Forum Bound: Haim Heads Home with the I Quit Tour – LAmag

The Valley-raised sister trio perform in Los Angeles on Oct. 9

Eight days before the start of the I Quit Tour, Haim is still figuring out its set list.  

“It’s 24 songs, but I think it might be cut down,” Alana Haim divulges to Los Angeles. “I wouldn’t quote me on that. It’s a lot because this is our fourth album, so we’re trying to fit as many songs as we can.”  

Alana, Danielle and Este Haim —known collectively and professionally as the rock band Haim (pronounced HY-im) — kicked off summer with the release of I Quit, a 15-track self-reclamation manifesto turbocharged, in particular, by being freed from draining relationships. The new LP comes five years after the band’s acclaimed third album, Women in Music Pt. III, for which Haim became the first all-female rock group ever to earn a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.  

The sisters are on the road this fall in support of I Quit, taking the Los Angeles natives across the U.S. and around the U.K. by the end of October, with a Halloween finale set for Glasgow. The North American leg wraps on Oct. 11 in Santa Barbara, just ahead of the Oct. 17 theatrical release of The Mastermind, in which Alana stars alongside Josh O’Connor.  

“We made a very long album, and I think we always just have a lot of fun taking our old songs and refreshing them to fit into this new album,” Alana says. “It’s constantly changing. We had a set list yesterday, and then it got changed this morning.”  

When the I Quit Tour kicks off on Sept. 4 in Philadelphia, the band has curated a 21-song performance that celebrates their latest album, while also making room for fan favorites like “My Song 5,” “Gasoline,” “The Wire” and “Want You Back.”  

The show begins with “Gone,” the I Quit opener powered by a “Freedom! ‘90” sample. “I’ll do whatever I want… Now I’m gone, quick as a gunshot,” sings Danielle, who —ahead of the tour — namechecks the song as the new track she most looks forward to performing.  

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Este favors “Relationships,” during which the text of bad relationship stories unfurled on screen while they played a string of summer shows overseas. The camaraderie of dating nightmares continues with the headlining tour, for which the band has asked fans to send their own experiences via Instagram DM for the chance to be the nightly “Relationships girl,” a moment during the song that the camera zeroes in on a dancing fan — middle fingers up, encouraged. Night one of the tour featured their mom, Donna Haim. 

“I feel like this whole album cycle, we’ve really opened up about our dating horror stories, and it’s just honestly extremely comforting to know that all of our fans, have gone through similar, if not even crazier, circumstances when it comes to dating,” Alana says. 

Amid the catharsis and connection, Haim delivers an expert rock show. Creating one, after all, is their favorite part of the album cycle process. “This album is so rock forward,” Alana explains. “It really was just bass, guitar, drums and then going from there. So, translating it from album to stage has been the greatest joy because it’s just so effortless. So, we’re really trying to showcase melting your face off.” 

Credit: Heidi Stanton

Haim brings the I Quit Tour to Los Angeles on Oct. 9 at the Kia Forum, one of the venues the sisters didn’t sneak into while growing up in the Valley. That was reserved for places like the old Universal Amphitheatre and Hollywood Bowl, where they played on their last headlining tour.  

“I’ve been to so many shows at the Bowl throughout my life. There were moments on our set,” Danielle remembers of the 2022 show, “it felt like everyone was on their feet. And that, to me, was huge because it’s such a huge venue… That was a real accomplishment.” 

“It’s such an honor to play the Forum,” Alana also says. “We were lucky enough to see Prince play the Forum, and to be able to play in the same place that I saw Prince — it hasn’t really hit me yet.” 

Haim has long touted The Purple One as an inspiration. Following Prince’s sudden death, the trio paid homage with an electric “I Would Die 4 U” cover during their tour throughout the late spring of 2016. They also point to his influence on their use of drums and variety of genres. “When we saw him perform, it felt like we were watching an alien,” Este remembers. “It just didn’t make sense how talented he was. Just he felt so otherworldly and like we were watching something so [of the] future.” 

Second time may be the charm for Haim. In 2020, following the release of WIMP III, the band was supposed to headline at the Forum. When live music came to a halt because of the onset of COVID-19, they instead set the music video for “Don’t Wanna” in the venue parking lot, which sees the sisters walking, then running, across the arena parking lot.  

“We were born and raised in L.A., and we would play in the Valley to like two people,” Alana says. “Now, on our fourth album, to play the Forum is insane, and we’re just forever grateful that we have the opportunity to do it.”