Review and photographs by: Robert Sutton
Halestorm Rocked Koko on the 18th August. (with a bit of Blues and Country as well thrown into the mix…) ‘A Wild Evening with Halestorm’ sold out within about 8 hours of general release when tickets were first put up for sale several months ago for the London show.
As it was billed as an evening with Halestorm there was no support for the night, but instead we were treated to an acoustic performance by the group to get the evening under way. It was a slowed down acoustic performance which also allowed the audience to fully participate in, by proving to the band that they knew every word to the songs. However it nearly all went a bit wrong when something was said which sparked Jo on guitar to go a bit Country on us , but Lzzy quickly put him in check with a firm ‘No… I’m not doing country’ and things got back to the way they were supposed to be…( phew…close call that one…)
Things seemed to be just getting going with the acoustic session when it finished after just five songs being played and the band left the stage for the audience to ‘Have a Piss or Get Pissed’ according to Lzzy.
After the short fifteen minute or so intermission the band was back on stage and we were ready for the Rock Show to start. They played all the tracks in order from their new album ‘Into The Wild Life’ and finished the set off with some of their most popular tracks.
About half way through the set Jo went a bit astray again but this time went all Bluesy on us, Lzzy once again came to our rescue and got things back on track.. It did look also that Arejay on the drums had just about fallen asleep on one of the songs with just a gentle taping of the bass drum being needed for the track. However he did make up for it with his usual exuberance for his drum solo
I missed out on the opportunity to review the latest album and have only heard Apocalyptic played on the radio but had listened to the whole album prior to the show and unfortunately I have to say I am not overly impressed with it, it has a much gentler sound to that of their self titled first album and also that of the very good ‘The Strange Case Of..’. So I’m at a bit of a loss as to why they have chosen this softer approach to the new album especially as they finished off their set with some great heavier tracks from their first albums (It would appear that someone is still happy to hear the music with the album debuting at No.5 on the Billboard 200! – facts Editor) .
Lzzy obviously still likes to play her keyboard on stage and this time even got Josh to have a go on his keyboard as well, but I am sort of glad that ‘Break In’ wasn’t played, whilst it is a good song, I do think that it has just about been played to death over the last couple of years that I have been going to see Halestorm.
All in all I did like the Acoustic session (although it was a bit of a short set) and I did like the heavier tracks that they play, but was certainly not too taken with the Country and Bluesy snippets and not overly sold on the new album… But I will still be going to see them again when they are support for Black Stone Cherry early next year.
Acoustic Setlist:-
1: Mz Hyde
2: Familiar Taste of Poison
3: Rock Show
4: I Get Off
5: Here’s to Us
Main Setlist:-
( 1-14 from ‘Into The Wild Life’ album)
1: Scream
2: I Am The Fire
3: Sick Individual
4: Amen
5: Dear Daughter
6: New Modern Love
7: Mayhem
8: Bad Girls World
9: Gonna Get Mine
10: The Reckoning
11: Apocalyptic
12: Jump The Gun
13: What Sober Couldn’t Say
14: I Like It Heavy
15: Love Bites (So Do I)
16: It’s Not You
17: Unapologetic
18: Freak Like Me
19: I Miss the Misery
Halestorm will be back in the UK in January and February next year supporting Black Stone Cherry and Shinedown on their tour.
Their new album ‘Into The Wild Life’ is available to buy now.
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