Live Show: vaultboy Displays His True Colors with the "ARE YOU EVER COMING BACK" Tour.
Photos by: Josie Cruz & Cody Austin Medina.
Warming the crowd up for the night was Alexa Cappelli. Her set consisted of bright, upbeat pop songs that got the crowd grooving. Soft, cooler toned lighting to complement her gorgeous blue corset dress, made the Moroccan Lounge feel like a fairytale story or a scene right out of Ice Princess. Fans roared along to the lyrics of her song, “Oblivious.”
Between sets, vaultboy gathered the crowd’s attention with pre-show playlist songs such as “HOMESICK” by MICO and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Disney’s Mulan. The crowd belting to their childhood classic, quieted down and awaited their headliner. They were met with a robotic voice visualized through the vertical bar lights on stage. The voice asked, “What is love?” and continued to ponder on existential thoughts about the matter.
Entering the stage, vaultboy kicked off his set with “LOVER,” “ARE YOU EVER COMING BACK?,” and “HELD YOU LONGER.” These trio of songs began our experience through the setlist by establishing a sense of losing love, emphasizing feelings of denial and despair through mostly red lighting. Emotionally, the setlist progressed into phases of fake or rushed acceptance as vaultboy performed “everything hits me at once” and “everything sucks.”
Shifting away from despair and solitude, the setlist took a reflective turn as “RIDE OR DIE” and “under covers” was performed - cooler blue and green lighting used to show the calmer mindset when looking back on the relationship discussed lyrically. As “DOWN!” played, the lighting design changed to strobe between various colors, mostly blue and red, signifying the conflicting emotions that were already established. Hitting the midpoint of the set, this felt like a point of no return - similar to the events that play out within the song.
Taking a brief intermission, vaultboy introduced his bandmates, Carson Ives (guitar, keys) and Cole Pomeroy (drums). After a short funky dance, we returned back to the setlist.
While despair was a phase already explored earlier in the set, the next trio of songs (“BATTLE SCAR,” “this is heaven, this is hell,” and “i wish u knew”) branched out even further into this emotion and included elements of grief. The live band instrumentals took “this is heaven, this is hell” to another level than I had previously experienced back in Orlando in 2025 - sounding like waves crashing until we’ve collectively hit rock bottom. vaultboy humorously played a fake tiny violin as the song’s outro carried on. Another shift. “GUT FEELING,” “fade away,” and “rocket science” played. The previous heavy emotions tied to red and blue lightened up as they began to interact with pink, green, and yellow. While this may insinuate trying again and finding new love, I’d like to theorize it being the moments when you start to take care of yourself again - showing compassion, instead of criticizing yourself.
Another brief intermission - this time full of silly band interactions. With amusingly awkward silences in-between gulps of water, vaultboy shared comical glances towards his bandmates, who then began to sip on water. This prompted the crowd to chant “chug, chug, chug” leading to a competition between the three. Once the challenge ended, the three pointed to each other and recreated the infamous Spiderman meme. Then, vaultboy victoriously flipped a water bottle - landing it on the first try.
Antics aside, the band moved into “SOMEBODY HELP,” where vaultboy showcased strong vocals alongside a lively set of green, pink, and white lighting. This point in the setlist felt like the phase in heartbreak where you find that missing piece of yourself and begin to show your true colors again. The backtrack seamlessly transitioned to “petals,” which contrasted the brightness with deep shades of red and strobing lights. The self love we previously found turned into a sense of ego.
Exchanging the electric guitar for an acoustic guitar, we reached the final songs of the set. “DELETED,” which contains Celtic instrumental influences, brought back our original red and blue lighting. This time, blending them with shades of purple, as the song picked up. True acceptance has been reached. Ending his set with “JULY, I’LL MISS YOU,” all the colors shown throughout the night were present in the lighting design. The robotic voice came back to life as he left the stage, pleading “Wait. I won’t say goodbye.” It malfunctions to say “One more song,” prompting the crowd to chant. “everything, everywhere” played as the encore song.
vaultboy’s show was an experience that displayed his witty and quirky personality, while also sharing his deepest, darkest thoughts. Simultaneously, we were brought on a journey of heartbreak and learning to love again. A true showcase of art that was all thanks to the artist, his band, and his talented team comprised of Cody Austin Medina (Tour Photography, Lighting Design), Ceeza Vega (Merch Support), Jordan Tanner (Management), and Alexis Medina (Tour Management).
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