Halestorm, Redlight King, & Stars In Stereo came to Terminal 5, NYC on black Friday November 29th. Just in time for the holiday rush the tour is an end of the year wrap up hitting a list of cities leading to a week before Christmas. While the streets of Manhattan were packed with shoppers looking for deals on gifts a nice crowd of rock fans gathered in Terminal 5 to catch this kick ass rock n roll show. Overall the crowd was a mix of young and old; the place was more then half way packed.
Popping the champagne open for the rock celebration were Los Angeles, Ca band Stars In Stereo. This band has had a busy 2013 with extensive touring they have been around the country with Flyleaf, Drowning Pool, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Veil Brides to name a few. Led by Bec Hollcraft the group is proving to be one of the hardest working rock bands in the business. They came onto to the stage looking to make a statement to this crowd providing a lively performance from start to finish. Hollcraft voice was strong and reached the three level venue with ease. Guitarist Jordan McGraw and bassist Frogs McCormack provided an electrify rock sound and performance jumping around the stage looking to light up the audience. Drew Langan (drums) didn’t let up on his drum kit with a hard hitting display. The crowd responded extremely well to their performance with plenty of movement, hands in the air, and cheers. All the touring is starting to pay off for the band judging by the fan base which knew exactly who they were. Tracks like “Every Last Thing”, “Dealing Secrets”, and “Broken” showed newcomers that Stars In Stereo are a band to noticed. Their debut album Stars In Stereo is out now and worthy of adding to your collection.
After a bit of relax time Redlight King took the stage. This Canadian rock band is somewhat of an inspiration. There relentless pursue to forefill their rock n roll has lead them to new heights. After the release of their debut Something for the Pain (2011) the band picked up a great deal of airplay and started to become a known name amongst rock fans. Now 2 years later the band releases Irons In The Fire which is acclaimed by new and old fans a like.
Lead by Mark Kasprzyk, better known as Kazzer, Redlight King took the stage with grace. With a cool collective mix of rock and smoothly delivered rap vocals Kazzar and company really set a mood. Mixing it up with older tracks like and “Comeback” and “Built To Last” and newer ones like “Redemption” and “Critical” things flowed with ease. Kazzar voice had such a raw power which really assimilated with fans. Each word he sang and rapped were given such emotion in infliction and facial expression. They closed things out with two of their most popular tracks “Born To Rise” and “Bullet In My Hand”. If you are a fan of well done rock crafted with rap Redlight King are a band worth giving a listen.
The time had come for one of hard rocks brightest stars in Halestorm to rock Terminal 5. Rising to rock stardom has been a interesting thing to watch for this Philadelphia based band. With a good deal of airplay and success with their debut, Halestorm (2009), the band capitulated to the next level with The Strange Case Of..(2012) . Not only did the bunch become known in the hard rock scene but their talents were acknowledged with a Grammy award for the best hard rock/metal performance back in February. Now on the heels of releasing ReAniMate 2.0 (2013) cover’s EP Halestorm are keeping the winds blowing.
Lzzy Hale took the stage to a roaring ovation. The sing along nature of “Love Bites (So Do I)” and “Mz Hyde” started things off in grand fashion. Lzzy looked magnificent as usual walking about the stage in stillettos like it was no thing. Her grace and confidence transcends a powerful message to females in the rock world as she thrashed out on guitar while belting out track after track. Not taking the foot of the accelerated they went into “It’s Not You”. Joe Hottinger jammed through each tune providing a wall of guitar sound. Songs like “Freak Like Me” had the audience moving on the floor and those in the mezzanines dancing. The energy level remained high through “Daughters of Darkness” and “Rock Show”.
The set mixed in some of the great cover tracks off ReAniMate 2.0 including “Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac and “Dissident Aggressor” by Judas Priest. The younger generation may not be as familiar with the original recordings of these songs but Halestorm do them justice in their takes on these classics. It’s nice to see a band paying respect to the history of rock n roll with such well done covers.
As the evening went on Arejay Hale gave the rest of the band a short break with a fun attention keeping drum solo. The drum solo didn’t seem to break up any mojo going at all as the band continued with a mix of hard hitting tracks. Things closed out with the track that started it all for Halestorm back in 2009 with “I Get Off”. When the song first hit rock radio it immediately grabbed the attention of listeners and the live performance is just as impressive and fun.
Showing love and appreciate to Halestorm fans cheered asking for an encore and of course their wish was granted. The encore started out with the hard rocking cover of Daft Punk song “Get Lucky”. The bass provided by Josh Smith had the fans on the floor bouncing. The song gave off a party like vibe and fueled an already great evening. If you thought that was height of it all you are mistake because Halestorm saved the best for last with “I Miss The Misery”. Lzzy voice reached elevated heights with this track and impressively so this late in the set. Fans screamed loudly loving every minute of it all. All things must come to an end and in Halestorm did so rightful with the track “Here’s To Us”.
Halestorm were nothing less than specular and filled a long set with plenty of highs and lows. 2013 was a big year for the band and at this rate 2014 will be even bigger. Here’s to Halestorm!
Lzzy continues to prove she has one hell of a voice, screaming each note out with perfect pitch. Even an older gentlemen was movein gorovin as if he was in a dance club to Halestorms music in the back of the house. Halestorm had some famous musicains in the house watching them, one of them was Mike Orlando from Adrenalin Mob who came to simple enjoy.
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