Photo Credit: Caitlin Mellors
Returning to the UK in support of their ninth record ‘House of Cards’, Australian metalcore quartet The Amity Affliction ensured their venture back to Nottingham was for another packed show at the iconic Rock City. The band are no strangers to bringing a stacked line-up of support acts along for the ride, and their 2026 UK tour was no different to previous visits, but this time with much more ferocity and new material under their belts.
Philly based metal rising stars Varials served as the second act of the night, and clearly thriving off of the energy that openers Orthodox left behind, the Fearless Records band quickly made their stance from the moment they stepped on stage. Keeping the barrier security busy as people began crowd surfing early into the set, the quartet churned out a large portion of their new album ‘Where the Light Leaves’ to much of the Nottingham crowds delight. For those who were not familiar with Varials by this point are now well equipped with enough knowledge to know what to expect the next time they cross the pond with a new bunch of fans secured on the night.
California metal band Silent Planet are no strangers to the UK crowds. Having toured relentlessly over the last decade on this side of the pond, their main support slot had everything and more. Almost ten years on since that last performance in the city, the band’s presence certainly didn’t go ignored, in fact, Silent Planet ensured that they were more than heard. A set filled with gut-wrenching screams and heavy riffs saw the Rock City floor almost flip with the amount of stage divers that quickly poured over the barrier. Tracks from their 2023 release ‘Superbloom’, heavily featured, while standalone singles ‘Mindframe‘ and ‘Wick‘ prove that material aside from their split release with Invent Animate is soon to be unveiled in a more complete sense. Vocalist Garrett Russell doesn’t shy away from his political views, to much of the Rock City crowds agreement, unity played a huge part in their 45-minute set. Capping off their return to Nottingham with ‘Trilogy‘, a headline performance would certainly be a welcomed one when the time comes.
As the lights dimmed across Rock City, the Nottingham crowd erupted in cheers as The Amity Affliction made their way onto the stage. Unleashing into their 15-song set with fan favourite ‘Pittsburgh‘, it was lift off for everyone in the room. Folk were being launched over the barrier within seconds, while Joel Birch was up on his platform high fiving those who grabbed his attention while delivering those blood curdling deep vocals that have become more and more vicious as the years go by. The transition from Birch’s roars to Jonathan Reeves’ elegant clean vocals keeps their audiences singing along and awaiting any given opportunity to match the guitarists’ voice. Nottingham was no exception. Wasting no time in chatting between songs, Amity ensured to deliver as much as they could in the time they had. ‘Drag the Lake‘ and ‘Like Love‘ followed next before some ‘House of Cards‘ material soon came around. Back to back with ‘Bleed‘ and ‘Heaven Sent‘, the album’s sixth month mark was the perfect time to allow their UK fans to become familiar with the fresh tunes, and they certainly didn’t disappoint with their participation.
Continuing with even more Amity stapes, ‘It’s All Hell Down Here‘, ‘All My Friends Are Dead‘ and the crowd chosen ‘Chasing Ghosts’ gave fans of all eras to join in for something, that being said, Amity‘s fanbase are very known to worship everything they have released thus far. The more stripped back ‘Fucked Up’ was a pleasing break from the sheer ruthlessness that the band are known for in their sound, nonetheless, the Rock City crowd relished the breather in terms of energy but still made their voices heard as they sang the track word for word and as loud as they possibly could. As ‘Kickboxer‘ concluded the ‘House of Cards‘ tracks, it was time for two more songs to see off the night. 2025’s standalone single ‘All That I Remember‘ followed by fan favourite ‘Death’s Hand‘ allowed the band and audience to take a moment to breath and collect themselves before the eventual encore.
The Amity Affliction re-entered the stage for the final song of the night, and in typical fashion, it was ‘Soak Me in Bleech‘ that rounded off the night. Rock City has become a regular stop for the band over the last decade, but this was easily their most triumphant display in the UK to date. Covering all eras of the last fourteen years, while still maintaining their signature sound in parts, the evolution of the band showcases that there are no signs of slowing down just yet.
