CONCERT RECAP: d4vd Brings His Bedroom Sound to the Big Stage in Dallas, Texas

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to take a trip down to Dallas to see up-and-coming star d4vd perform at The Echo Lounge. Originating out of Houston, 18-year-old d4vd got his start creating songs on the free mobile app BandLab uploading them online. He has grown to be quite a viral sensation on TikTok creating hit songs like Romantic Homicide and Here With Me and signing with Darkroom and Interscope Records. His debut EP Petals to Thorns is a solid display of his raw lyricism and creativity. With this being his first major tour, it was exciting to see him perform in front of his ecstatic fans.

As a shock to no one, it was scorching hot outside with temperatures over 100°F with an excessive heat warning in effect. This wouldn’t stop his eager fans from waiting outside the venue for hours in hopes to get a standing space close to the stage. The venue was hot but had free water provided for the attendees to stay cool and hydrated.

Opener Scott James took the stage first with just his guitar and plenty of pedals to build an atmosphere for his dream pop-inspired sound. His quiet and intimate vibe was a good contrast to the scorching heat outside playing 30 minutes of calm and soothing singer-songwriter anthems. I recommend his 2017 EP Shelter Island Heights if you want to catch a piece of his sound.

A brief set change and a few cups of water later, d4vd and his band came out to a huge display of lights on stage and a huge display of cheers from the crowd. He opened with the Post-Punk inspired You and I and with a ton of energy, bounced across the stage. He asked the fans if they were staying cool before throwing some bottles of water to people in the crowd. Next was the somber, Bleed Out which had the crowd singing along. Following that, d4vd performed the catchy track WORTHLESS and jumped in front of the barricade to sing with his fans.

He slowed it back down with Placebo Effect and went straight into Here With Me which had everyone in the crowd singing along. It was a beautiful moment and showed how much the fans in the audience were genuine fans of his work.

From this point, the concert began to fall apart. d4vd was an awesome performer the entire night, but the mostly young high school fans did not know when to take a step back and let him perform. It started with minor crowd interactions with a fan asking him to play Rock, Paper, Scissors followed by one fan asking for him to take their BeReal. The BeReal was the real turning point of the concert because then everyone wanted him to take their BeReals. Throughout the entire show, he probably took over 30 BeReals. Fans also wanted to give him drawings, jewelry, t-shirts, and more trying to swap clothes with him. He ended up giving away a majority of his jewelry as well as his bloodied t-shirt prop that his aesthetic is based on. The concert felt more and more like the fans wanted to have their personalized moment with d4vd and have their own personal keepsake when the man wanted to perform the songs. When he asked to stop giving him jewelry, people in the crowd began to chunk jewelry on the stage. While the hijinks were in full gear, it was hard to sit through.

Continuing through the set list, d4vd performed a personal favorite of mine Don’t Forget About Me which had the same crowd outcry as Here With Me. Next was the loose single Poetic Vulgarity that moved the crowd back and forth with emotions. Next was Sleep Well which was another slow piece that must have felt euphoric for the crowd to hear and sing in person. He then performed a new unreleased song called Rehab with more post-punk influences. which a big chunk of the crowd knew. After the song he said, “Oh, so you guys have been listening to the leaks, huh?”

The next two songs were Take Me to the Sun and Backstreet Girl. He performed another unreleased song called Notes Wrote From Your Wrist. It was an extremely personal song about suicide. He kept the mellow energy up by performing the fan-favorite The Bridge before closing with his biggest song Romantic Homicide which the fan who beat him in Rock Paper Scissors got to go up stage for.

After the song, the fan asked to trade glasses with d4vd which he declined because he needed his prescription sunglasses to see. He came out after the show letting fans get pictures and autographed more things. He also took plenty more late BeReals. It is great to see how much he cares about his fans regardless of how erratic and rambunctious they may seem at times.

Overall, d4vd was a great performer and I think he’ll continue to grow and have success in the future. To pack a 1,000-person venue with tons of superfans was already a feat. I am excited to see what is next for d4vd. Maybe, it’s my age (I am 21.), but the crowd at times seemed a little too needy for d4vd trying to get something out of him over and over. I think with growth as an artist you learn how to control a crowd better and that’s something that d4vd still needs to learn. It is only up from here for him.