SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — It’s not every day a rock concert is performed from the summit of a granite buttress overlooking one of the most iconic alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada. For the San Diego-based band Half Hour Late, that’s exactly the point.

In late June, three of the bandmates — Zachary Stillwater, Kasey Dring and David Pozay — packed into a van and drove to Lake Tahoe. Their destination: a granite tower high above Emerald Bay. Their goal: to turn it into a stage.

A video of the performance, now circulating widely on social media, captures not only the music but the sheer joy behind a project that blends two passions — rock climbing and rock music.

“We woke up at the crack of dawn,” Pozay said. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of stuff we had to haul. Instruments, climbing gear, recording equipment, food, water… it was a full-on expedition.”

After hiking roughly two miles and gaining 1,600 feet in elevation, the group reached the base of Eagle Lake Buttress and began their multi-pitch climb.

By the time they reached the summit, the sun was glinting off the blue-green waters of Emerald Bay far below. There was no stage lighting, no audience — just ropes, wind and the buzz of the moment.

Then, the music began.

“I had an emotional moment,” Pozay said. “Singing those lyrics while overlooking Emerald Bay, surrounded by my bandmates — it felt surreal.”

Since 2020, Half Hour Late has combined their love of the outdoors with their music, recording live sets and music videos from mountain summits across the West.

“Sometimes we’d play on a stage, wishing we were climbing,” Dring said. “Other times we’d be climbing, wishing we were performing. So, we just said — let’s do both.”

Behind the Lens

The cameras may have been rolling at the summit, but getting them there was a production in itself.

The camera crew split into two teams. Joey Sorris ascended alongside the band, while Chris Ruel and Danny Dyer followed guide Brook Iglehart through a technical mountaineering route to the summit, using drones and long lenses to capture sweeping shots from a distance.

“This was the first time nothing went wrong,” Sorris said.

Previous projects had been anything but seamless.

“On our first video project, I hiked up the wrong mountain,” Sorris recalled. “We had to redo the entire shoot.”

Another time, the band and Sorris had to launch an impromptu rescue after losing contact with part of the camera crew.

Tahoe’s music video marked a rare milestone. But even when everything goes according to plan, it’s far from easy.

“I’d fix a rope, rappel down and film them leading the climb,” Sorris said. “I was dodging drones, trying not to end up in anyone else’s shot. It was epic.”

Sirus’s connection to the band dates back nearly a decade, to a chance encounter with Pozay on a street corner in San Diego.

“I saw him jamming downtown,” Sorris said. “I tipped him with an orange — and we instantly became friends.”

Now, the band has several more mountaintop projects lined up — including an unreleased performance video filmed on Fannette Island, a tiny granite islet in the middle of Lake Tahoe.

“Part of the quest is finding nature’s best stages,” Pozay said.