The Amity Affliction rose from coastal Queensland with confessional metalcore, while August Burns Red forged precision riffs in Pennsylvania. Recent shifts frame this run: Jake Luhrs returned to ABR in 2022 after a break, and TAA moved forward with a touring drummer after Joe Longobardi exited in 2023. Expect a tight blend of era staples and newer cuts, with anchors like Pittsburgh, Soak Me in Bleach, Composure, and Invisible Enemy.
Two paths, one heavy thread
The floor tends to split between pit movers and chorus shouters near the rail, with mid-30s veterans next to first-timers who learned the hooks online. You will see friends trading earplugs, drummers air-counting fills, and folks giving quick taps to clear space when someone stumbles. Trivia heads note ABR’s annual
Christmas Burns Red hometown bash, while TAA’s earliest EPs spread through all-ages halls on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Production usually favors punchy mids so harsh and clean vocals sit together without mud.
What the room feels like
All setlist picks and staging notes here are educated guesses, and the night itself may pivot.
Culture in the Pit: The Amity Affliction and August Burns Red
What people wear and sing
You will see lots of black tees and worn sneakers, plus patched jackets and the occasional rugby jersey nodding to TAA’s Aussie roots. Many fans clock the gang-vocal moments, like the held line in
Pittsburgh or the drum count into
Composure, timing finger points rather than shouting nonstop. Circle pits form and fade without drama, with quick hand signals and tap-outs keeping things safe.
Traditions in motion
Merch skews to long-sleeves with big back prints; ABR’s holiday pieces show up even out of season, and TAA’s minimalist designs move fast. Between sets, people trade stories from the 2010s metalcore boom while newer fans compare playlist finds with parents who came back for this pairing. After the final chorus, it feels like a community check-in as folks trade highlights and promise to link up at the next heavy night.
Pulse and Precision: The Amity Affliction and August Burns Red
Hooks and haymakers
The Amity Affliction balance
Joel Birch roaring through verses while
Ahren Stringer lifts choruses, so songs jump from grit to release fast. Guitars favor low tunings for weight but keep chords open so the hooks breathe, and live they sometimes stretch a pre-chorus to make the drop hit harder.
August Burns Red lean on
Matt Greiner for laser timing and the twin-guitar talk between
JB Brubaker and
Brent Rambler to turn knotty riffs into singable shapes. A small live habit: ABR will push certain breakdowns slightly faster than on record so the pit snaps, then settle back so the chorus chant locks in.
Tiny choices, big impact
Another quiet tweak: TAA may drop a chorus key or roll back gain to let Ahren’s melody cut through a boomy room. Expect color-blocked washes and strobe hits tied to kick patterns, with smoke used as an accent, not a crutch. Solos stay melodic, bass glues the groove instead of chasing guitars, and the vocal remains the anchor even when drums and leads get busy.
Kindred Riffs: The Amity Affliction and August Burns Red
If this is on your playlist
Fans of
Parkway Drive will connect with the mix of muscular breakdowns and big-chorus catharsis both bands chase.
Architects share the melodic-scream balance and modern polish, attracting lyric-first listeners alongside riff hunters. If resilience-forward anthems and drilled rhythm sections are your thing,
The Ghost Inside sits in a similar lane. Classic metalcore devotees who crave gallop riffs and clean hooks will feel at home with
Killswitch Engage, whose crowd energy mirrors ABR’s precision pits.
Shared DNA, different accents
Taken together, these artists live on the same festival rows where technical bite trades off with singable lines. Each brings a slightly different tilt, so the overlap is less about subgenre tags and more about how the shows land in your chest.
