Blackwater Holylight made their second Texas stop of this tour as they performed on the upstairs stage in Houston’s White Oak Music Hall. While the band hails from Los Angeles via Portland, they recorded their fourth album Not Here Not Gone at Sonic Ranch outside of El Paso, so the back-to-back performances in Austin and Houston had a little bit of familiarity mixed into them.
Before they got going, however, local artist Lavi Bly opened the night playing both of her released songs, “somehow” and “idky”. The performance had that local charm to it as they transitioned to a couple of covers before calling it a night.
Glassing took the stage next and the Austin-based outfit amped things up from the jump until vocalist Dustin Coffman’s microphone died out, causing a slight delay. They toyed with the idea of trudging along without Coffman’s voice, but the crew sorted the situation and Glassing got right back to ripping through their catalogue, including an energetic performance of “Dire” from their 2024 release From The Other Side Of The Mirror. Cory Brim shredded the melodies on his guitar while Scott Osment kept the band firing on all cylinders.
Finally it was time for the headliner, and Blackwater Holylight delivered a show worth the billing. They opened with two tracks off their January release before mixing in the rest of their catalogue. The doom/shoegaze-esque group seemed to find a deeper and deeper groove as they moved through their setlist, especially when they performed “Heavy, Why?”. Vocalist Sunny Faris began her night playing guitar before swapping with Mikayla Mayhew, who started the evening on bass while Katt Garrigan on keys and Eliese Dorsay on drums kept things steady. Another highlight came in their penultimate song, a heavy performance of “Bodies”.
Overall, the night was full of gritty, melodic rock of which the respectful and engaged crowd enjoyed each moment.
Story and photos by Zac Pacleb
