Dallas, You Drank The HolyWatr And Lost Your Mind

HolyWatr + Dallas = Pure Energy. I've had this show on my mind for about six months, eagerly looking froward to seeing HolyWatr live, after seeing them pop up on an Instagram add for our local venue, Trees. I gave them a listen and immediately LOVED them. Thanks Instagram for knowing my music taste so well! Remember how bad the ads used to be? Anyways, I digress.

HolyWatr is based out of Los Angeles, California, and has a gritty, nu-metal, emo, and hardcore vibe. If you've read any of my show reviews before, you may know that I was born and raised in LA and love supporting bands from my hometown, so that makes me love them even more. The band has been growing tremendously thanks to social media, and they've gained over 200k streams on platforms such as Spotify.

The Watr To Wine Tour has sold out or had low tickets for the majority of the tour, and Dallas was no different. For the band’s first headline tour in Dallas, we gave them a jam-packed and sold-out show! The vibe was absolutely an experience — one of my top favorite concerts of the year. Patrick, aka SirMisterHoly on Instagram, was not going to allow Dallas to be a bore, and was calling the shots from the stage. He said crowd surf and we did as he said. There wasn't much room for a circle pit, or the wall of death, but we gave it our best in the sold out venue. The crowd surfing was epic though with people rolling onto the stage left and right.

Okay, before I get too deep into the HolyWatr set, I'm going to give a quick shoutout to the opening acts.

Gloom, from San Antonio, TX, opened up the night, followed by Slow Degrade, from Alabama, and then Dye, a young musician with a quickly growing presence online for his alternative rock songs such as, "DX7." HolyWatr must have a heart for supporting up and coming young bands which is amazing to see. Nobody from the openers looked older than 18-25 years old. What an opportunity to open the stage for such a great band in the alternative rock scene.

Gloom brought the energy, and what felt like all of their friends and fans from San Antonio. They really had an amazing crew of friends that came out to support them– which is saying something because San Antonio is quite the drive to Dallas. I loved their energy and youth. They were excited to be there and honestly their smiles were contagious. My favorite was when they called for crowd surfers and the singers caught everyone as they made their way to the stage. All the crowd surfers remained on the stage to finish the last song of their set.

Slow Degrade was unique in that the drummer sang the hard vocals, while the lead vocalist sang the clean vocals. The band also consists of a bassist, and guitarist; another youthful grunge band with an edgy alternative sound. I personally loved the sort of crusty screams from the drummer, in combination with the soft vocals and that classic nu-metal alt/rock sound. Check out their song,"Failing You," featuring Moodring. You can support them by checking out their Spotify and Instagram below!

Dye had a beautiful, mellow sound with a cinematic feel to it – the music wraps around you like a good emo song should. Dye is growing thanks to social media, not to mention the smooth Deftones vibe to their music. If Kami Kehoe approves, you know it's good! I happened to see her drop an emoji on their page and was rooting them on for that. Amazing!

HolyWatr took the stage last as the headliner of the Watr To Wine Tour, and the packed house went wild with screams. Dallas took a sip from the HolyWatr and there was no going back. Concertgoers absolutely lost their minds throughout the set. As you already saw the crowd surfing was top tier, and so was the music and the energy in the room. Trees' description is correct, the band "transcends genres and leaves the audiences begging for more." Crowd top favorites were:

• "Without U" (warm guitar, reflective, dramatic devestation)
• "Nail Polish" (intimate, hazy, gritty, vulnerable)
• "Hiding In Plain Sight" (moody, intense, cinematic, haunting)
• "Burn The Witch"  (intense, pain, betrayal, dark, love)
• "Fade" (brooding, melancholic, moody, "Lost, I don't care to be found")
• "My Mom's In There!" (edgy, dark, deep bass and clashing cymbals)

I have mixed feelings about this band blowing up, mostly because I want to keep them a secret a little longer. But even as they rise with the support of AWAL and Sony Music Group, I’m confident they won’t lose their edge. I see HolyWatr staying true to who they are and the sound that makes them stand out.

I'm also thankful they still had plenty of energy for Dallas, just two days after the band took the stage at Warped Tour in Orlando, FL.

The remaining stops are sold-out, including Austin, TX, Phoenix, AZ, and Santa Ana, CA, but there's still a few tickets left for the closeout of the Watr To Wine Tour, in their hometown, so get your tickets before they're gone, LA! That's going to be one hell of a show.

If you have a chance to see them on their next tour, I highly recommend it. They'll be heading out again as direct support for Chiodos for their "All's Well That Ends Well" 20th anniversary tour, beginning December 1st, 2025. Also, be on the look out for new music dropping in 2026 and likely more tour dates to look forward to.