Live Review: Halestorm - O2 Arena, London
26th November 2025
Support: Bloodywood, Kelsy Karter & The Heroines
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
It's a tough choice for a fair few people this evening, Bad Omens are playing down the road at Ally Pally whilst here at the O2 Arena, Halestorm take on their biggest UK headline show yet.
Opening the evening is Kelsy Karter and the Heroines and from the moment Kelsy took the stage she took just seemed to ooze confidence. They deliver some absolutely amazing modern high energy rock. It was bold, polished and just full of attitude.
The band look as though they belong on stages of this grandeur, every thing they did had purpose and sounded incredible, especially the beautiful cover of Aerosmith’s Cryin’. It seemed that as an opening act they won over all the fans that have arrived early. They are a fun rock band and it is nice to see that they are getting a very warm welcome.
That second band is non other than Bloodywood. The sound that they produce is nothing short of amazing, nu-metal meets metalcore but with an Indian twist that feels completely faithfull to the more traditional sound that you would expect to come from an Indian group. It has all the same ingredients, however, put together in a completely different way.
They are quite a political band and put out a great positive message about their beliefs, However, unlike when a lot of bands start talking about this kind of thing, it doesn’t feel forced upon you, I am not sure why it feels different, it just does!
With the band being on the opposite side of the spectrum to Kelsey Karter they got the crowd really riled up, it is during their set that the first crowd surfers start flowing over the barrier and the pits start opening. A perfect second warm up!
Now for the main event, Halestorm and where do I start?
The start of the show features a tribute to the man Ozzy Osbourne himself in the form of a cover of Black Sabbath, that perfectly blends into the first track of their latest album Everest, “Fallen Star”. Straight away, Lzzy Hale’s incredible voice is on absolute point, a tone that gives the audience chills, even more so with the never disappointing scream that leads in to “I Miss The Misery”. Included at the start of the song is quite possibly the most amount of confetti I have seen used in one go, I was finding confetti the next day.
Then comes “Love Bites (So Do I)” with its iconic riff at the start. The interplay on stage between Lzzy and Joe Hottinger seems completely effortless and they remain note perfect every time. Their chemistry on stage is something else completely, however, that’s not to say that the rest of the band don’t add to it. As ever Arejay on drums is unreal, one of the most underrated drummers in the industry at the moment and he got the chance to show his skills off with his epic drum solo, another staple of a Halestorm show, inciting a full on drum solo mosh pit. That is new and the crowd loved it.
Halestorm roll out all the classics, interspersed between snippets from the new album, “I Get Off”, “Freak Like Me” and “Mz Hyde” for the OG fans, then “Everest”, “Rain Your Blood On Me” and “Shiver” for the attendees that have only just got on board with this exceptional band.
Then there are the set list staples, “Familiar Taste Of Poison” and “I Am The Fire”. The latter of which, true to the name, included an ungodly amount of flame throwers, as the band stretch their production legs now they;ve reached the bigger arenas.
The crowd are then treated to a second tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osbourne, a full on cover of “Perry Mason” as performed at Back To The Beginning. Ending the show is the classic ballad of theirs, “Here’s To Us” a song that guarantees to get the whole crowd singing all the way back to the tube after the show.
Photo Credit: Tom Atkin
