Concerts Reviews
Halestorm and Lindsey Stirling Reach New Heights on the nEVEREST Tour in Vancouver
If anyone in Vancouver still doubts that violin and metal can share the same stage, the nEVEREST Tour put that question to rest on October 10 at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. The lineup of Apocalyptica, Lindsey Stirling, and Halestorm felt like a musical science experiment gone right. Three acts that couldn’t be more different, yet somehow fit together like a perfectly distorted chord.
The night kicked off with Apocalyptica, Finland’s cello-wielding metal veterans. The lights dimmed, and the classic Ennio Morricone track “The Ecstasy of Gold” filled the arena. Metallica fans knew what was coming. Moments later, the three cellists stormed the stage and ripped into “Bettery.” You could feel the bass in your chest, but it wasn’t coming from guitars, it was the sheer power of those cellos.
They powered through a set packed with Metallica covers: “Master of Puppets,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Nothing Else Matters.” The band has been at it since the mid-’90s, and it shows. By the time they closed with “Seek and Destroy,” the crowd was chanting along as if Metallica themselves were onstage.
Then came Lindsey Stirling, and the mood shifted from heavy to heavenly, though not in a soft way. Stirling has built a career on making the violin feel like a rock weapon, and in Vancouver, she was unstoppable. Backed by her band and dancers, Stirling hit the stage like a spark of kinetic energy in human form.
Every song had choreography, costume changes, and a story woven through it. “The Phoenix” opened the show in a swirl of lights and motion, with Stirling leaping and spinning as her bow lit up in time with the music. She mixed songs from her 2024 album Duality with fan-favourites like “Crystallize” and “Roundtable Rival.”
A highlight came when Stirling rolled out her now-famous “spin-the-wheel” segment. Fans cheered as she gave the wheel a dramatic flick to determine the night’s mystery song. Despite Stirling wanting the arrow to land on “Carol of the Bells” to fit the wintery temperature of Vancouver, it landed on deep cut “Til the Light Goes Out”. She also threw in her covers of “Sandstorm” and “Blue (Da Ba Dee),” giving both dance tracks a violin twist that somehow felt even more energetic than the originals.
Stirling’s connection with the crowd was effortless. She cracked jokes between songs, got everyone to light up their phones for “Firefly Alley,” and thanked fans for supporting her for over a decade since her America’s Got Talent days. Watching her command the stage, it’s hard to imagine anyone ever telling her she wasn’t “right for television.” She’s built an entire career proving how wrong they were.
By the time Halestorm took the stage, the crowd was already buzzing. The white curtain went up, silhouettes appeared, and then the drop. Confetti shot into the air as Lzzy Hale’s unmistakable scream cut through the noise, launching into “Fallen Star” off their new album Everest. But this show was extra special ad it was Lzzy’s birthday, and the Vancouver crowd had planned ahead.
Before the curtain dropped, the entire pit section held up signs wishing her a happy birthday, along with inflatable gold letters spelling it out across the barricade. When the lights came up, Lzzy saw it all mid-song, grinning through the opening riff as confetti rained down. The fans kept the signs raised through the entire first song, turning the arena into a giant birthday card. She called it “the best surprise I’ve ever gotten at a show,” clearly moved by the effort.
Halestorm have always been a force live, but that extra energy pushed them even higher Lzzy’s vocals were razor sharp, switching from growls to high notes with ease. Joe Hottinger’s guitar work was as tight as ever, and Arejay Hale looked like he was drumming to save his life. His mid-set solo included a battle with a giant inflatable Yeti hand (a nod to the Everest album cover), which ended with him pulling out massive drumsticks to finish the duel. The crowd loved every second of it.
The setlist leaned heavily on Everest, with “Like a Woman Can” (bringing back two Apocalyptica members on stage to add dimension to the song), “How Will You Remember Me,” and “I Gave You Everything” sitting comfortably alongside staples like “Love Bites (So Do I)” and “I Miss the Misery.” Lzzy took a moment at the piano for “Shiver” and “Break In,” her voice echoing through the arena with an intensity that silenced the chatter. You could tell she meant every word.
Then came the moment everyone was waiting for: Lindsey Stirling returned to the stage for a duet of “Shatter Me,” the track they recorded together a decade ago. The energy between them was electric: two women from different worlds sharing one song and absolutely nailing it. Stirling twirled as Lzzy belted.
Halestorm closed the night with “Here’s to Us,” toasting the crowd and each other. Confetti rained down again, this time golden, as the band raised their glasses in one final salute.
Walking out into the chilly Vancouver night, fans looked dazed in the best way, like they’d just been through three different concerts in one. That’s the beauty of the nEVEREST Tour: it’s heavy, it’s theatrical, and it’s unlike anything else on the road right now.
If you ever needed proof that metal, symphony, and performance art can live under the same roof, Halestorm, Lindsey Stirling, and Apocalyptica just gave it to you.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
HALESTORM
LINDSEY STIRLING
APOCALYPTICA
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: The Red Clay Strays Bring the Grateful Tour to Rogers Arena
The Red Clay Strays brought their Grateful Tour to Vancouver on August 30, supported by Wyatt Flores and Sweet Talk. I’ll admit it: before Sunday night, my familiarity with The Red Clay Strays went about as far as “Wondering Why.”
I knew the Alabama band had become one of the fastest-rising names in country and Southern rock, and I knew Brandon Coleman had a reputation for being the kind of frontman people compared to Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and just about every other cool guy to ever stand behind a microphone. But there is always a risk when walking into a show knowing only the hit. Sometimes you spend the night waiting for the one song you recognize, but that was not the case at Rogers Arena.
Sweet Talk and Wyatt Flores got things going, giving the night a strong foundation before the headliners took over. Flores, in particular, already had plenty of fans in the building, and his set helped get the arena moving early. By the time The Red Clay Strays walked onstage, the room was ready.
The band opened with “Demons in Your Choir,” immediately showing why its sound has connected with so many people. The Red Clay Strays do not sit comfortably inside one genre. There is country in their music, obviously, but there is Southern rock, gospel, blues and plenty of old-school rock and roll mixed in. Trying to neatly categorize them feels a little beside the point.
What stood out most to me was how little the band seemed interested in playing up the scale of the room. 18 months ago, they were playing 2 sold out shows at the Commodore Ballroom, making the jump to Rogers Arena in 2026 pretty striking. Rogers Arena is a massive space, and this is the biggest kind of stage The Red Clay Strays have started playing regularly. But they never felt like they were trying to become a generic arena band overnight.
Of course, Coleman is hard to ignore. The Elvis comparisons make sense on a surface level: the pompadour, the old-school style and the way he moves around the stage all bring those comparisons to mind. But the more I watched him, the less useful those comparisons became. Coleman has his own way of commanding a stage, and his voice is the real deal.
There were several moments throughout the night when he let loose on a note and cut through everything around him. It was not polished in a way that felt overly perfect, either. There was grit in his voice, and sometimes a little roughness, which made the stronger moments hit harder.
The band moved through songs including “Stone’s Throw,” “Walking Away,” “Devil in My Ear,” “Ghosts” and “People Hatin’,” with the musicians remaining impressively tight throughout. They have reportedly been playing together in one form or another for years, and that connection was easy to see.
When it was time for “Wondering Why,” Rogers Arena predictably lost its mind. The opening moments were enough to turn the audience into one enormous singalong, and one of those goosebump moments. Even as someone who came into the show with limited knowledge of the band’s catalog, I could not help but get caught up in it. Thankfully, the show did not lose momentum after its biggest song. In fact, I found some of the strongest material came later.
“Drowning” and “I’m Still Fine” gave Coleman some of his best vocal moments of the night, while “Moments” slowed things down without killing the energy. That is not always easy in an arena show. The quieter songs can sometimes disappear in a room that size, but the audience stayed with them.
One of the evening’s most memorable moments came before the band launched back into the set when one of their three touring backing vocalists stepped forward to sing “O Canada.” She told the crowd that she regularly performs national anthems at NHL games and had always hoped to sing Canada’s anthem in Canada. The Rogers crowd loved it.
They ended with “Fool’s Gold,” “Wanna Be Loved,” “Grateful” and “No One Else Like Me,” sending the crowd home after a generous and well-paced set.
The Red Clay Strays are clearly in the middle of a major rise. Their Grateful Tour has taken them into some of the biggest venues of their career, and the rooms will probably keep getting bigger. The good news, at least based on what I saw in Vancouver, is that they have not lost the thing that got them here.
Head here for more information about The Red Clay Strays’ Grateful Tour.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
THE RED CLAY STRAYS
WYATT FLORES
SWEET TALK
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Luke Bryan Turns a Thursday Night in Ottawa Into a Country Party
People were already dancing and cheering as they walked to the line at the Canadian Tire Centre. That was probably the first sign that Luke Bryan’s Word On The Street Tour stop in Ottawa wasn’t going to feel much like a Thursday night.
Drew Baldridge got the night started while the arena was just starting to see people on their seats, but you wouldn’t have known it from watching him. He and his band played like the seats were already full. Covering Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” was also a pretty foolproof way to get an Ottawa crowd warmed up.
Lauren Watkins came next. Cowboy hats were becoming harder to avoid, people were starting to groove, and the arena was noticeably filling up. Like Baldridge before her, Watkins wasn’t trying to reinvent country music. She was there to celebrate it.
Then Lanie Gardner came flying out in sunglasses with a band that looked like they had collectively decided it was still 1993, and it worked. They hit hard from the start, and Gardner had the advantage of playing to an arena that was now getting close to what it would look like for the headliner. People were louder, drinks were flowing, and it finally felt like Luke Bryan was next.
Except he wasn’t. Not quite yet. Bryan was a little late getting onstage, so a DJ was tasked with keeping a packed Canadian Tire Centre entertained. Instead of killing the momentum, it turned the wait into its own little party. By the time the lights finally went down, people were more than ready.
And when he finally came out, the noise was unreal. The Canadian Tire Centre looked packed. For a Thursday night in Ottawa, that alone was impressive. When Bryan started playing, everyone in the building seemingly knew every word. That’s the difference between knowing someone has a lot of hits and actually seeing what those hits do to an arena.
Bryan has been one of the biggest country artists of his generation for long enough that these songs belong to his audience almost as much as they belong to him. There were moments where he could have stopped singing entirely and the show probably wouldn’t have missed a word.
The band deserves just as much credit for how good the night sounded. Everyone on that stage could play. The guitars were huge, the rhythm section hit hard, and the banjo or slide guitar rang through the entire arena in a way that was impossible to ignore.
Nothing about the show needed to be complicated. Luke Bryan showed up with a killer band, a ridiculous number of songs people knew by heart, and an arena full of fans who wanted to party. Sometimes that’s enough.
Actually, judging by the noise inside the Canadian Tire Centre, it was more than enough.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
LUKE BRYAN
LANIE GARDNER
LAUREN WATKINS
DREW BALDRIDGE
All Photo Credit: Gonzo Wassermann