

Boundaries

August Burns Red

The Amity Affliction