On a sweltering Monday night on August 4th, Volbeat and Halestorm brought the Greatest of All Tours Worldwide to Tampa, Florida’s Mid Florida Credit Union Amphitheater, for a celebration of melodic hard rock. With the venue’s roof still missing since being damaged by Hurricane Milton last year, most fans had no shelter from the oppressive heat, but that did little to detract from a fun night.
California metalcore band The Ghost Inside started the night with a short set of songs light on melody but heavy on bludgeoning beats, down-tuned riffs, and throaty screams. They were heavy, aggressive, and a bit polarizing among the fans.
Next, Pennsylvania rockers Halestorm delivered a set that deftly balanced heavy riffs with beautiful melodies. The intensity of the metal-influenced guitars, combined with Lzzy Hale’s powerful vocals and anthemic sing-along choruses, made for a dynamic set. The setlist focused on songs from the upcoming Everest, which drops on Friday, and the 2012 sophomore LP The Strange Case Of…
Heavier songs like the set-opening “Fallen Star” and the fiery “WATCH OUT” showed that Halestorm can crank out enough head-banging moments to satisfy a crowd of metalheads. Throughout the show, Hale owned the stage with a rock swagger and a strong voice belted over the pounding rhythms.
In softer moments, like the bluesy “Like a Woman Can” and the power ballad “Darkness Always Wins,” the band displayed its penchant for intricate melodies that showcased Hale’s husky, soulful voice that carried the weight of the songs’ emotions. In some songs, Hale alternated between guitar and keyboards.
The atmosphere of Halestorm’s performance was that of a big party. “There’s a lot of sweaty fresh meat in the house,” Hale said after acknowledging the fans seeing them for the first time. The band took shots onstage as a toast to the fans before playing the twangy ballad “Here’s to Us.”
Though the charismatic Hale stole the show, the rest of the band was in top form. The rhythm section of bassist Josh Smith and drummer Arejay Hale, Lzzy’s brother, laid down feisty beats and infectious grooves. Lead guitarist Joe Hottinger shredded through blazing solos, most notably on “Everest” and “Amen,” which closed with extended dueling solos from Hottinger and Hale. With a set full of soulful melodies, riff-heavy rockers like “Rain Your Blood on Me,” and crowd-pleasing rockers like “Love Bites” and “I Get Off,” Halestorm expertly set the stage for the headliners.
“We came all the way from little Denmark,” said Volbeat singer Michael Poulsen. “I don’t know how you live in this heat.” The Danish rockers did their part to heat up the amphitheatre with their unique blend of metal, pop punk, rockabilly, and retro rock & roll. Volbeat’s set drew heavily from its new album, God of Angels Trust, and 2016’s breakthrough Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie, but also featured songs from six other albums.
Like Halestorm, Volbeat’s music got heavy at times, but always carried accessible melodies. Poulsen sang over the eclectic music with his distinctive crooning drawl that channels Elvis Presley and James Hetfield. The heaviest songs, like the ferocious thrash of “Demonic Depression” and the driving hard rock of “Die to Live,” provided ample head-banging metal bliss. The hook-laden “A Warrior’s Call” showcased Poulsen and Flemming C. Lund’s infectious guitar riffs behind a propulsive start-and-stop beat from drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen.
Volbeat’s dynamic songs frequently shifted tempos, volume, and intensity, like “Shotgun Blues,” which featured heavy chugging verses and pop-rock choruses. “Last time we were here, I remember you liked Johnny Cash,” Paulsen said. After leading the crowd in a sing-along of the first verse of Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” he introduced Volbeat’s own “Sad Man’s Tongue” with a confession. “I stole this next song from Johnny Cash. At least, I admit it. I’m an honest thief.” The song did sound like Cash, if he had ever formed a hard rock band.
Poulsen joked around with the crowd between songs, as when he noticed a fan wearing an old Volbeat shirt. “That’s an old shirt. Thank you. You got that in Denmark?” he asked. At one point, he tried to get the crowd to remember the full title of the new rockabilly song “In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom.” He also reminded everyone not to take the dark subject matter of the apocalyptic song seriously. “Don’t believe in all that crap. We all know the real devils are the ones we see on TV,” he said. “Actually, he’s a nice goat. His name is Thorn.”
After playing a dozen songs that melded punishing metal riffs with artistic melodies in varying tempos, Volbeat went to a few straightforward rock & roll songs, “Black Rose,” “Seal the Deal,” and “For Evigt.” The latter gave the crowd some issues when singing along. “This song has a few Danish lines. You know Danish? Well, do your best,” Poulsen said.
For the last song, Volbeat invited a large group of children onstage. “What you’re seeing now is the next generation of metal music fans,” Poulsen said. The band then tore through an energetic but tamer rendition of the fan-favorite “Still Counting,” a ska punk song with a couple of rough thrash metal segments. Because of the children onstage with the band, Paulsen also changed the lyrics, singing “counting all the children in the room” instead of the original “counting all the assholes in the room.”
The children danced and head-banged along while the band played. Then Poulsen took time to greet each kid personally, the children left the stage, and the band finished the show with an outro featuring some of the heaviest riffs of the night. It was an apt finale for a show that juxtaposed the heavy with the melodic and the grotesque with the beautiful.
