Start living in your tombstone

I’ve always wanted to go to a concert, but the bands and artists I like never usually come to Louisiana; so I’ve never had much of a chance to go to one. When I heard The Living Tombstone, a band I’ve been listening to ever since I was a kid, would be coming to Houston, Texas, I knew I had to go. 

It may have not been Louisiana, but it was probably the closest I’d get to having the chance to see a concert that I knew I’d love.

On Oct. 18, 2025, at around 9:30 a.m., my friends and I departed and started making our way to a hotel that we booked in Houston. We didn’t arrive at the hotel until about 2:45 p.m.

I had gotten my own room while my friends got one for all of them. Their room wasn’t open yet, so we all ended up going to my room and started to get prepared for the concert. Three of my friends had dressed up to match some of the band members’ tombsonas. Tombsonas are the bands’ character names. 

First there is the zero_one, played by one of the singers and the creator of the band, Yoav Landau. Next is Rust, portrayed by the other lead singer and songwriter for the band, Sam Haft. Then there is Armstrong, who is played by the guitarist of the group, Marcus Grimmie. Up next is Tesla, the lead bassist of the band, played by Guy Bernfeld. Lastly, there is the lead drummer of the group Doc, played by Thomas Silvers.

My three friends that decided to dress up as zero_one, Doc and Rust. At the time, I didn’t know much about the band’s tombsonas, so I did not dress up.

Eventually we finished getting ready and started to make our way to the concert. When we got in, the first thing I did was make my way to the merch stand and buy some stuff. Afterwards, we went to the main stage room. As VIPs, we got to witness the soundcheck and do a Q&A with the group afterwards. During the Q&A they mentioned their next album’s theme. It would be based on Armstrong, with a focus on loneliness.

Following the Q&A, we got to take a group picture with them. During the group picture, the group asked where we were coming from, and one of my friends mentioned that they are from New Orleans. The group responded saying that they actually want to try to do a concert in New Orleans someday, which we all responded to with “Please!” 

As we waited, my friend was handing out drawings he made of each of the band members. He handed these drawings to someone they knew on the staff, and he eventually got to hold Tesla’s bass. He ended up even getting a guitar pick from it. 

Before the group got on stage, there was a pre-show with two different bands. First up was Creep-P. I had never heard their music before, but I did end up enjoying it. Then up next was Tokyo Machine, who I knew from rhythm games. They played a lot of good music as well, some of which I was able to recognize. 

After about an hour, it was finally time for the main event. The band came up on stage and opened up with “I Can’t Fix You,” a song about the game “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Sister Location.” The band would go on to play many more songs, which I sang along to pretty much all of them. They played many of my favorites such as “Malibu Pier,” “Sunburn” and “Step on Up.” One of my favorite parts was the funny skits they did to lead into each song.

About halfway through the concert, zero_one thanked us for being the largest crowd they had ever had. 

Eventually there was an encore where Rust and zero_one took off their helmets as they performed the last, and probably most famous, of their songs. They played songs such as “Discord,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and their most popular song “My Ordinary Life.” During “Discord,” Rust and zero_one came down during the instrumental and ran through, high-fiving everyone in the front of the stage.

The night ended with the group taking a group selfie with the entire crowd. After, most of the band walked off stage, except for the drummer, Doc, who tossed out three of his drumsticks he used during the show. My friends and I, all pointed at the friend of ours who was dressed as Doc. She managed to catch it and we were all so happy for them.

We eventually departed, and made our way back to the hotel, taking our leave in the morning and driving back to Lafayette. Though I was sad the journey was over, I’m so glad to have gone to the concert. It was some of the most fun I’ve had in a while, and I look forward to the day they hopefully come to New Orleans. I definitely want to dress up next time.