half•alive @ Roadrunner 4/11
Photography by Madison Kahler
Review by Ashley Duong
half•alive, an alternative-rock band hailing from Long Beach, California, took the stage at the 3,500-person capacity venue Roadrunner in Boston, Mass. on April 11. The eleventh show on their “Persona” world tour was a dynamic show of moving parts—one reliant on artistry, storytelling, and one that kept the crowd insatiable.
I’ve previously seen half•alive in Boston twice, once in 2021 when they opened for Twenty One Pilots and again on their “Conditions of a Punk” tour in 2023. Needless to say, my expectations were high and my excitement was uncanny.
The show opened with performances from mehro and The Walters, two openers of the alternative/indie genre. After a blackout, a low synth hum, and a rumble, the all-too familiar puppets from the “Persona” album cover art took the stage, waving to the crowd and eliciting enthusiastic cheering. The two puppets pointed at each other and then shareed a moment, touching hands and reflecting each other’s movements, a subtle foreshadowing of the story this concert hoped to tell. After a brief hug, the lights flashed to accompany the band walking on stage to perform “Sophie’s House,” a single off of “Persona” and an invigorating opener, with its cathartic chorus and groovy bassline. It was followed by familiar fan favorites, “Summerland” and “The Fall.”
“Boston, Boston, Boston… I’ve been looking forward to this one,” said Josh Taylor, the lead singer. He was dressed in an all-red tracksuit, and the bassist J. Tyler Johnson and drummer Brett Kramer had similar, matching red jackets. They stood in front of a large grey curtain with a tall, square platform behind them and four rectangular towers with moving spotlights to the right of them.
As half•alive performed their newer set, I felt like I was experiencing a new version of them and their show’s production. Between the prominent drumming and Taylor crowd surfing in “Automatic” and the lighting momentarily switching to red during “Bleed it Out”’s lyrics, it was clear that there was a mountain of care that the band put into performing each song, wanting to make each one its own individual experience.
And much of a half•alive concert experience, as long-time fans know, is attributed to their dancers. Unlike other concerts, where backup dancers support the lead singer and add to the performance, the dancers at the half•alive concert are the performance, bringing the songs’ stories to life. Like how the light fixtures to the right of the stage and the matching outfits helped tell a story of reflection, conflict, and growth, the dancers told the stories by dancing with the lead singer and reflecting the lyrics through their movements. During “Long Drive,” the dancers emulated the lyrics, showcasing the protagonist’s desire to overcome overwhelming emotional feelings through escaping with a long drive. It felt as if the song was accompanying the dancers, not the other way around. The dance interlude afterwards allowed the audience to see just how talented the dancers were, standing alone, telling a story about synchronicity, control, balance, and power with only their movements and the sound of a ticking clock.
After a cover of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver, and a stripped-down mashup with “beige,” “hot tea,” and “creature,” Taylor went straight into “Thank You” from their newest album. It was during this slower song that I realized that I’m not sure what Taylor is. On paper, he’s the lead singer, a front man, yet seeing him on his stage perplexes me, because I’ve never seen someone excel in live storytelling the way he does. He dances with the dancers while he sings every lyric with grit and meaning, an act that looks nearly impossible. Afterwards, he tells a short speech about how special live music is, because for one night, we get to share a moment together in a singular room: I wonder if he knows that the love he pours into his performance is what makes this moment so special.
An undeniable and unexpected favorite of the night was an unreleased song titled “Tears in the Rain.” It had a musical storyline, one with a prominent bassline and a captivating lyrical and melodic chorus, that held me in a trance that I haven’t been able to break out of since.
To end the show, the band played “RIP” featuring the lead singer from The Walters, who was radiating an immense amount of joy—an emotion you can’t help but feel from a half•alive concert. It was followed by “still feel” and “RUNAWAY,” two classics from their discography. During “still feel,” Taylor threw his microphone off stage with a huge smile on his face, exploding into a final dance break and proving the truly dynamic nature of this show, one reliant on moving parts with the greatest payoff imaginable. And to close off the show, one about reflections and changing personas, the entire band and dancers ended in the same exact pose—a meaningful image resonant of unity in such a dynamic show.
This wasn’t a show, but a story about reflections and personas, that throughout life, you will meet new versions of yourself that may seem eerily familiar or distant. Half•alive has a way of sharing such a vulnerable message that anybody can relate to. I think that’s why I keep coming back to them—in hopes of understanding how they continue creating this intimate space, and if I never find the answer, I will do the next best thing: experiencing a half•alive concert.