Photo: Jay Russell

Live Review: An Evening With Halestorm – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

The ‘An Evening With’ style of show has become more popular over the past couple of years and Halestorm has opted for this for their return to live music from the pandemic. Originally planning on touring the whole of Europe, the Covid-19 restrictions, unfortunately, meant they had to cancel the majority of the dates however they still managed to play their UK dates. Here’s what went down on the final night of the tour at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

With no support on this tour, the band opened their show with a stripped back set to get the crowd warmed up. Opening with ‘Break In’ followed by ‘Dear Daughter’ it became quickly apparent that this opening set was a lot less serious and more of a laid back sort of affair. ‘Raise Your Horns’ went down well before ‘Familiar Taste Of Poison’ kicked the set up a notch higher. ‘Mz. Hyde’ was originally played partly in a more jazz esc style before the band went back and played it in a more standard manner, before dropping a cover of The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ to a huge reaction from the fans. To close out the set, the band opted to drop ‘Apocalyptic’ before teasing their electric set with the track ‘I Like It Heavy’.

Photo: Jay Russell

As Halestorm returned to the stage, something just didn’t quite feel right. During the first set, fans were understandably quite motionless and the volume of the fans singing didn’t quite hit the highs expected (Except for during the cover) but I assumed this was due to the stripped-back nature of the set. Unfortunately, it just seemed the crowd were not very lively at all. As for the band’s performance, right from the off with ‘Back From The Dead’ they were full of energy and you could visibly see the excitement on their faces. Notable moments throughout the early parts of the set were the performances of ‘I Get Off’ which briefly raised the volume of the crowd and while similarly ‘I Am The Fire’ echoed around the room during the song’s chorus but petered off.

Photo: Jay Russell

It was clear to me that the majority of fans were mainly there for a select few songs and that really hurt the overall experience of the show. To put on a set full of deep cuts and new material, you have to rely on the crowd being full of some of your most loyal supporters; However, the vibe around the room was more of a casual thing. This really showed during the drum solo as the first few rows were really into the theatrics however, the further back you went, it became almost silent. New track ‘The Steeple’ went down fairly well before the band’s encore started off a little off with the sing-along ‘Here’s To Us’ not getting the kind of reception one would expect before picking up for a powerful ending with ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’, ‘Black Vultures’, and fan-favourite ‘I Miss The Misery’.

I’d like to conclude this review by saying Halestorm put on a phenomenal set. The way the songs came out live was near perfection, with the band’s overall sound being mixed so well I believe it’s the best I’ve heard them yet. The real disappointment came from the lack of passion and excitement in and around the auditorium. Very limited movement was seen throughout the entire night and I can’t help but feel that a rock show struggles without the fans’ input of energy.

Photo: Jay Russell