American Football

American Football is the Urbana, Illinois midwest-emo institution—Mike Kinsella and company—whose 1999 self-titled debut, Never Meant, The Summer Ends, and Pitchfork-canon reissue put the most influential album in the genre on Rolling Stone’s emo list before a 15-year reunion, LP2, LP3, Hayley Williams collabs, and 2026’s LP4 on Polyvinyl with sold-out world tours and 1.1 million monthly Spotify listeners. Polyvinyl calendars track the evolution for rooms that want real indie craft, not soft soft-background emo wallpaper. Never meant energy, still American Football every single night on the road and stage worldwide.

Expect midwest-emo heat when American Football hits the stage—Never Meant fire, not a random open-mic football karaoke.