Taking to the stage at Brooklyn Steel on the cold and rainy final Friday in April was half•alive, but the mood was anything but gloomy inside the venue. Previously performing on smaller stages like Webster Hall, it felt like the band was putting on a grandiose display. However despite the larger stage of Brooklyn Steel, the production felt smaller and more intimate. Through the years, though, the crowd’s excitement has never changed – always overflowing onto the stage and through the halls.
Breaking up the concert into sections so that you walk through different seasons, you could feel the emotion that half•alive has poured into the Conditions of a Punk tour. This was the band’s opportunity to put their heart on their sleeve and leave it there, especially with this era having been described as the breaking and mending of a heart and and the realigning of a soul. We were far from the only people in the room who walked out feeling better than we did when we walked in. Feeling the joy circulate throughout venue was almost therapeutic and half•alive were certainly feeling the love as the crowd erupted into cheers lasting at least a minute during the concert, preventing the band from continuing (but no one was complaining).
The band has added dance and movement into their performances – something few touring acts do – and it takes their shows from simply a concert, to an experience. The feelings that singer Josh Taylor was unable to express in words or sound, was expressed through movement with the help of two dancers. It was an inspiring spectacle that left you unable to rip your eyes away for fear of missing even a second.
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Photos by Grace Prachthauser
