After listening to him for years, I finally had the opportunity to see Blackbear live and photograph the Dead to the World Tour in Austin, TX.

As soon as the first few singles from Blackbear’s latest album, Anonymous, dropped, I knew I had to see them live. Once the tour was announced, I bought tickets the second they went on sale and waited impatiently for my first Blackbear show.

The first opener, Gashi, was fun and full of energy, but maybe just not my style. The performance was all over the place and it was unclear at first who was actually the performer. However, it seemed as though he was pretty new to touring, so with time I’m sure he’ll put together a great show, there was definitely potential for him to be a great live performer.

Next up was Elohim. I had heard a lot about her from friends, but was very unfamiliar with her music before the show. I was completely mesmerized by her from the beginning. Her setup was fairly simple, but she commanded the stage and had everyone hooked on her unique electronic-pop tracks. I really enjoyed her set and continue to listen to her now, I’ll definitely be out at her next show in town.

When Blackbear came on stage, for a second I honestly forgot that I was supposed to be photographing the show. I was so engrossed in the performance and the elaborate production. It was very obvious that Blackbear is completely in his element on stage, he commanded the audience with every passing second, the crowd singing each lyric so loudly that you could barely hear him.

One thing that I really enjoyed about Blackbear’s set in particular was the setlist. He played the perfect mixture of old songs and tracks from the new album, and even mixed several songs together in order for everyone to hear even just a few little snippets of their old favorites. I think that this was the perfect way to please everyone and introduce listeners to the new music that they might not know as well while still allowing them to feel like they were a part of the show by singing along to the songs they’ve known for years.

I’m sad that it took me this long to be able to see Blackbear live, but after this tour, I definitely know I won’t be missing his live show again!

-Marissa