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Cardiff Utilita Arena
Thursday 20th November 2025
Review and photos – Danni Wilkins/Rob Wilkins
If there is one band we would crawl over hot coals to see whenever they are in the UK, it is Halestorm and the incomparable Lzzy Hale.
Our first encounter with them was at Download Festival in 2012 when Lzzy burst into our musical lives, and we have caught many tours and festival appearances ever since.
Tonight they are back with the “nEVEREST” tour, a new album with a very different production sound and their biggest stage show to date, and so we, along with a car full of fellow fans, drive the three hours from the far SW to see how it sounds live.
It is early doors, 6 pm in a major city, and when opening band Kelsey Karter and the Heroines take to the stage, the arena is still filling. Those who have made it are treated to a short but energetic set from the effervescent Ms Karter, who takes to the stage in a white lingerie ensemble and delivers a series of enjoyable and accessible songs. Listening before the show, the music sounded quite lightweight and poppy, but live took on more of an edge with the band, comprising of guitarist Matt Peach, bassist Tommy Gent, and drummer Sebastian Boyse, providing a solid foundation for Karter’s vocals and crowd interactions.
Opening with “God Knows I’ve Tried” and “Laser to the Heart”, Karter deals impressively with a microphone fail, switches between guitar and straight vocals, covers Aerosmith’s “Crying” in style and towards the end responds to a growing chant from the crowd with “That’s really sweet but can you shut the f*** up” to ensure that they get through the anthemic “Liquor Store on Mars” with much arm waving and a seriously impressive guitar solo. Great fun and a perfect start to the evening.
Then, the filling in the female vocal sandwich and the utter explosion of light, sound, and energy that is Bloodywood, I can honestly say it has been a long time since I have been so blown away by my first experience of a band! Mixing the alien yet eerily beautiful sounds of India with a modern and approachable take on nu metal and merging traditional instruments such as the dhol and flutes with crushing guitars, arena-shaking rhythm, and a twin vocalist attack, they grab attention from the first notes of “Gaddaar” to the dying notes of “Machi Bhasad (Expect a Riot)”.
Throughout the set, the band talks about how metal simply isn’t a thing in New Delhi and their gratitude for the support and welcome they are receiving, but it is a two-way street, and the now much bigger crowd revels in their introduction to something so new, so exciting, and so gloriously vibrant. Six songs, the most basic of introductions and far too brief, but I spent the entire set knowing I was witnessing the birth of something special. The three-hour journey home was spent immersing myself in their fuller catalogue and already looking forward to their set at Hellfest next year if that is my next opportunity to get another fix.
Finally, the reason we are all here, a white curtain shields the stage from view, and Lzzy Hale strikes a backlit pose to throw a teasing silhouette that elicits a huge roar. The curtain drops and the band surges into “Fallen Star” as the first of eight songs from “Everest” that show just how proud they are of the new work. That extraordinary voice then introduces “I Miss the Misery”, and I hold my breath as her roar begins. I have to breathe long before Lzzy does, and explosions of pyro and confetti bring visual mayhem and introduce the biggest staging the band have brought to the UK. I think I mishear as she says how good it is to be in Cambridge rather than Cardiff, but a repeat soon after, gleefully corrected by the band, shows the insane pace of the European tour.
“Love Bites (So Do I)” keeps up the pace, and my time in the pit comes to an end far too soon! “Watch Out” and “Uncomfortable” show that this isn’t just an evening with Lzzy though as Joe “The Storm” Hottinger shows how his talent has matured over the years each time he takes the limelight to solo (as well as the clear bond between himself and Lzzy evidenced in their smiles and lingering glances at each other), Arejay is a force to be reckoned with behind his kit and bassist Josh Smith may be the quiet one, but ensures that there is a full and layered structure that allows the others to shine.
It is, however, the voice, guitar, and keyboard skills of the multi-talented Ms Hale that shine and receive the adoration of a crowd with a higher percentage of female attendees than many. We are treated to “Perry Mason” as a tribute to Ozzy before two highlights from “Everest” in “Like a Woman Can” again showcasing that insane vocal power and “How Will You Remember Me?”. Lzzy’s intros of the band raise a smile as she describes Arejay as “shy” before a deliciously slow and raw intro to “I Get Off On You” with the crowd, and then a kneeling snippet of “Familiar Taste of Poison” that raises the hairs on the back of the neck.
“Rain Your Blood On Me” leads into Arejay’s chance to shine with his drum solo, complete with the big sticks before a series of classics to keep the energy levels up with “Freak Like Me” “Back From The Dead” and Lzzy and Joe donning double neck guitars as the auditorium fills with phone lights for “I Am the Fire” with full support from the impressive pyro.
“I Gave You Everything” ends the main element of the show with Lzzy on keys and the best Joe solo of the set, but the three song encore is an utter belter of all that Halestorm are and have been with the massive “Everest”, the catchy “Darkness Always Wins” and of course, to close, “Here’s To Us”, with confetti cannon punctuating the party anthem that provided the last song of my own and so many others wedding receptions.
As the elder statesmen of the festival scene retire, Halestorm are sitting there ready and waiting to take over. The pyro and staging adding to the majesty of the set rather than glossing over any lack of material or talent. It remains to be seen who will provide that opportunity, but the time is surely coming close.
