- TOADIES w/ The Black Angels + Local H, Vandoliers
- 5/2/26 - Longhorn Ballroom & Backyard Amphitheater - Dallas, TX
- ©M’Lou Elkins / Skip2Photogrqphy.com
The Toadies came home Saturday night, and Dallas showed up like it meant something.
At the newly unveiled Backyard Amphitheater behind the Longhorn Ballroom, a space that already feels like it’s been waiting years for a night exactly like this, the band delivered a set that hit every nerve: nostalgia, grit, survival, and something heavier underneath it all. This wasn’t just another stop on a tour. This was a hometown reckoning, one night after dropping The Charmer, their first studio record in 17 years, and the weight of that timing hung in the air from the first note.
The evening built itself right. The Vandoliers kicked things off with that rowdy, unfiltered Texas energy they’ve made their calling card. Formed in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2015, they’ve carved out a lane where country, punk, and sheer defiance collide. It’s genre-bending chaos, in the best possible way. Think: country grit mixed with punk urgency.
They released the single “Girl on the Run” last month. Their latest full-length, Life Behind Bars (2025), leans more towards personal without losing the barroom swing, and live, it lands like a dare. They don’t ease a crowd in. They throw it forward, and deliver the kind of set that turns early arrivals into believers.
Local H followed with the kind of stripped-down, no-bullshit force they’ve been refining since the ‘90s. A duo that’s never sounded small, they tore through a set that reminded everyone why they’ve lasted this long. Their newer material sits comfortably alongside the older cuts, still sharp, still biting, still loud in all the right ways.
Though their last album of all-new original material was Lifers (2020), in 2025 they dropped reFISTED, a “defiant do-over” / re-imagining of the 1995 album Ham Fisted, that was recorded with Steve Albini’s studio engineer, Greg Norman, at Electrical Audio. This summer, they’ll release the 30th Anniversary Edition of AS GOOD AS DEAD. Pre-orders are available here.
Check out the Local H concert photo gallery below:
Local H is known for being pioneers of the two-man band set-up, with frontman Scott Lucas covering both guitar and bass through an extra pick up in his guitar and drummer Ronnie DiCola pounding out the beats….and does he ever! If you’re in a two man band, you’d better bring it and these guys definitely did.
Direct support came from The Black Angels, and they turned the entire place into a slow-burning haze. Austin psych rock royalty at this point, they brought that hypnotic, droning intensity that feels less like a performance and more like getting pulled under something.
The band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Passover, with limited-edition vinyl reissues and an Australia/New Zealand tour in June 2026.
Check out The Black Angels concert photo gallery below:
Their catalog runs deep. Dark, immersive, and exactly the kind of tension you want right before a headliner like this. It wasn’t about flash. It was about atmosphere, and they pulled the entire amphitheater into it. (Yes, they played “The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven”…and it was glorious!).
Then there was this weird, perfect moment. The lights were dim, the stage still empty, and suddenly the entire crowd locked into Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” which was being piped in overhead. No prompting or hesitation. Just a full amphitheater screaming every word like it was part of the show. It shouldn’t have worked. It absolutely did.
And a few minutes later, the Toadies walked out. They wasted no time digging in, starting with “Ash’s Theme..” The setlist moved across their catalog with intent, pulling in newer material from The Charmer, without breaking the flow. Songs like “Gasoline Jane” and the title track, “The Charmer,” didn’t feel like add-ons – they felt earned, like they belonged in the same breath as the classics. They slid in seamlessly between the staples, not as novelties, but as extensions of the same DNA. The band isn’t chasing their past. They’re building on it, and the new material holds its own without apology.
From the jump, it felt different. There’s always been a rawness to their shows, but this had an edge that cut deeper. Maybe it’s the new record. Maybe it’s everything behind it.
When “Possum Kingdom” hit, the place exploded. Thousands of voices locked together, shouting “Do you wanna die??” into the Texas night, a line that’s always carried weight but felt even sharper tonight. It was chaotic, cathartic, and completely unified. One of those moments that doesn’t translate on paper but sticks in your chest afterward.
But the real center of gravity hit before “I Wanted to Be Everywhere,” when Vaden Todd Lewis opened up in a way that shifted the entire tone of the night. He spoke about his struggles with mental illness and suicidal thoughts, about clawing his way through something most people never talk about out loud, and about coming out the other side. It wasn’t polished. It wasn’t packaged. It was real. And when he mentioned that PunkRockSavesLives.org had a tent set up at the show, it clicked. This wasn’t just storytelling. This was purpose.
Then they played the song. It landed heavy. Not in a slow, dragged-out way, but in that direct, unavoidable way where every line feels like it matters. You could feel the crowd listening differently. Less noise, more connection.
And then, just as quickly, the night snapped back into something louder.
The encore sealed it. “I Burn” from 1994’s Rubberneck closed things out, and it felt like a statement. Not just about the set, but about where the band is now. Still here. Still loud. Still willing to go somewhere deeper when it counts.
The Backyard Amphitheater proved itself in one night. Open air, tight energy, no distance between band and crowd. It feels like a place that’s going to matter for a long time, especially when it hosts nights like this.
And the Toadies? This wasn’t a nostalgia lap. This was a band stepping back into their city with something new, something heavier, and something worth saying.
Check out the Toadies concert photo gallery below:
Dallas didn’t just get a show. It got the whole story.
Catch Toadies on the Road…
