It's not every day your favorite post-hardcore band, known for playing in front of thousands at amphitheaters and festivals, goes back to their roots and announces a tour performing exclusively at small music venues and sports bars leading up to the Vans Warped Tour. Underoath decided to go against the current of music scene standards, pack into a van, and reconnect with their early years of touring.
From the moment Underoath announced the Van Tour to Vans Warped Tour, the internet broke, and tickets sold out for each show within the day. With support from the newly formed supergroup Held, featuring members from The Sleeping and Coheed and Cambria, and the sold-out crowd of 500 in attendance, it was evident that this night would become one of the most historic and wildest shows that had ever come to the Paper Tiger in San Antonio, Texas.
Held kicked the night off with an impressive, hard-hitting performance that turned heads and proved that they were the perfect opener for this tour. This was only their thirteenth show together; however, you could tell by the band's chemistry and talent that they've been making music and touring for a very long time.
I admit, this was the first time I'd ever heard of Held, and I was thoroughly surprised with how large and full their sound felt coming from the three musicians. Their songs "Waves of Fire" and "Through the Cracks" felt fierce yet vulnerable and not only set the tone for the night but also lifted the crowd's energy and got us moving.
Between songs, vocalist Douglas Robinson wasted no time hyping up the crowd for Underoath, saying that this room is about to turn into a scene from the movie Alien, and thanked us all for coming out early to check them out. He mentioned how awesome it was to catch up with his family here in San Antonio, and not even the tornado and flood warnings earlier this week could keep them away from performing their hearts out. He also introduced us to their fill-in drummer, Clayton "Goose" Holyoak, who's performed with bands such as Every Time I Die and Norma Jean and said that it doesn't get any more punk than this.
Before their last song, Doug got the crowd riled up with a hilarious vote of "Who has the better burger?" between Whataburger and In-N-Out. Spoiler alert: Whataburger won by a landslide. They ended their set on a high note with "New You Anthem," which features Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance. Their debut album Grey is out now on all streaming platforms and celebrates its two-month anniversary!
Held. performing at the Paper Tiger, San Antonio, TX, July 17th, 2026
The heat played a major factor throughout the night as roughly 500 fans packed into the Paper Tiger like sardines; however, that didn't seem to bother anyone at all. The venue staff graciously opened up the garage doors on the right side of the venue to allow more space for shenanigans, and we all waited with anticipation, singing our lungs out to songs by Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Creed while the stage team quickly set up for the headlining act.
Conversations buzzed with excitement about how rare it was to see Underoath perform at this venue and how they hoped other high-drawing bands would take notice of this tour and decide to give it a go.
The crowd having the time of their lives during Underoath's live performance at the Paper Tiger.
Out of nowhere, the lights dimmed, and alarms sounded off like a self-destruct sequence in a video game as Underoath took the stage. Drummer Aaron Gillespie viciously set the tone with the opening fill of "Breathing Into A New Mentality" before pausing for applause.
"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is obviously not your average Underoath show. We came all this way to play in a small, sweaty room with no barricade. Tonight, this microphone belongs to you as much as it belongs to me. We're going to do this **** together. Are you ready?" - vocalist Spencer Chamberlain.
They dove right back into the song and crowd surfers launched themselves toward the stage as a large mosh pit opened up for anyone who was brave enough to step in. I've never seen so many crowdsurfers in my life, and even though all hell broke loose, everyone locked in with compassion to pick up anyone who fell down.
Drummer Aaron Gillespie of Underoath
Underoath powered through the set with "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door," receiving a thunderous, choir-like singalong that sent chills down my spine, followed by "All the Love Is Gone" and "Damn Excuses," giving security a run for their money as fans continued their swarm of madness.
The opening synths of "Reinventing Your Exit" filled the room as Spencer Chamberlain confessed that they grew up playing this venue back in the day where it was still The White Rabbit and that as time goes on, things will grow and keep progressing.
"We don't get to play rooms like this anymore. We've been telling our team for 10-15 years that we just want to do one tour every couple of years where we can go back and play the venues that gave us a chance when no one knew who we were. On the tour for the first time in a decade, we're in control of where we play. It's hot, there's no barricade in here, and this show sold out in under a day. Let me see the whole room put their hands up! We're going back to 2004. This is Reinventing Your Exit!"
The setlist featured 13 songs off of the albums They're Only Chasing Safety, Lost In The Sound of Separation, Ø (Disambiguation), Erase Me, and The Place After This One and showcased exactly why Underoath remains one of the most prominent metalcore bands today.
The energy between the band and crowd never let up throughout the night and reached a new level of insanity when Spencer announced that it was keyboardist Chris Dudley's birthday. Spencer joked that Chris mentioned that it was not hot enough, there were not enough people on stage, and his birthday wish was to take a warm shot of Fireball. Chris shook his head and shouted, "No!" as Spencer added, "Chris said whoever crowdsurfs and delivers a shot right to him could have his personal number and text him anytime."
We all laughed, and hilariously enough, people tried to make this wish come true for the rest of the night.
Underoath closed the night with one of their most notable songs, "A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black And White," leaving everyone with the biggest smiles on their faces as we crowdsurfed and got down in the pit one last time.
If you were lucky enough to get a ticket, you’re in for one hell of a show! This is definitely a rare occurrence that I hope we see from more bands in the future. I highly recommend showing up early for merch and giving Held a listen, too! Underoath has 10 more dates left for the "Van Tour to Vans Warped Tour"; however, they'll be coming through again celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Define The Great Line" with August Burns Red and Atreyu later this year.
Check out more photos from Underoath's performance at the Paper Tiger below!
