Review: Halestorm Boldly Play Nearly Entire New Album In New Jersey

0
136

If there’s anything more intimidating for musicians than waiting to see how the public is going to receive a new album – it’s waiting to see how the public is going to receive hearing the new songs live. Halestorm boldly tackled this head on the other night at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

After the original May 12thdate had to be postponed because the STORM was too dangerous for the venue (ha, get it?), the performance was well worth the wait. Vicious, the group’s fourth full-length album, was released just under two weeks ago on July 27th. By the end of the night, they had performed not two, not three – but EIGHT out of twelve new songs.

The crowd kept up the same energy for the new ones as they did for anthems like “Love Bites (So Do I),” “Freak Like Me,” and “I Miss the Misery,” despite not seeming familiar enough with the words to sing along. Lzzy’s voice was on point as usual, hitting every note (even the ones that sound nonhuman) while Joe, Josh, and Arejay shredded and pounded until the very last minute.

As for highlights, we were stumped when Lzzy began singing “I Get Off,” only to serve as the intro for their latest single “Do Not Disturb” instead. If she can tease a crowd like that, one can only imagine….nevermind. Let’s keep this PG.

The crowd also responded positively to the softer moments like “Heart of Novacaine” and “The Silence.” Lighters went up in the air and the surrounding couples all pulled each other closer. The set closed out with the warm-hearted “Here’s to Us,” and everyone seemed very happy to chant “Tell ‘em go fuck themselves! Here’s to us!”

Halestorm recently added a third leg of their U.S. tour with New Years Day and In This Moment, definitely catch one of the shows if you can.

Read Alternative Nation’s review of Vicious here, and our interview with Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger here.