GALLERY & REVIEW | half alive, The Walters & mehro by Grace Forrester

With only being three shows deep, half alive’s Persona World Tour was in full swing this past week at the House of Blues in Dallas, Texas. Having mehro and The Walters opening the night, half alive performed an incredible headline set full of new and old songs, along with their signature choreographed dances to accompany them. Bringing out surprise guests, performing unreleased tracks, and much more, this show was truly one to remember.

Although mehro’s opening set was short, they packed so much with such little time. Bassist Callen O’Brien and drummer Jack Maitra were nothing but smiles and mehro put his all in his vocals. Personally only being able to catch their last two songs, it was clear to see the crowd liked them from the start as their last song “You’re So Pretty” left both the pit and the balcony in loud applause.

Next up to bat were The Walters. Their set was nothing short of chaotic fun, full of beer chugging, funky dance moves, and all around being a menace in the best way possible. Playing their viral hit “I Love You So” brought out big reactions from the crowd, among other songs such as “Sweet Marie”, “Fancy Shoes”, and “Goodbye Baby”.

As the stage hands dressed in matching jumpsuits started putting together the set for the main act of the night, from the design alone the crowd was in for something special. Multiple blue velvet stairs and a thick blue carpet covered the stage in its entirety, along with tall white pillars on the left-hand side. After one particular crew member spent a few minutes before the show to vacuum the rugs and stairs (and somehow hyping up the crowd in the process), the dim lights slowly turned to glow an orange hue as the monster characters for half alive’s newest release Persona (2025) made their way on the stage, reaching out for each other as the instrumental for the album’s title track played behind them. Going in for a soft embrace and looking over the crowd, they slowly make their way off stage, waving to the venue as the band immediately takes their place to jump right into “Sophie’s House”.

Although half alive’s music and sound quality has been strong and consistent over their multiple albums, the way they present said albums changes and evolves with every release. Relying on interpretive dance choreography for many portions of their performance, most of their first and second album relied on the band to both dance and perform. This time around, frontman Josh Taylor partners with new dancers Emma Sutherland and Casey Murray while the band takes more of a backseat. Watching all them being so in sync was mesmerizing, especially during the dance intermission between Emma and Casey alone.

Towards the middle of the set, the band slowed things down with an acoustic set, including a few songs such as “Beige” “Hot Tea” and “Thank You” just to name a few. Hearing some of these songs in such a different way than their album’s counterparts gave them a whole new meaning while also pulling on the heartstrings. This didn’t last long as they picked right back up with one of Conditions of a Punk (2022) singles “Did I Make You Up?”. Ending the night with some of their biggest hits “Still Feel” and “Runaway”, both band and dancers gave their last bows to the screaming crowd, capping the end to one incredible night.

HALF ALIVE

THE WALTERS

MEHRO

All photos: © Grace Forrester