Half Alive introduce Persona at Showbox SoDo
The solo artist, Mehro (pronounced like “Marrow”), opened up the night for The Walters and Half Alive at the Showbox Sodo. Bedroom alt indie and heartfelt lyrics combined to bring a sort of mystical yet very natural and down-to-earth feeling I miss from the punk scene I come from. Mehro brought us in with his soft and dreamy vocals, instantly captivating the audience and creating a moody atmosphere. Throughout the set, I kept noticing his electric guitar. Pretty soon, Mehro switched over to give us a heavier, more upbeat half of the set. Playing one of his newer releases, “Lady Parts and Mannequins,” Mehro managed to naturally end the set on a 180 compared to his opening song.
The Walters might be best known for their TikTok stardom thanks to the song “I Love You So,” but I wouldn’t have known that by listening to their music. The Walters craft such a soft and homey indie pop sound that sounds so unapologetically personal. Each song felt so intimate and had so much emotion behind each line of the song. I felt like each song was a reflection of not only the experiences someone else had, but I noticed myself reminiscing on my own experiences, and I’m sure the audience was doing the same. I found myself surrounded by couples slow dancing to many of their songs when I was in the pit, and during their faster songs, The Walters knew how to put on a show. They laughed and danced together and clearly just had a good time over the music they wrote and played together. Their friendship is clearly shown on stage and in their music.
Half Alive is currently on their biggest headlining tour yet. The Persona world tour features all the creative elements from the band’s album, music videos, and, of course, the music, put together in one giant spectacle on stage. Before even appearing on stage, the monsters from the Persona album cover appeared, giving us a short interpretive performance that left the audience wondering what would happen next. The band soon came out, and the crowd was ecstatic. I found myself taking pictures and bumping my head naturally to the music.
The song “Automatic” stood out to me, as the lights and music timed together to stop and bring out the dancing right from the beginning of the set. Pretty soon into the set, the band used the levels brought out to fill the set in a way that each piece of the band felt like they could be their own show. Dancers soon came out and accompanied the rest of the album, and made the set feel like straight out of a music video. The entire experience felt so ethereal and epic, I couldn’t help but put my camera down for a few songs and just experience music I hadn’t heard of before and just live the moment.
