(Live Review) I PREVAIL, HALESTORM + SUPPORT - Tinley Park, 7/21/24

By

The Beard & Little Johnny

Greetings friends, fans, and followers and welcome to another live concert review from your favorite duo The Beard & Little Johnny. Tonight, we attended show #42 and bands #152-155, (in Tinley Park, Illinois at the Credit Union One Amphitheater), where we checked out co-headliners Michigan’s hardcore act I Prevail and Pennsylvania’s alternative rock/metal act Halestorm, with support from L.A.’s rap rockers Hollywood Undead and the metalcore of Texas’s own Fit for a King.

Now, anyone who has attended an arena/amphitheater size show already knows the prices for everything are sky high, so Little Johnny and I decided to pre-game at the nearby Hailstorm brewery where we each had a flight of beers and split some Nachos for about the same price as a couple of cans of domestic at the arena. One positive at Credit Union One is they still were not charging to park (so long as you took the back lots), which is pretty unusual as most places soak every dime they can from the attendees. That said, we arrived in plenty of time to find our seats in row “K” which afforded a good view except that it seemed everyone around us was a giant so once they all stood up it became a pain to see clearly. Sometimes closer is not always better. In any event, as 6:00pm struck it was time for the show and Fit for a King took the stage.

FIT FOR A KING

With seven full length albums in their seventeen-year career, Fit for a King were certainly no novices to arena touring and opened the evening with fire and energy. Fit for a King have charted in the top hundred, (on the Billboard 200), their last five releases (including 2022’s “The Hell we Create”), but their strength and biggest audience share has always come from Christian metal fans. Although in some ways anathema to the typical imagery of heavy metal, Christian themes have existed throughout metal history including Trouble, Flyleaf, and most notably Stryper. There IS an audience for that style and Fit for a King has charted top five on the Christian rock charts each of their last five albums.

The “Ryan” duo of Ryan Kirby and Ryan O’Leary do the clear/yell back and forth singing common to the hardcore style. They played the first number, and then did their job as openers by promoting all the other bands on the bill before racing through the rest of their 35-minute set.

Given hardcore is not really a style I normally like, Fit for a King were in fact quite enjoyable. The songs got progressively heavier throughout the set, and guitarist Daniel Gailey had some serious moves, often whipping the guitar around his head by the strap with a fury that would have brained anyone getting in its path. Gailey also provided backing vocals and was the band workhorse as far as both visual and musical presence. Honestly, for an opening act playing alternative industrial Christian themed nu metal music, these guys were good, and both the lad and I enjoyed their set. 82/100

Next up from Los Angeles, it was ...

HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD  

Forming back in 2005, Hollywood Undead are a nu-metal/rap rock band. Coming on stage to the theme from “the good the bad and the ugly,” visually Hollywood Undead looked like a group of surfers and skaters joined up and decided to form a band. I counted seven guys wandering around the stage, but I could not tell if they were all actually band members or if a few were just there to jump around. The lyrics were clear, and it seemed everyone, but the drummer, was also contributing vocals, but their dance style metal mix did not work for me.

Conversely of course, Little Johnny thought this was awesome and got very into the rap metal stylings of “Let’s start a Riot” and I had to keep him from getting tossed early. The crowd was also very into this act, (I am not certain I want to actually use the term “band”), as largely this was just an excuse to get people who were already drinking and in a party mood to increase their jumping around. It worked with this young crowd, who danced and sang (sort of), with many of the songs. It also worked with Little Johnny and the imp was way into Hollywood Undead.

Hollywood Undead served their purpose on this tour (assuming that purpose was making noise that jacked up the crowd and warmed them up for the real bands yet to come.) While the Beard “will” respect the crowd, he will also say this, Hollywood Undead are the kind of band that should tour endless college campuses and frat parties full of testosterone laden wannabes and solo cup swilling beer pong players. Understand, I am not saying Hollywood Undead are not good at what they do, just that, on an arena stage metal tour, what they do doesn’t really need doing. I am going 79/100 purely out of respect for the hot enthusiastic crowd. Little Johnny on the other hand said, “Of course Grandpa Gandalf wouldn’t “get” these guys.” To each his own little dude.

HALESTORM      

Now, here is a band. Since their self-titled debut in 2009, Halestorm has earned respect through almost relentless touring. Averaging almost 250 shows a year, in the last fifteen years this band has hit the stage over two thousand times and that means by now they know damn well what they are doing.

Right from set opener “I Miss the Misery” Lzzy Hale set the vocals bar fifty times higher than it has been all night. That woman has an immensely powerful voice. Even if the sound guys are wizards, her lung power may be unmatched by any other major female star and while she may not be quite as operatic as some of the other greats in metal music, Lzzy Hale is today’s Janis Joplin in that nobody can “truly” sing quite like her.

After “Love Bites and So Do I” (from their first release), Lzzy stripped off the leather jacket and got down to serious business as Halestorm hit us with “I Get Off” which was a croon inside a scream and followed up with “Freak Like Me” which had the Credit Union One Arena shaking. Lzzy Hale provides the female perfection of the rock star edict. The guys “want” her, and the girls want to “be” her.

After “Black Vultures,” “Familiar Taste of Poison” and “Takes My Life,” all allowing underrated guitarist Joe Hottinger to shine right alongside Lzzy, it was Arejay time.

Talented and smooth showing marvelous finger dexterity, drummer (and Lzzy’s brother) Arejay Hale started his drum solo which quickly became a drum foursome as each of the other members brought out their own drum to stage front and a massive rhythm ensued. This was a unique take on the drum solo theme, and I enjoyed it while Little Johnny was especially thrilled at the end when Arejay pulled out two three-foot-long drumsticks and proceeded to somehow maneuver them in a way that allowed him to play fast and accurate with them.

“Back from the Dead” led into the showstopper as Lzzy nailed “Apocalyptic” vocally while what was perhaps one of the most perfectly run light sequences this year made her look amazing doing it. Bathed in red hues with just the right amount of white and the perfect touch of green creating just the right amount of shadow, this was artistic as well as Apocalyptic. Whoever is Halestorm’s lighting director, kudos brother because that was beautiful.

Finishing with hits “Rock Show” and of course closer “The Steeple,” every bit of this set has gone amazingly from the music to the lights, to the song selection to the flow of the set. This is the mark of a band with over two thousand live performances. Halestorm is smooth and makes it look easy. This set, directly following the haphazardness of the Hollywood Undead one, shows the gulf between the styles and bands. One brings a party that’s surface, but has no depth, while the other makes you feel like you got their heart and their best. One dances and prances while the other stalks and prowls. One is good for a laugh and a beer, while the other will pull your emotions out of your chest and show them to you.

For the Beard it was not just the performance, (which was easily 90+), It was not just Lizzy’s voice, (which may be just below Kristina Scabbia in operatic brilliance, but is the best this year at raw unhinged emotive passion) but once adding in the slotting aspect, Halestorm merits my consideration as a possible set of the year candidate thus far this year. The Beard is awarding 97/100. My highest grade so far in 2024.

Although he also had an exciting time, Little Johnny more succinctly evaluated the set with, “Hot chick. Good voice. I want to party with that green haired guy on the drums.”

I PREVAIL

After about thirty minutes to recover from that amazing Halestorm set, co-headliners I Prevail hit the stage.

Emerging in 2013, I Prevail has been described as metalcore, rap metal, hardcore, alternative metal, etc. They rose to prominence by releasing a cover of pop star Taylor Swift's “Blank Spaces” which went platinum in 2014. They have released three other full lengths and been nominated for two Grammys (both from 2019’s “Trauma”.)

I Prevail had stellar backdrops. The imagery visually was on par with acts like Tool or Rage against the Machine (although their musical style was more akin to Ice Nine Kills or We Came As Romans.)

This nu-metal style is not a favorite of mine, but I Prevail do it well and the crowd was into them. This reminded me a bit of the first time I saw Slipknot, but without the masks or crazy drumming. Musically they are solid, and again the show was visually stunning, but vocally, for me, they were a big step down from Halestorm.

That personal assessment aside, again the crowd was hot for them, they looked great, and their co-created track “Can U See Me in the Dark” with Lzzy Hale was fun to watch. I can say that while I enjoyed watching them, I would not have been as enthralled simply hearing them, so big points for the presentation, but not for the songs themselves. Overall, I awarded them 82/100.

Little Johnny’s take was simply, “Cool look. Hey Beard, wasn’t that one song of theirs actually written by that chick with the sparkles all over her that dates that football dude?” Yes John, yes it was.

This wraps up our arena show. Remember to check us out each and every Wednesday (on The Mighty Decibel) for live concert reviews, as well as all of Chris Tighe's other great shows and offerings. You can also catch all the videos of the over 150 bands we have reviewed this year by checking out our TikTok page at thebeard0728 or #thebeardandlittlejohnny and of course the non-metal columns can be found weekly by friending or following Mark McQueen on Facebook.

So, until we rock and review again, this is the Beard & Little Johnny saying ... Stay Heay and Horns Up!!!