By DJ Astrocreep/Hannah Ross
Another hop over to Manchester to finally catch Halestorm live, after several abortive attempts previously due to illness and incapacity. With a couple of bands in support by the name of Bloodywood and Kelsy Karter And The Heroines, there’s plenty of music to be had this evening.
Taking to the stage an hour after doors are Kelsy Karter And The Heroines, our opening support for the evening. Coming on stage to a cover of Blondie’s ‘Call Me’, they quickly show they mean business and lack no amount of confidence.
They’re certainly not bad but the sound is a bit off and some of Karter’s higher pitched squeals do go through you a little at times, making it harder to appreciate them. Her vocal style probably sits a little closer to compatriot Brody Dalle than tonight’s headliner Lzzy Hale but it’s pretty good and she does show a good level of versatility with what she does.
There’s a cover of Aerosmith’s ‘Cryin’ about halfway into their set, which gets a decent response but the audience are fairly muted apart from, despite several proddings from Karter. The standing fills up a decent amount during their set and there are some cheers and applause at the end for a decent set – just a pity the sound feels off for their set, which maybe stops them putting themselves across quite as well as they could.
Next up and our main support are Bloodywood, who we covered headlining The O2 Ritz, Manchester earlier this year, back up to their old tricks.
They also have some sound issues during their first song, to the point it’s difficult to make out vocals, though this is fully fixed by the time they get to the end of their third track. There’s also quite the difference from the bluesy rock of the night’s previous support with Bloodywood, though one that seems to have more fans around the arena, as far more heads seem to be banging away through the punishing metalcore set. The lights also step up, keeping pace with the pulsating riffs and giving much more than just backing lighting now.
They start with fan favourite ‘Gadaar’, which is somewhat unfortunate given the sound issues at that point. We do get our first mosh pit of the night to it though, too. ‘Bekhauf’, the duet with Babymetal from newest album ‘Nu Delhi’, is about halfway through the set, giving us a circle pit on the busying standing section.
There are definitely louder and more frequent reactions now, not just due to the growing audience, which shows how much pull Bloodywood do have around Manchester. The only minor downside is having started with ‘Gadaar’, given those initial issues, that would have been the perfect finisher instead of ‘Machi Bhasad’. Given almost all of the 2/3 full floor decided to bounce to it, probably not the worst choice either, though!
Finally, following a slew of Black Sabbath songs between bands, Halestorm take to the stage behind a giant curtain, playing the intro to the song Black Sabbath. The sound is absolutely spot on from the start, thankfully, this time and the audience are very quickly singing loudly along. The stage show, with lights, pyro and smoke machines are in force from early un the set too, providing much more still than you get from too many rock bands any more.
Even as get into the second song proper, long term fan favourite ‘I Miss The Misery’, Hale demonstrates her exceptional vocal skills with a screamed intro more akin to Maynard James Keenan in a couple of Tool songs. It’s been a thought as to whether the swift switches between screeches and her sultry soft cleans are putting a strain on her voice. Again thankfully, there is zero sign of that, without even the slightest falter or sign of pain as the remarkable frontwoman shows just how good she truly is.
While both ‘I Miss The Misery’ and ‘Love Bites (And So Do I)’ are very early in the set, there’s a good mix of new and old material throughout. The sound is actually one of the best I’ve heard in this arena, despite how many years I’ve been coming here, the band are tighter than a particularly strong vice. It almost makes a mockery of the issues heard earlier, the differences heard. Another tribute rings out to Ozzy Osbourne himself in the encore, as ‘Perry Mason’ rings out after ‘I Am The Fire’ before ‘Here’s To Us’ brings us home.
Tonight just feels like you’ve seen one of the very best front people still touring and creating music. Hale and co are absolutely with the likes of Alice Cooper in terms of both ability in songwriting, live playing and that feeling that you just cannot draw your eyes away from Lzzy. A genuinely superb headline set.
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- All photos © Hannah Ross/Über Röck 2025.