BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME
w/ Hail the Sun
Warehouse Live Midtown – Houston, TX – 10/2/25
©M’Lou Elkins / Skip2hotography.com
You walk into Warehouse Live in Houston, and the heat hits first… a mix of body sweat, spilled beer, and anticipation. Raleigh’s own Between the Buried and Me, formed in 2000, are no strangers to chaos. From their thrash-y, chaotic early albums like Between the Buried and Me and The Silent Circus to sprawling prog epics like Colors, The Great Misdirect, and their recent The Blue Nowhere, they’ve built a reputation for technical insanity, melodic genius, and live shows that feel like controlled demolition.
The night kicked off with co-headliners, Hail the Sun, California’s post-hardcore/experimental rock powerhouse. Their set was tight, punchy, and full of clever riffs and dynamic vocals. The crowd was already bouncing and shouting along when, out of nowhere, a hero emerged: a guy dressed head-to-toe as a banana, surfing the crowd like it was a yellow, fruity surfboard.
Peel flapping wildly, arms outstretched, he somehow rode the mosh pit from one end to the other, eliciting laughter, cheers, and a collective “what the hell did we just see?” from everyone in the venue.
Check out the Hail the Sun concert photos below:
Hail the Sun kept the energy electric, and by the time they left the stage, the room was primed: sweaty, delirious, and ready for BTBAM to crush it.
Then the lights dropped. The first note of “Disease, Injury, Madness” slams into the venue, and the crowd erupts. Fists pump, hair flies, heads bang like pistons. By the time “Absent Thereafter” hits, the pit is a living, thrashing organism. “House Organ”, “Stare into the Abyss”, and “Prehistory” sweep through next, giving the audience moments of haunting melody before plunging them back into full-throttle prog chaos. By the time they crank out “Things We Tell Ourselves in the Dark”, everyone is lost in the swirl, bodies bouncing, sweat flying, and the crowd fully entranced by the sheer technical wizardry on stage.
The setlist keeps hitting hard: “God Terror”, “Specular Reflection”, “Extremophile Elite”… each song more punishing, intricate, and absurdly fun than the last. Paul Waggoner’s guitar lines slice like lasers, Dan Briggs’ bass reverberates through your chest, Blake Richardson’s drumming pounds like artillery, and Tommy Rogers’ vocals soar and scream with perfect emotional chaos.
The encore doesn’t disappoint: “The Blue Nowhere” and “Informal Gluttony” hit with full force. The crowd screams along, sweat-soaked and delirious. Bodies fly, the floor shakes, and the energy peaks like a tidal wave of pure, unhinged joy.
Check out the Between the Buried and Me concert photos below:
By the final note, everyone is exhausted, sticky, exhilarated, and grinning like maniacs. Between the Buried and Me proved once again why they’ve been at the forefront of progressive metal for 25 years: technically insane, emotionally raw, and live shows that are a full-contact, full-throttle experience. And somewhere in the crowd, that banana will forever reign as the unsung hero of the night.
