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CONCERT REVIEW - HALESTORM WITH I PREVAIL, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD, AND FIT FOR A KING @ ARIZONA FINANCIAL THEATRE, PHOENIX, AZ (08.16.24)

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Picture this. Your favorite band announces their next tour. You’re beyond excited to see them. You go to check the tour dates, and your town isn’t listed. Now your excitement has been replaced with sadness and despair. But then you notice, the band is playing only one state over, and it’s only a six hour drive to get there. So, you and a couple friends pack the car, and hit the road. This was my exact experience when Halestorm announced their latest tour with co-headliner I Prevail. Halestorm has been a unicorn in my life, as whenever they happen to be in town, something always comes up and I must miss the show. I wasn’t gonna let them not coming to California stop me this time, as it’d been too long since I last saw them. My friends OJ, Bri, and myself hit the road to take on Arizona’s 111 degree weather for a bill that also featured Hollywood Undead and Fit for a King. This tour was too good of a lineup to have a six hour drive stop me from enjoying some of my favorite music.

Opening this stacked tour was Texas metalcore fan favorites Fit for a King. What I love about this band is the energy they all carry on stage. Vocalist Ryan Kirby has a vicious roar that carries a bite that will rip your head off. Bassist Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary is a bouncing jackrabbit on stage who spends more time flying through the air than standing on the ground. The man finds any surface he can to launch himself off of while still managing to pluck away on his instrument. Guitarist Daniel Gailey blends melodic rhythms with piercing guitar licks, and joins O’Leary in the skies throughout the show. Drummer Trey Celaya is bombastic behind the kit as he unleashes flurry after flurry of double-kick patterns. Fit for a King made their time count with a setlist of bangers that included “Keeping Secrets,” “Breaking the Mirror,” “Falling Through the Sky,” “End (The Other Side),” “Reaper,” “Technium,” “When Everything Means Nothing,” and ending with “God of Fire.”  The crowd was amped up, and ready to let loose for the rest of the night.

Even though I was in Arizona, the next band was taking me home. Hollywood Undead brought their beach party vibes to the Arizona desert. Kicking off their set with “California Dreaming” as I was transported home singing along with the band. Not just me, but the whole crowd could have sung this show themselves. The Arizona Financial Theatre was turned into a karaoke lounge, and the only tracks being played were Hollywood Undead. The boys of the band which features co-vocalists Jorel “J-Dog” Decker, Dylan “Funny Man” Alvarez, George “Johnny 3 Tears” Ragan, Jordan “Charlie Scene” Terrell, and Danny Murillo planted plastic LED palm trees around the stage and had a cardboard sign next to the DJ table that read Hotel Kalifornia. The band created a fun frat boy party house vibe where the only two rules were to drink and have fun. Hollywood Undead even made a special moment for a very young fan who they brought on stage to help introduce the song “Another Way Out.” Charlie Scene even tried to get her to scream “Mother Fucker” into the mic, but she adorably didn’t do it. This party was kept rolling through all of their songs like “CHAOS,” “Riot,” “Everywhere I Go,” “Renegade,” “Comin’ in Hot,” “Ruin My Life,” “Hear Me Now,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Bullet,” and playing “Undead” for the last call song. Though Hollywood Undead’s party was ending, the fans were ready to keep raging for the rest of the night.

As this was a co-headliner, it was a gamble on who might be coming out next as the bands had been switching off closing spots all tour. That’s when the giant LCD screens on stage lit up with the I Prevail logo, and we were ready to rock with them. Before the band could even hit the stage, the fans crowd surfed a wheelchair bound fan up and over the barricade. Security caught him safely and the fan was cheered like a true star. I Prevail then hit the stage with “There’s Fear in Letting Go.” Drummer Gabe Helguera sat atop the LCD screens with his kit and built up the anticipation banging away on his kit before unclean vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe came in with his growls. Vanlerberghe’s deeper vocals helps to build the power and strength behind I Prevails songs. But when clean vocalist Brian Burkheiser comes in with his melodic vocals, it releases all the pent-up energy that has been built up. It is a roller coaster ride listening to the ebb and flow that is created by Vanlerberghe and Burkheiser’s vocal trade off. Lead guitarist Steve Menoian and rhythm guitarist Dylan Bowman help to bring the heaviness to I Prevail’s sound with their mix of drive, distortion, and crunchy guitar licks. Burkheiser even took a moment to talk to the crowd about mental health and to not be too proud to just go and see a therapist for help before going into the song “Breaking Down.” Vanlerberghe also mentioned that as most of the tour had been in seated venues, he was happy that this place had room for a mosh pit, and would constantly call for the pit to spin faster throughout the set which featured “Body Bag,” “Self-Destruction,” “Bad Things,” “Blank Space,” “Deep End,” “Visceral,” “FWYTYK,” “Judgement Day,” “Choke,” “Hurricane,” “Bow Down,” and ending on the rage filled “Gasoline.” I Prevail brought their same headlining energy to the penultimate spot on this show, and the crowd was still ready for more.

As much as I am a fan of I Prevail, I was over the moon to be getting to send this show home with Halestorm being our closer tonight. As the band sauntered on stage, the crowd cheered for our headliners. But it wasn’t till vocalist and rhythm guitarist Lzzy Hale screamed the opening line from their first song “I Miss the Misery” that the crowd became unglued. The song had barely begun, and the fans were already in a state of pure ecstasy from the drug known as Lzzy Hale. Though Lzzy is the frontwoman, and often spotlighted as the main member of the band, when on stage Halestorm is a four piece rock band. Her brother and drummer Arejay Hale was behind the kit donning vibrant green hair and a white & black pinstripe suit, looking like Beetlejuice. Arejay could barely be contained back there as he was non stop throwing in stick tricks and exaggerated arm movements, bringing just as much of a show to the crowd as Lzzy. Lead guitarist Joe Hottinger is often seen linking up with Lzzy to trade off guitar riffs, and even spotlighted plenty with the solo’s he throws into the songs. Bassist Josh Smith is grooving on his axe, as he helps to enhance Arejay’s drumline.

Something you don’t get to see very often anymore with more modern bands is a drum solo. But Arejay took the time to show off his chops. Even pulling out oversized drumsticks that had to be at least three feet tall each. This drum solo culminated in the entire band walking out with a drum each and going into a marching band style drum performance that took the whole crowd by surprise. Halestorm and I Prevail recently released a new song they wrote together, as Eric Vanlerberghe was welcomed back on stage to help perform “can u see me in the dark?” Vanlerberghe & Lzzy’s vocals paired like oreo’s and milk to the ears. Other songs played included “Love Bites (So Do I),” “I Get Off,” “Freak Like Me,” “I Am the Fire,” “Familiar Taste of Poison,” “Takes MY Life,” “Back From the Dead,” “Mz. Hyde,” and allowing everyone to enter and worship the church of Halestorm by ending with the song “The Steeple.” As the band set down their instruments and came to the foot of the stage for a bow, no one was ready for this night to be over. This night was more than most of us could had hoped for, and though we had to face the reality of the real world again. We had a few short hours to forget about every trivial thing and just let love take over us.

I drove to Arizona with two friends who had heard of the bands playing this night but were not too familiar. They just said ‘screw it, let’s go” as they thought a trip to Arizona would be fun regardless of the bands playing. Though we listened to the bands on the drive there, and they had enjoyed the music, it was the live performances that truly won them over and instantly made them fans of all four bands. To those of us that are frequently going to concerts, we understand the power of a live performance, but we can’t always express it in words to others. Getting to see my friends OJ & Bri gush over the show and how amazing these artists are, helped remind me in real time just how powerful live music is. Even if your favorite band may not be playing your city, it can always be worth it to just jump in the car and hit the road to see them somewhere else. 

Matt Martinez

Editor - Orange County

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