Halestorm brings down the house in Camden

I like to think my taste in music has greatly varied over the years. I have gone through the teenage phase of listening to Green Day, Sex Pistols, Fall out Boy, Panic! At the Disco etc. You get the gist of it all. There was also a time when I used to listen to hard rock in the form of System of a Down, Bullet for My Valentine and Slipknot amongst others. These days, I have moved onto a lot more indie pop, post-punk and dream pop. The reason I am telling you this is because Halestorm doesn’t fall in any of those categories. Halestorm is in essence a hard rock band which I came across when they supported Slash last year at the Hammersmith Apollo. That was a curious gig to say the least, since the supporting act, a Dutch new wave/electronic/art punk band called Minny Pops, was booed off stage. It wasn’t all disappointment before Slash’s appearance because that’s the moment that Halestorm came on. Their energy on stage was simply admirable and at this point I think drummer Arejay Hale should get a special mention for his acrobatic efforts of constantly juggling drumsticks in the middle of a song. Lzzy Hale’s strong vocals meant it was the perfect start to a rock gig and at that point I became a fan (and went home to download their music illegally, like all the cool kids do {fyi I am not a total prick, I tend to pay for gigs rather than buy records}).

So remembering that day, it was with great anticipation that I went to see Halestorm perform at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on Friday the 8th of March. I actually missed the support act but I didn’t really need to be warmed up (listening to music during the tube ride would normally suffice, oh and alcohol helps). Before I dissect their setlist, I should also say how good Electric Ballroom is as a venue. It’s the sort of place that’s not too small so that you feel everything you do is watched neither it is too big where it makes you feel insignificant. It is just the right size that makes you feel intimate with the band. Halestorm opened with ‘Freak Like Me’ and ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’ from their sophomore album and the upbeat vocals and drumming was quick to get the audience jumping. After a couple of other songs, came a Dio cover in the form of ‘Straight Through the Heart’, which was done exceptionally well, I must add. Here was a band that knew their audience well and knew the importance of the classics and appreciated the rock enigma that is Ronnie James Dio. There was also another instance later in the set when they played a Guns N’Roses cover of ‘Out Ta Get Me’. But before that, Lzzy Hale demonstrated the range of her vocal and musical ability as she played ‘Break In’ on the piano. It had a hint of Evanescence in it but in my opinion Lzzy has already eclipsed Amy Lee in terms of ability and vocal range.

There was something for the seasoned admirerstoo, with songs such as ‘Innocence’. I should also mention the heroics of Arejay, the drummer here who decided to perform a quick solo. The man is simply mental with a pair of drumsticks when he has a kit in front of him. He knows how to keep a beat going even with one hand. This was the first time I have seen him do a drum solo and I think he was enjoying it as much as the audience as he threw his drumsticks to the audience and decided to bring out a pair of giant sticks and keep going before deciding even that’s not enough as he resorted to drumming with his hands. All in all, it was an admirable and enthusiastic performance from him. The show closed very well with the band’s upbeat single ‘I Get Off’. I particularly loved the way the encore started with ‘Here’s to Us’ before moving onto finishing off with a high tempo song ‘I Miss the Misery’. And with that, off went my mate and I to the pub for a couple more cheeky pints before we decided to call it a night.

As someone who has recently moved away from listening toa lot of hard rock, I would have to say I might have to re-consider a return to the genre after that performance. After the success the band has had after the release of The Strange Case Of…, I can only hope that they would continue in that upward trajectory and become a genre defining band with their 3rd album. It doesn’t matter when they release it, as long as it’s composed well, I can see great things happening for the group.