Stage AE in Pittsburgh was awash with lights and sound Monday, October 7th as Half Alive took the stage for a performance on their fall tour. The tour follows the release of the band’s debut album “Now, Not Yet” which dropped in August. Half Alive began in 2017 with the release of the EP “3” and has since amassed 28 million views on the “still feel.” music video, which released in August of 2018 and has gained 1,711,294 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Opening the show was Los Angeles based band Sure Sure who warmed up the crowd with some dancing instructions during their song “Hands Up Head Down.” Dancing stayed a solid theme throughout the night as Half Alive is known for interpretive dancing in music videos and on stage and even has two dance members who join lead singer, Josh, for choreographed moments during the show.
The group puts on a truly entertaining experience, combining dance, song and dramatic visuals and lighting to form the ultimate performance. Although the show turn-out was on the smaller side compared to the other shows on their tour, the group still put their all into the performance and interacted with the crowd assigning signing roles to different sections of the venue and teaching a short dance for fans to partake in.
One thing that really made Half Alive stand out to me was their way of showing fan appreciation. While my friends and I only got to the Half Alive show around two and a half hours early, we were still some of the first in line. While waiting, some crew members came out with green wrist bands and explained that as a thank you for showing up early the band was doing a meet and greet after the show for the first 30 or so people in line. I found this to be an extremely amazing way for a band to build a positive relationship with fans, and we were so excited to get to chat with the band after the show. There are a lot of bands who charge fans for meet and greet experiences and there has been backlash about this concept, including from The 1975’s frontman, Matty Healy, who tweeted on the issue this past March. Healy criticized artists for charging fans and monetizing human connection. He made a wonderful point, but then the question is, how can artists still allow chances to mingle with dedicated fans? I think Half Alive’s approach is an amazing way to answer that question.
All in all, this group more than proved their extreme talent and extreme originality. There is no doubt in my mind this group will continue to put out incredible music and grow its loyal fan base worldwide.
*All concert photos were taken by Hadley Stoub (@hadley.stoub.photo on Instagram)!