Riding off the success of their new album 2000:In Search of The Endless Sky, hitting the road on a tour with the Deftones, and being announced as part of the lineup for Coachella 2026, Fleshwater has truly had the year that many bands dreamed of having. Moving into the latter half of 2025, the Boston based band embarked on a tour with the Oklahoma band Chat Pile and Connecticut band Balmora. The night was truly memorable and the band truly cemented themselves as not only a force to be reckoned with in the modern landscape of alternative music but also one that will truly live on. Starting the night came the metal-core band Balmora who hit the stage with great force and urged everyone to move forward and mosh and crowd surf everywhere. While still relatively new with them being formed in 2022, Balmora was able to command the stage with great precision and energy that I really found it hard to believe that they’re that new. Although they played a quick set, they left an amazing impression on me as a first time listener and on the rest of the crowd as they were pumped up early on. 
Next on the bill was Chat Pile who has been touring with Fleshwater for the second half of the tour and has been one of the bands I’ve been wanting to see for a minute now. The Oklahoma noise rock band came in with such an ethereal presence, everyone came in ready to play but they possessed this quirky personality that truly is something I’ve never seen coming out of a noise rock band before. Frontman Raygun Busch came out barefoot and then proceeded to give some of the harshest yet well executed vocals that has made the band grow in popularity. Guitarist Luther Manhole was shredding his guitar and creating an amazing compliment to Raygun’s vocals while bassist Stin gave some of the best Korn inspired riffs I’ve ever seen come from a bass player, and drummer Cap’n Ron helped enhance this almost Lynchian feeling to the stage. The majority of the set list consisted of material from their most recent album “Cool World” such as Frown Man, Masc, and Shame. In between songs, Raygun would go on tangents about different movies and how much he either loves or hates them such as how much he loves Michael Mann’s Heat and the robbery scene from that movie as well as the action scenes in James Cameron’s Terminator 2. As their set came to a close, I was left really amazed that I was able to see the hype surrounding them and their harsh sound that’s paired with a truly bizarre but fitting stage presence.
Finally, came the Boston group Fleshwater with a beautiful background consisting of white birds and a large windmill that all felt reminiscent of an early 2000’s PS2 game. Falling under the relatively new category called grunge gaze, Fleshwater is another band who I’ve been wanting to see for years but the stars couldn’t align themselves with until now. Front woman Marisa Shirar came dashing to the stage with immense charisma and joy as the band and as soon as they started playing, the chaos of the crowd erupted as mosh pits ran rampant and Marisa kept running around stage to sing and hype the crowd up even more. One of my favourite aspects of Fleshwater is just how much influence the band takes with 90’s grunge and other alternative bands at the time and how they mix it with shoegaze inspired vocals to create controlled chaos in their sound and seeing both Marisa and guitarist and vocalist Anthony DiDio sing in such a heavenly manner on stage while bassist Jeremy Martin, guitarist Jon Lhaubouet, and drummer Josian Omar Sotos Ramos shredding their respective instruments felt like a fever dream come true. The chaos as even felt in the photo pit as crowd surfers were making their way to the front and we had to be on high alert as a result, which goes to show not only how energetic the band is but also just how much the audience was enjoying the show. 
Although the tour was to support the new album and featured songs like “Jetpack”, “Drowning Song“, and “Last Escape”, the band also played a heavy amount of songs from We’re Not Here To Be Loved like “Linda Claire”, “The Razor’s Apple”, and the now famous ”Kiss the Ladder”, plus we got the added bonus of seeing them cover Bjork’s “Enjoy”. As the set was drawing to a close, the band made it seem that the show was over after playing “Closet” as the house lights went on, but through an unexpected turn, the band decided to close off the night with one more song, so they went on to close the night with “Standalone” while darkness filled the stage while the house lights were shining bright onto the crowd and the true size of the pits were revealed. Although their set closed with an amazing and unique ending, they’ve made it clear that their path as a band is only going to move upward and their next set will be better than the last. For some more visuals we have included an exclusive photo gallery from the concert just below featuring all of the bands on the card. To stay up to date on everything Fleshwater, you can follow the group on social media @Fleshwater.FM.
Article & Photos By Hector Mendoza (@mendoza_photos)
