In the luxurious world of being a music writer, I've been fortunate enough to cover a lot of shows. But I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I signed on for Halestorm, Redlight King, and Stars in Stereo at Headliners last Wednesday night.
It surprisingly began with standing in line rivaling that of the campers at Best Buy before Black Friday. It was a sold-out crowd, so I shouldn't have been surprised. Five minutes into the wait, a taxi pulls up, and a young gent scurries over NOT to get in, but to take his 6 pack of beer from his trusted cab driver. most incredible thing happened about 5 minutes into the wait. That was a great move in about 35 degree weather. Once inside, the place was almost full and the first band, Stars in Stereo, took the stage.
Stars in Stereo had good sound, great enthusiasm; they were classic L.A. rocker (actually claiming L.A. as there hometown) types with a female spark plug singer, and overall great opening act. Now since I'm of the chatty type, everyone in the crowd I polled was there for Halestorm and some were even donning Halestorm t-shirts.
Redlight King came up next and the crowd was very receptive. As I noted in the preview, Redlight King has a cool rock/rap thing going on but the delivery was much better than I expected. Mostly a studio sound, meaning only slight variations from the albums, which is tough to do given the material. A lot of Kaz's (lead singer) writing comes from his past struggle with addiction I was quite hoping for When the Dust Settles Down, but gladly settled for a Bullet in My Hand encore. Quite a catchy tune and they crushed it. Kaz is mad humble too, I even chatted with him briefly after the show just to thank him for the hospitality and the set. Be sure and check out the new album 'Irons In the Fire' and latest single Born to Rise as looking forward to great things to come!
Halestorm came out with a bang, giving the crowd exactly what they were after. For me, Halestorm is little more hard rock, like Evanescence but much better vocals. More rock and less glam, Halestorm poured it on thick and by this time the crowd was good and sweaty. If hard rock is your thing, than all of these folks should be in your caravan to the promise land.
Photos: Max Sharp (penalty for thievery will include waiting in line for 1 hour plus, in sub freezing temperatures, without having access to a beer delivering taxi)
