Tag Archives: Metal Bands

REVIEW: Halestorm and I Prevail Bring High-Octane Performances to Arizona Financial Theatre (8-16-24)

PHOENIX — Halestorm and I Prevail brought their co-headlining tour to Arizona Financial Theatre last Friday night, delivering a night of unforgettable performances. With Halestorm taking the final slot this evening, the packed crowd was treated to a high-energy show. Hollywood Undead and Fit for a King added their own powerful sets to the lineup, making the night a standout for rock and metal fans. 

Fit for a King

The mindblowing evening started with the American metalcore band from Tyler, Texas, Fit for a King (FFAK). The band members—Ryan Kirby (vocals), Bobby Lynge and Daniel Gailey (guitars), Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary (bass), and Trey Celaya (drums)—have been melting faces since 2007. They played a blistering eight-song set that fired up the crowd, even igniting a circle pit among the general admission audience in front of the stage.

Ryan Kirby of Fit for a King singing live in Phoenix
Ryan Kirby (Vocalist), Hollywood Undead
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Hollywood Undead

Up next was the American rap rock band, Hollywood Undead, formed in 2005 in sunny Los Angeles, California. The current lineup includes Jorel “J-Dog” Decker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Dylan “Funny Man” Alvarez (vocals), George “Johnny 3 Tears” Ragan (vocals, bass), Jordon “Charlie Scene” Terrell (vocals, guitar), Danny Murillo (vocals, keyboards, guitar), and finally, Matt “The Cat” Oloffson (drums).

Danny Murillo of Hollywood Undead singing live in Phoenix
Danny Murillo (Vocalist), Hollywood Undead
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

They recreated the “Cali” vibe with four light-up palm trees on stage, two trash fire barrels, and a cardboard sign hanging from the keyboard with “Hotel Kalifornia” handwritten on it. Hotel Kalifornia is their most recent album, released in August of 2022.

George "Johnny 3 Tears" Ragan singing live in Phoenix
George “Johnny 3 Tears” Ragan (Vocalist, Bassist), Hollywood Undead
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Hollywood Undead’s twelve-song set kicked off with “California Dreaming,” and by the third song, the fully-engaged crowd headbanged to “Riot” with contagious energy spreading like wildfire. The band threw beach balls into the crowd, which bounced above the audience as they rocked out. Right before starting the song, “Comin’ In Hot,” they brought up an eleven-year-old girl from the audience to jam on stage with them. Concertgoers sang and danced along to their cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” and Hollywood Undead wrapped up their set with “Bullet” and “Undead.” 

I Prevail

The third band to take the stage was I Prevail, a rock band from Southfield, Michigan. The current band members are Brian Burkheiser (clean vocals), Eric Vanlerberghe (unclean and clean vocals), Steve Menoian (lead guitar), Dylan Bowman (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Gabe Helguera (drums), and Jon Eberhard (bass, keyboards).

Eric Vanlerberghe of I Prevail singing live in Phoenix
Eric Vanlerberghe (Vocalist), I Prevail
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

They rose in popularity in 2013 after releasing a metal cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” on YouTube. Since then, they have released three studio albums, with their single “Bow Down” earning a Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance” in 2019, and their album Trauma receiving one for “Best Rock Album” that same year.

When they took the stage, the venue shook—like literally shook. It made eardrums buzz, hearts race, and it knocked old confetti from past concerts down from the rafters to gently fall onto the crowd below.

Brian Burkheiser of I Prevail performing in Phoenix
Brian Burkheiser (Vocalist), I Prevail
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

I Prevail started with a video of an anonymous speaker talking about fear before starting “There’s Fear in Letting Go.” Vanlerberghe told the crowd that it’s been ten years since the band dropped their cover of Swift’s song, and they hate singing it, but they added it to the setlist for the fans. Everyone cheered and threw up their horns.

Closeup of Eric Vanlerberghe of I Prevail singing live in Phoenix
Eric Vanlerberghe (Vocalist), I Prevail
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Before playing “Breaking Down,” Vanlerberghe got personal with the audience, talking about how he is doing well in therapy and to talk to someone if you need to. That mental health is important. I Prevail gave the crowd everything they had, just as they promised.

Halestorm

Wrapping up the heavy metal night was Halestorm, the American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, formed in 1997 by lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale and her brother, drummer Arejay Hale. Other members include Joe Hottinger as guitarist and Josh Smith as bassist.

Lzzy Hale (Vocalist, Guitarist), Halestorm
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Grammy-Award winning Halestorm introduced their set with Lzzy singing an a capella “Raise Your Horns” before launching into “I Miss the Misery.” She shows no reserve for showcasing her unparalleled vocals, with an almost-menacing, growling belt prominently featured from start to finish. She figuratively blew the roof off the venue, jaws dropping, during the “I Get Off” interlude of Heart’s “Crazy On You.”

Lzzy Hale (Vocalist, Guitarist), Halestorm
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Lzzy addressed the crowd: “It’s for all the letters that you’ve given me, all of the love online, you guys just standing out here singing every word. I can’t believe it, man, I can’t believe it. It blows my mind. So, this one is for all of you tonight, this is called, ‘Familiar Taste of Poison’”. They played the long-beloved song from their first album, self-titled Halestorm.

Lzzy Hale (Vocalist, Guitarist), Halestorm
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Also in support of mental health, Halestorm has teamed up with the mental health organization Sound Mind Live to encourage fans to pledge their support, helping to fund free mental health programs that will be available to communities across the country.

Drummer Arejay Hale of Halestorm performing in Phoenix
Arejay Hale (Drummer), Halestorm
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

The band members’ percussive skills were on display as they played a taiko-style mid-set drum ensemble. Lzzy’s in-your-face stage presence admirably dominated throughout the night, and she delighted with moves such as a backbend contorting her body down to the floor as she shredded on her guitar.

Lzzy Hale (Vocalist, Guitarist), Halestorm
Photography:
Katherine Amy Vega © All Rights Reserved

Vanlerberghe rejoined the stage to sing the duet of “can u see me in the dark?” with Lzzy. Halestorm wrapped up the night with “Mz. Hyde” and “The Steeple.” Fans were left with ringing ears and giant smiles as all departed the venue into the blazing Phoenix night.

View Setlists

Photo Galleries

Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega

View Separately:
Halestorm  | I Prevail  | Hollywood Undead  | Fit for a King

Halestorm, I Prevail, Hollywood Undead, & Fit for a King – Arizona Financial Theatre 8-16-24

Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.

REVIEW: Babyklok Tour 2023: An Unforgettable Night of Metal Madness with Dethklok and BABYMETAL in Phoenix (10-10-23)

PHOENIX — On a mild mid-October evening, with the first signs of fall evident throughout town – as seen in the changing colors of license plates, and the exchange of the brutal dry heat for a slightly less intense dry warmth – a crowd assembled at Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix. Next to fine examples of how architecture should not look (brutalist architecture is the unsalted saltine cracker of the construction world) sits the theater. The crowd gathered here this evening had braved the traffic and lack of downtown parking to bear witness to a metal show like no other: Dethklok and BABYMETAL teaming up as co-headliners on the “Babyklok” tour, with Jason Richardson opening the show up. Dethklok – a fictional band that is surprisingly very real – was touring in support of their newest album, Dethalbum IV, and the new movie Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar. BABYMETAL was touring in support of the latest album The Other One, released earlier this year. 

Jason Richardson

Jason Richardson took the stage first. Richardson first broke into the music industry at 17, when he took over for Chris Storey in All Shall Perish in 2009. Since then, he has played in Born of Osiris, Chelsea Grin, and currently plays in All That Remains, filling the massive hole left when Oli Herbert mysteriously and tragically passed away in 2018. He has toured as a solo act, and puts on an absolute masterpiece of a solo show. He played for around half an hour, playing a total of 7 songs, including “Tendinitis” and “Ishimura”.

BABYMETAL

BABYMETAL
BABYMETAL
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

The history of BABYMETAL is an interesting look into the culture and entertainment of Japan. Formed in 2010 with then-13-year-old Suzuka Nakamoto (stage name Su-metal) as the lead singer, 11-year-old Moa Kikuchi (stage name Moametal), and 11-year-old Yui Mizuno (stage name Yuimetal), the group was a subunit of a group named Sakura Gakuin. Yuimetal left in 2018 due to an illness, and was replaced in 2023 by one of their back-up dancers, Momoko Okazaki (known as Momometal). The idea was to fuse the Japanese idol genres with heavy metal, with the result being a new type of metal called “kawaii metal”. There is a very strong J-pop sound to the vocals, layered over thunderous, earth-shaking metal music.

BABYMETAL executing precise choreography
BABYMETAL
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

This is combined with choreography that has near military-like precision, with the trio seldom, if ever, being out of sync. The show is equal parts entertaining and organized chaos, and BABYMETAL fans enjoy every second of it.

The chaos began at exactly 8 p.m., with the words “BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2023” coming up on the massive screen behind the band. The introduction drew inspiration from Star Wars, with the opening lines being ‘A long time ago in a heavy metal galaxy far, far away,’ followed by a tale of how the FOX GOD chose the heavy metal spirits to make up the band. At the conclusion, the band erupted into a riff that would make Rammstein proud. Even with the band attempting to rearrange the molecules of the audience members with a sustained sonic blast, the cheers from the crowd could still be heard.

BABYMETAL with a bursting, sparkling image on a backing screen
BABYMETAL
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

BABYMETAL has released 4 albums over the years, starting with 2014’s BABYMETAL, 2016 saw the release of Metal Resistance, 2019 brought Metal Galaxy and earlier this year the band released The Other One. They leaned heavily on BABYMETAL, opening the show up with “BABYMETAL DEATH”, and following that up with “Gimme Chocolate!!”.

BABYMETAL dancing while shrouded in blue light
BABYMETAL
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

Su-metal and the band said little beyond greeting the audience and giving instructions that were eagerly followed, such as having the crowd turn their phone lights on, getting low (which, in most cases, simply meant taking a seat before jumping back up), and a couple of other actions. While little was said, it is clear that the band has mastered the art of stage presence and crowd interaction. It should also be noted that unlike many recent metal concerts, there was a circle pit from the jump at this show. Watching the dynamics of said pit when the screen showed an overhead view of the audience was also an interesting study. Watching fully grown men slam into each other at full speed while listening to kawaii metal is not something I thought I would write about.

Dethklok

Dethklok logo on the backing screen at their concert
Dethklok
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

Dethklok answers the question, “What would happen if Weird Al were a metalhead who decided to write NSFW lyrics?” The answer is a bizarre and yet utterly enjoyable hour-long show. The birth of Dethklok came in 2006, when Metalocalypse premiered on Adult swim. The fictional band would soon release a very real album – The Dethalbum – in 2007, which shot to number 21 on the Billboard top 200 list. Lead singer and founder Brendon Small played all the instruments from 2006 until he was joined in 2007 by Gene Hoglan, one of the greatest metal drummers to ever grace the stage.

Dethklock performs at Arizona Financial Theatre
Dethklok
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

While the premise may seem a bit odd to an outsider, don’t be fooled. It is pure, silly, and rather metal fun. The show begins with the band members walking to their positions in backlit darkness. Then, the screen behind them plays scenes from the Metalocalypse TV show, including scenes from the full-length movie Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar, which was released on August 22nd of this year, while the real-life band performs. If you are not familiar with the show, it can be summed up as an over the top world where the fictional band accidently murders thousands of people with every show, and is also a massive economic powerhouse, but they can’t buy groceries or cook a meal due to their incompetence.

Dethklok with an animation with gravestones on the screen behind the band
Dethklok
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

None of that previous sentence is made up, and the over the top moments mixed with the over the top songs attracted a die-hard following that happened to have quite a crossover into the BABYMETAL fanbase. This should be no surprise, as both bands produce some face-meltingly amazing metal, with a twist.

Oh, and Facebones, an animated skull featured in concerts and the TV show, serves as a well-intentioned character, often tasked with providing guidance and explanations, but invariably finds himself unable to convey valuable information before things inevitably go completely off the rails. He makes a couple of appearances, reminding the audience about concert etiquette, such as the importance of not indulging in excessive pot smoking, as no one wishes to take on the role of caretaker.

It gets very weird very quickly, but that seems to be par for the course considering one of the song names is “I Ejaculate Fire,” with an incredibly bizarre music video that redefines the idea of how destructive an STD can truly be.

Dethklok appearing as a silhouette with a large fiery screen above them
Dethklok
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

Your aunt is likely to pray for your immortal soul upon discovering your attendance at a Dethklok concert. You might feel a tad confused and uncomfortable, but the music is undeniably absurd in the best possible way, with a real-life band producing some of the finest metal sounds you’ll ever encounter. Just don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics, or you might realize you’ve been headbanging to a coffee jingle. Not that anyone could fault you; “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle” is undeniably a banger that leaves you uncertain about whether to charge through a wall to get some coffee or flee, especially since the video playing behind the band strongly suggests the brand has mistaken “waking up” for “burning alive in a pool of superheated coffee.”

Dethklok performs in front of a large crowd of fans
Dethklok
| Photography:
Rodrigo Izquierdo © All Rights Reserved

The Babyklok tour ended on October 12 in the Los Angeles area, and while BABYMETAL will continue on with another touring partner in Europe, fans will have to wait for Dethklok to announce their next steps. It is, after all, a concept band that just released a film to conclude the Metalocalypse era and has wrapped up their first tour in 11 years. The fandom can only hope to see another tour or two, but if there are no more, it would be difficult to argue against the idea that they truly exited stage left on a high note.

Photo Gallery

Photographer: Rodrigo Izquierdo

View Separately

Dethklok & BABYMETAL – Arizona Financial Theatre 10-10-23

Photography © Reagle Photography
All Rights Reserved