Vacations and Last Dinosaurs: an Epic Night in Houston

Music, movies, and Buc-ee’s. These three words describe the first Texas show on Vacations’ and Last Dinosaurs’ double headliner tour, TOURZILLA, at White Oak Music Hall.

For most of the shows I’ve been to this year, the opener would be one or two people performing an acoustic set. I was caught by surprise when a six-piece band came on stage and introduced themselves as Bathe Alone.

Bathe Alone is an indie-rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, fronted by Bailey Crone. Their use of synths, along with Crone’s soft yet moving vocals, added a shoegaze element to their performance. Creating an ambiance of sound.

Their set included songs from their second project, Fall With the Lights Down, along with “Gemini” their latest single, and an unreleased song titled “Archive 81,” which comes out November 3rd of this year.

Bathe Alone had fantastic energy, getting the night off to a great start.

During the set change, the audience was captivated by panels on the back of the stage as they showed the classic DVD idle screen. The crowd all watched in anticipation as the logo bounced around, and once it hit the corner, everyone went crazy. Then, we were graced with a giant picture of Buc-ee. This led to a solid minute of cheering as Last Dinosaurs appeared and began playing “Afterlife.”

They performed older songs that everyone sang along to, like “Sunday Nights” and “Shallow Boy.” Some personal favorites of theirs are “Auto-Sabotage” and “Andy,” so I’m glad I got to see those performed live.

What was enjoyed about the set was Last Dinosaurs’ ability to keep things interesting. They went from the slow new grooves of “Flying”, to a heavy rock moment that led into an entire disco medley.

Last Dinosaurs closed their set on a high with “Zoom.” The song got everyone dancing and ready for the final act of the night, Vacations.

Before Vacations‘ set, they played an anti-pirating ad, continuing with the movie theme. They came out playing “Next Exit,” the first single from their upcoming album No Place Like Home.

They performed all fan favorites, such as “Young” and “Telephones,” but no matter what came next, the crowd was always there to sing along.

Vacations ended their set with “Midwest” making the lyrics “Cause I miss you//And I don’t want you to go,” hit so much harder after such an amazing performance.

Thankfully, they returned to the stage for an encore with “Lavender.” The crowd went wild as the night came to an end.

One thing that made the show so special was the energy in the crowd. There were people starting chants and others dancing in the balcony along with the countless interactions with all the acts.

The night’s “movie” theme was fitting because that is exactly what TOURZILLA felt like.