Anaheim Got the Real Bill: Inside The Spring Horizons Tour at House of Blues

Posted on April 30, 2026 by Rockstar Culture in Concert Reviews // 0 Comments

▣House of Blues Anaheim | Anaheim, CA ▣Sunday, April 26th 2026
▣Photographer/Journalist: Jason Jackson

The Amity Affliction, August Burns Red, Boundaries, and Heavensgate brought a four-band metalcore stack to a sold-out room and every band on it earned the room they had.

By the time Heavensgate hit the first note at House of Blues Anaheim on Sunday night, the floor was already locked in. That’s the tell on a stacked package tour — when the openers don’t play to a half-full room because nobody wanted to risk missing them. The Spring Horizons Tour pulled into Anaheim coming off a Saturday night at SOMA San Diego, and it showed. The bands were tight, the room was ready, and the bill was the kind that makes you remember why people still drive out to a Sunday show on a school night.

This was the thirteenth date of a North American co-headlining run between The Amity Affliction and August Burns Red, with Boundaries and Heavensgate in support. Four bands, no filler. The kind of bill that keeps the genre honest.

A vocalist passionately performing on stage with a microphone during a live concert, illuminated by stage lights.

Heavensgate Walked Out First – And Refused to Be an Opener
This was Heavensgate’s first U.S. tour, which is a fact worth sitting with for a second. The Melbourne five-piece is fresh off their 2025 EP A Heart Is A Heavy Burden on Pure Noise Records, and on paper they were the lowest spot on a four-band run. In practice, they played like a band that knew the audience hadn’t heard of them yet and intended to fix that in twenty-five minutes.

Vocalist Nazareth Tharatt is the obvious focal point, but the entire band moves with a kind of purpose that’s uncommon for a group this early in their U.S. presence. Their sound pulls from modern hardcore and metalcore in roughly equal measure, with a willingness to lean into atmospheric texture that gives the heavier sections somewhere to fall from. The breakdowns landed because they didn’t show up by default.

The build-ups had patience. Australian heavy music is having a real moment internationally right now, and Heavensgate looked like a band fully aware they’re part of that conversation. By the end of their set, a noticeable section of the crowd was watching with the body language of people who’d just figured out they need to go listen to something on the way home.

Boundaries Is the Reason Hardcore Is Still Healthy
Boundaries took the stage second, and the temperature shift in the room was immediate. The Hartford, Connecticut five-piece – fronted by Matt McDougal, with Kevin Stevens on drums, Brandon Breedlove on bass, and the guitar pairing of Zadak Brooks and Cory Emond – recently signed with Sumerian Records and released the single “Skies Cast Amber Black” in March. They are operating in a different gear than they were even a year ago.

Their set pulled across catalog without leaning too hard on any one record. “Carve” still hits the same way it did in 2020. “Heaven’s Broken Heart” still has that specific kind of low-end weight that makes the room shift forward. The newer material sat next to the older songs without anything feeling out of place, which is the test most bands fail when they’re transitioning between labels and eras.

McDougal’s vocals carry the band, but Boundaries’ real weapon is the rhythm section – bass and drums playing as one unit, opening up just enough space for the guitar work to move. Heavy, but never sluggish. Aggressive, but with intent. The pit during their set was the first real two-step of the night, and it stayed open.

This is a band that has been earning the slot they’re in for several years. Sunday night made the case that they’re not going to be a support act forever.

Guitarist performing on stage during a concert with dramatic lighting and a drum set in the background.

August Burns Red Is Twenty-Three Years In and Still the Bar
August Burns Red walked out to a room that had already been worked into shape, and they took advantage of it. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania five-piece -Jake Luhrs on vocals, JB Brubaker and Brent Rambler on guitars, Dustin Davidson on bass, and Matt Greiner on drums – has been doing this since 2003. There is no version of an ABR set in 2026 that isn’t tight. The question every tour is what they’re going to bring to it.

The answer this run is new music. Going into the tour, the band confirmed they’d be debuting songs from their forthcoming tenth studio album, and Anaheim got those alongside the catalog staples. “Composure” did what “Composure” does – opened the floor up immediately. “Paramount,” “Bloodletter,” and “Marianas Trench” sat in the middle of the set. “White Washed” closed it. The sequencing worked because it always works, but more importantly the new material held up next to the older stuff without an obvious drop in energy.

A musician passionately performing on stage, wearing a camouflage outfit and a cap, holding a microphone stand while singing.

Brubaker’s playing is one of the most underrated technical performances in the genre, and you can watch his hands for the duration of a set without getting bored. Greiner behind the kit is in a class of his own – he’s still pulling off the kind of patterns that other drummers in the genre are figuring out how to imitate two records later. Luhrs is comfortable in the role he’s been in for two decades, which lets the band move freely without him having to perform leadership.
Twenty-three years in, August Burns Red is still operating as the technical and structural reference point for American metalcore. That isn’t nostalgia. It’s just accurate.
The Amity Affliction Came Home

The Amity Affliction has called the United States their “second home” for years, and Joel Birch has gone on record saying this tour has been a long time in the works. The Australian band – Birch on unclean vocals, Ahren Stringer on bass and clean vocals, Dan Brown on guitar, Jon Longobardi on drums — closed the night, and the room had clearly been waiting.

Their set leaned heavily on the catalog they’re known for. “Soak Me in Bleach” opened. “It’s Hell Down Here” hit hard. “Don’t Lean on Me” landed where it always lands. “Open Letter” got the response it always gets. They closed on “Pittsburgh,” which is what you do when you’re closing a show in 2026 and you want the room to leave with their voices gone.

What separates Amity from a lot of bands working in their space is that the heaviness isn’t the point – it’s the vehicle. The lyrics are the point. Birch has spent the better part of two decades writing about depression, addiction, suicide, and grief in a way that doesn’t flinch and doesn’t moralize. When the crowd sings every word back, they’re not just singing along to a song they like. They’re holding the lyrics up because the lyrics did something for them. That’s the contract Amity has built with their audience, and it’s why they sell out rooms two decades in.

Stringer’s clean vocals are still the secret weapon. The contrast between Birch’s screams and Stringer’s choruses is the band’s entire architecture, and on Sunday it sounded as locked-in as it has on any record they’ve put out.

The Spring Horizons Tour continues through May 17, wrapping at The Fillmore Philadelphia. Don’t miss it!

Check out our contributor photographer, Jason Jackson photos now!