Tuesday night the monster pairing of Halestorm and Villainy rolled into Melbourne Rock City, with a rock gig of a loud proportions to round out the year.
Halestorm playing the last show of the Aussie tour and their last show for 2019 and Villainy getting a call up after Black Stone Cherry were unable to take their slot on the tour.
I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Villainy prior to this tour and was left mighty impressed with their hooky and brash alternative rock. Yes, I know it’s easy to say because they come from across the pond in New Zealand, but I really couldn’t help but be reminded by their fellow NZ native rockers in Shihad /Pacifier. Massive riffs, some heavy moments and lot’s of melody infused in the songs that were heavily lifted from their recent album Raised In The Dark. A great opener and no doubt would have converted a lot of the packed house to check them out post-gig.
Halestorm in town for their second visit in 2019 having been here earlier in the year for Download Festival, delivered one kick-ass ROCK show. Tuesday night delivered a packed Forum Theatre, surely the best venue in Melbourne for a rock show? It was a brooding opener, with Do Not Disturb off the their latest album Vicious and for those in the front row, it was a delivery from Lzzy Hale that would have had them feeling like she was singing only for them.
The mayhemic Love Bites is my all-time fav Halestorm track and getting that so early on signified the band were not here to mess around. Halestorm are heavy on record, but seeing them live brings another whole level of heaviness and let’s get the elephant out of the room early – Lzzy Hale has an incredible set of pipes. Not many would outdo her on the ROCK stage. Wearing crazy high high high heel boots and a fishnetty see through tights outfit, Mz. Hyde was another one + one type delivery from Lzzy Hale.
Appreciation towards the Aussie fans was a-plenty during the show and I Get Off was intro’d with “I already told you I love you…well Melbourne I get off on you”. Coming to the tail end of their tour, the band were clearly tight, but loose all the same. No backing tracks or the like, just the confidence of being a shit hot rock band who can mix it with the best of them.
Familiar Taste of Poison/Amen, was welcomed with a haunting vocal intro, before descending into an extended jam and shred extravaganza. Trading licks and solos between Lzzy and lead guitarist Joe Hottinger. We were hit with some funky bass from Josh Smith, before Arejay Hale smashed his drum-kit with some of the biggest god damn drum sticks I’ve ever seen. With this being early on in the set, there was a drop in the crowd intensity and vibe after a kicking opening….but maybe it was just a generous gesture from the band for drinks and a rest before the steam-train brought things home for the 2nd half of the set.
Affectionately referring to the Halestorm crowd as the freaks, a perfect spoken word inrto was delivered for Uncomfortable, with Lzzy imploring the females in the crowd to dress how you want to dress, kiss who you want to kiss and make this whole world feel uncomfortable…”. What I said earlier about the band being far heavier live, well I spoke too soon, the intro to this one escalated things to a 15, forget 11…. Intense, but come on crowd, this song deserved a bit more intensity in return…? Maybe the collective crowd read my mind, for Freak Like Me got things jumping, a stellar song and one of the best moments of the night.
With lighters in the air from the crowd, I Am The Fire felt like Lzzy was only just getting into gear with that amazingly powerful voice of hers, a song that was perfectly placed, as for the encore it was Lzzy and just a keyboard. Rock Show, White Dress, Dear Daughter were delivered with amazing emotion, whilst I wasn’t expecting the end of this medley to be Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. In amongst the rock guttural screams and all round raw vocal performance, to then deliver some Whitney Houston with absolute aplomb, it’s an amazing show to the versatility to Lzzy’s rock vocal power.
In true end of tour style, Halestorm welcomed to the stage their new mates in Villainy to share some shots and deliver another set highlight with Here’s To Us, which was also dedicated to us amazing Melbourne fans, as well as realising the dream of touring Australia, something that a 10 year old Arejay and 13 year old Lzzy would talk about in the early days of the band. I Miss The Misery rounding out what was a rock show at it’s finest.
If you missed Halestorm this time around, then no doubt they’ll be back again soon. As one of the leading forces of keeping rock alive and with such a dedicated fan base here in Australia, can’t wait to catch them again next time around!
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Scott Smith: Lens Of Rock
