American Football is not a Nostalgia Act on their No Feeling Tour

There is a slight worry in seeing a band like American Football touring in 2026 as their music has been the cornerstone in the Midwest emo genre to any diehard fan of the genre. For some reason felt like it would be hard to reproduce their adolescence from over 20 years ago, with the college house and records that barely sold before the band walked away from their project. 27 years after the release of their debut self-titled record, and 12 years after their reunion, it would be easy for a concert to become more of an out of touch museum tour through their past. 

But on their Nashville stop earlier this month, it never really did. 

American Football opened with “Man Overboard,” the intro from their latest record and first album in 7 years, that almost felt perverse as I’m sure most of the audience had spent years waiting to hear “Never Meant.” Instead of reaching back and starting with the most familiar, they started with their new work with a jam led by drummer Steve Lamos building the track up. Hearing this opener showed me that the band wasn’t leaning into the conditions that made their early music a cult classic today. 

That difference matters because their new work focuses more on a post-rock sound with some jazz influences rather than solely psychedelic-esque riffs. My favorite track I heard while up front was “I Can’t Feel You” highlighting an outro lead by drums and bright vocals, reminding me somewhat of a Massive Attack track with the cinematic style. 

The structure of the setlist not leading chronologically with American Football’s new record work acting as a detour to their more acclaimed work was what impressed me the most overall. While still having their latest record at the core with “Blood on My Blood” or “Wake Her Up,” they worked their way through all eras of hits without making the new material feel like an appendix to their discography. 

As they worked towards their closer, everyone was eventually waiting to hear “Never Meant” at some point or another, with nearly a mythical reputation following the song as it acted as shorthand for entire eras of indie and emo music to follow. Yet hearing it as the end of their main set in the context of all their other material stripped back some nostalgia, and it was easier to see how that spirit was something the band kept with them decades later.  

That seemed to be the most compelling thing about American Football’s No Feeling tour, in that their influence is obvious, but they aren’t performing as though they’re interested in their own influence. That’s where the audience comes into play with nostalgia. 

The encore proved that point almost comically well as they played 4 songs and closed with “Bad Moons.” Truly closing with “Bad Moons” rather than “Never Meant” was a confident decision. The former is such an uncomfortable, and albeit long song about the wreckage of being an adult, with its narrative giving way to an impressive jam that proved to fill the room much more than the legendary lyrics and riff from “Never Meant” ever could.  

That closer also highlights what makes their new record so important in the band’s story. Their first album was made by college kids who could not have known their indie record would have become foundational for a genre they never meant to reinvent. Their show today was not holding onto that at all, which is why I think calling them a nostalgia act like The Lemon Twigs (love their records though!) isn’t fair. Nostalgia wants to keep the past intact whereas American Football keeps manipulating with it. 

At this show, the old songs were still there. Enough that all it took was a couple chords of “Never Meant” for the audience to recognize it. But around those bestsellers were songs about damaged relationships and self-destruction and the possibility and feasibility of starting over, a perspective they couldn’t have produced back in 1999. 

For a band whose most famous record was written before many of its current listeners (including me) were born, American Football has avoided being trapped inside it as they continue to move. And at their rather hot stop at Marathon here in Nashville, they made a convincing argument that growing older has not diminished what made them impactful in the first place. It has finally given them more to write about.