By Arden Berry | Arts & Life Editor
While preceded by inflatables and followed by fireworks, The Fray’s performance itself was what pumped up and lit up the audience Friday night at Magnolia’s Silobration.
Before the band took the stage, Chip and Joanna Gaines came on to talk about Silobration and their new show, “Fixer Upper: Chip Bought a Mansion.” After playing the upcoming show’s trailer, Chip offered the audience the mansion as inflatable tube men arose.
A few moments after the Gainses had left, The Fray took to the stage, washed in the dark of night and pink lights.
Lead singer Joe King danced onto the stage while he sang “A Light That Waits,” the titular track of the band’s most recent album, released in March. Supported by soulful piano, bright bass and emphatic drums, King shimmied and swayed as he went.
Following that grand entrance, the lights changed to blue and the band played “Hurricane.”
Next came one of the crowd favorites: “Look After You.” The audience sang along to the catchy “ooh’s” in the chorus of the rock ballad.
“Waco, you like the ‘be my baby’ part,’” King said before repeating the chorus.
The band rocked on with “Tasted Glory” and “Heartbeat.”
“Can you feel your heartbeat, Waco?” King asked the crowd as they screamed along to the song.
King kept the energy high with “Over My Head (Cable Car),” towering over the baseball-capped and sweater-clad audience with an acoustic guitar slung on his back. He grabbed a phone from an audience member at the front and brought it around the stage with him. He continued to facilitate audience participation by pointing his microphone toward the crowd while the instruments went quiet, signaling them to sing the chorus.
“Are we here right now?” King asked during the song.
Gold light then surrounded the stage and the audience danced, swayed and sang along to “Ice Cold Lakes.”
The band then returned to their first album with “She Is.” King noted the band’s beginnings in Denver.
“We were just boys figuring out this music thing,” King said.
While the band’s makeup has changed since its creation, especially as King took over lead vocals for co-founder Isaac Slade after Slade left the band in 2022, each band member seemed to infuse meaning into their instrument as they sang the song from 2005.
Following “She Is” was “Never Say Never.” King encouraged the audience to wave lights through the air.
“Waco, show us your light,” King said.
“Closer to Me” opened with heavy guitar and clapping. The pianist picked up and acoustic guitar and, with the bassists, came closer to the audience. Said bassists undertook a couple antics, with both playing back-to-back and one balancing a bass guitar on the other’s head as they played. At the end of the song, the band members came together to surround drummer Ben Wysocki.
King grabbed a video camera from the audience and placed it on the piano and then on the drum set for “All at Once.”
“This is the first time in history that The Fray took a camera and put it on the piano,” King said.
Next came lime green light and “Love Don’t Die,” then King introduced the band.
Afterward, King headed down into the audience for “My Heart’s a Crowded Room.” Many audience members pulled out their phones to film King as he made his way through the crowd.
“Y’all are beautiful,” King said when he returned to the stage.
“You Found Me” highlighted King’s gravelly, deep voice. When he finished singing, he blew kisses to the audience.
“Joanna, Chip, thank you for bringing us in,” King said.
The next song brought in a new lead vocalist: Wysocki. All five artists stood at the front of the stage, Wysocki with a smaller drum hung around his neck, and covered “With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles.
The show ended with “How to Save a Life,” the hit certified 11x platinum in 2025. King once again pointed the microphone to the audience as they sang along.
The song ended with fireworks lighting up the sky above the iconic Magnolia Silos.
McLennan Community College student Bianca Holland said she has loved The Fray since she was a kid.
“I definitely cried,” Holland said. “… I have memories of being in the car, looking at the moon, watching it chase me — when you’re a kid, you think it happens — and just listening to it dramatically. I was 5 years old. But it was also just like very, like, roots. It was just very calming, I guess. And like a hug.”
Holland said her favorite song by The Fray is “Over My Head (Cable Car),” and her favorite moment from the show was someone videoing her and her friend singing.
“That like pretty iconic,” Holland said. “And it was also very childhood healing in a way. So all of it was amazing, and I’m really glad they put the old stuff.”
