Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Halestorm in Buenos Aires: A Mountain of Hard Rock
Halestorm, the hard rock band hailing from Pennsylvania returned to Argentina after a decade to launch their latest studio album, titled Everest. The event took place this past March 29 at the Teatro Gran Rivadavia in Buenos Aires.
The night began calmly; the audience trickled in slowly, likely due to the numbered seating, which encouraged many to enter at the last minute. However, as always, the most die-hard fans were inside the theater early. From that same section, and in the absence of a support band, a group of fans spontaneously began singing several of the band’s choruses in unison, delivering impressive vocal performances.
At 9:00 PM, with surgical precision, the first to appear on stage was Arejay Hale (drums), followed by Josh Smith (bass) and Joe Hottinger (guitar). Finally, the frontwoman, singer, guitarist, and keyboardist, Lzzy Hale, made her entrance.
They chose to open with their 2009 debut single, “I Get Off.” They followed up with two more classics, “Love Bites (So Do I)” and “I Miss The Misery.” After these three tracks, it was clear that both the band and the audience were ready to give it their all.
Halestorm continued the set with “Watch Out!” from their latest album, followed by “Black Vultures” from the Vicious LP. Once finished, Lzzy addressed the crowd to recall the band’s participation in the 2025 Black Sabbath tribute in Birmingham. She asked the audience to raise their hands with the classic “metal horns” in memory of Ozzy Osbourne, leading into a cover of “Perry Mason.”
After a massive round of applause, the Americans continued presenting tracks from their new album with “Shiver.” Then—with a dedication from Lzzy to the women in the house—they played “Like a Woman Can,” closing the trio of new songs with “I Gave You Everything.”
At the midpoint of the concert, Lzzy took the mic to sing a fragment of “Familiar Taste of Poison,” showcasing her incredible range and clean high notes, before seamlessly transitioning into “Rain Your Blood On Me.” This highlighted her grittier, “broken” vocal style, proving her immense versatility as a singer.
After a brief break for the rest of the band, Arejay Hale took the spotlight for a drum solo that included his signature giant sticks. The band then returned for “Back From The Dead” and “Wicked Ways.”
The set continued with “K-I-L-L-I-N-G” and “Uncomfortable.” True to the song’s title, the beginning of the latter was the only moment where Lzzy seemed slightly “uncomfortable,” possibly due to a sound issue or a brief memory lapse with the lyrics—nothing serious, and it was resolved within seconds. They closed the main set with the title track of their new album, “Everest.”
After a few minutes of the crowd chanting for more, the band returned with “Freak Like Me,” a true anthem that had the “Freaks” (as the fans are called) jumping in unison. To wind down the night, they opted for “Fallen Star” and the ballad “Here’s To Us,” during which Lzzy Hale donned the Argentine national jersey with Lionel Messi’s number 10.
Thus, Halestorm concluded their third visit to Argentina, delivering a solid, polished, and high-energy show with top-tier sound. They gave their all to both long-time fans and the many new ones in attendance. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait another 10 years to see them again.
Words by Martin Cervetto
Photos by Tute Delacroix (@tutedelacroix)
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