Halestorm @ The O2

Halestorm @ The O2 (Kalpesh Patel)

Halestorm are joined on this tour by the unique proposition of Bloodywood; try conjuring up the sound and image of a band like Limp Bizkit – if they were from New Delhi, India – and you’ll be most of the way there. The hit the stage with a punishing version of Aaj, the crowd are certainly up for this early set, as both circle pits and crowd surfing has happened before the final chord of the first song. The band are clearly loving playing to such a large, appreciative crowd and power through their set – blending traditional Indian music, instruments and singing, with heavy drums, guitars and rap. Bekauf is a highlight, a song about facing your fear, it sounds like the best theme song from a South Asian anime you have never seen, collaborators BabyMetal are heard on the track too. Their ode to their home town – Nu Delhi, speaks of the Wild, Wild East, and the dhol player hammers his drum, his drumsticks resembling crowbars through the copious dry ice. It was an excellent set, vocalist Jayant Bhadula nailing the full spectrum from soulful singing in Hindi to metal growling and screaming – most impressive stuff from a band clearly on an upward trajectory, I will enjoy following their continued rise, along with the rest of the rapt audience.

It’s now time for Halestorm – a large white drape shrouds the band as they enter the stage, making the band appear in silhouette, as they break into the classic, unmistakable riff from Black Sabbath  a very classy touch from this now veteran band, to honour a major part of their inspiration.

Opener Falling Star is the first offering from Everest; Lzzy and the band standing in front of massive white Marshall stacks and running straight into the 1-2 punch of hit single I Miss The Misery and GRAMMY® winner Love Bites (So Do I). By playing the hits early, they showcase Lzzy’s brilliant voice and guitar playing. I Get Off leads a mass sing-along before Shiver. For this new song, Lzzy plays keyboard for verses and then guitar for chorus showing exceptional poise and musicianship.

The piano-driven How Will You Remember Me? is dedicated to Ozzy and all the people no longer with us, whilst Freak Like Me and Mz Hyde delve back in time but are still urgent enough to be lapped up by the crowd. We get our customary Arejay Hale drum solo, the rest of the band departing the stage as the frontwoman’s brother more than demonstrates his pounding chops, customary oversized drumsticks upping his game. Uncomfortable brings it’s Ballroom Blitz staccato vocal to the fore, but the sentiment is perfect, as an uncompromising Lzzy screams I love To Make You Uncomfortable. She’s traded in her usual signature Gibson Explorer for an SG and you can feel the extra power from the chunkier guitar.

We need to talk about Lzzy’s voice. Her reputation as one the world’s premier rock singers is well earned; she delivers a melodic ballad and an ear splitting scream equally magnificently. Alongside the fact that she misses not a single beat or note during a breathless 90 minute set, it’s quite phenomenal to witness.

The encore begins with Ozzy Osbourne cover Perry Mason, first played by the band at ‘Back To The Beginning’ with guitarist Joe Hottinger getting his guitar to squeal just like Zakk Wylde, and Lzzy doing her best impression of Aston’s Prince of Darkness. Before a climactic Here’s To Us the band bring the entire tour crew out onto the stage to toast the last song of a tour that has been going since May; a triumphant ending to Halestorm’s latest touring odyssey.

Live review of Halestorm with Bloodywood @ The O2, London on 26th November 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Iron Maiden Keep On Trooping At London Stadium And Celebrate 50 Years At ‘Homecoming’

Iron Maiden @ London Stadium

Iron Maiden @ London Stadium (Kalpesh Patel)

And what is to come is a genuine treat. A huge, I mean IMAX-sized, screen gives us a whistle stop animated tour of the East End, including the Cart & Horses pub, where Maiden played their first gig and Leytonstone tube station, both getting massive cheers as these locales are only a short journey away from where we are in the London Stadium.

Iron Maiden then arrive and tear through Murders In The Rue Morgue and Killers from their early days. Killers signals the first appearance of 8 foot tall t-shirt star Eddie, wielding an axe and tormenting each band member in turn — this is the theatricality the audience are here for and they respond in kind.

Lead singer Bruce Dickinson then explains that this is a “homecoming” for the band, and particularly band leader and bass player Steve Harris as not only is he from just down the road he is also a die hard West Ham fan, always wearing a claret and blue wristband when playing. We are told that this is as close to a ‘greatest hits’ set as Maiden are ever going to deliver and the band proceed to run through their extensive 50 year career, the screen providing an awesome back drop, completely changing with each and every song, from an Egyptian pyramid for Powerslave, to a nuclear holocaust for 2 Minutes To Midnight, the visuals transport us.

Which brings me to the highlight of the first half — The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, not played regularly for nearly 20 years. Harris’ proggy 1984 interpretation of Coleridge’s epic poem and the band’s incendiary playing is accompanied by the story shown on the big screen — ships, an albatross, corpses and ghosts guide us “on and on across the sea” and we are taken along on a journey, the entire stadium rapt. It also says a lot for the confidence of this late stage Maiden, they are certainly not afraid to play a 13 minute long song over 40 years old. Exceptional.

Maiden then prove the point by sandwiching another long player Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son between the entry level classics Run To The Hills and The Trooper — there really is something for every fan on the setlist tonight.

It is worth noting here that all of the band are at least 66 years old and they spend two full hours running around the stage, I would love to know what is in their cardio routines, it must be brutal. But these are masters of their craft and true professionals — from Janick Gers spinning his guitar above his head frequently, to Bruce Dickinson running all over the back line WHILST SINGING and Dave Murray grinning like a Cheshire cat as he launches into another white hot guitar solo, it’s clear they are still living for nights like this — long may it continue.

The final run of songs is highlighted by Hallowed Be Thy Name, a poignant tale about a man’s thoughts whilst on death row waiting for the hangman’s noose — and Bruce begins the song in an actual cage, then, using some slight of hand and some stage magic, appears on the large screen, bring pursued by a spirit (of death? maybe), as digital Bruce climbs higher he edges towards the noose hanging at the top and is caught by the spirit and ‘dies’ on screen, falling down and disappearing. As the band reach the end of the instrumental part of the song, real Bruce reappears, having escaped from the noose — to much rejoicing and relief from the crowd of course! Simply one of the best pieces of stagecraft I’ve ever seen at a rock show — genuinely jaw dropping and proof of the fact that Maiden try to outdo themselves on each subsequent tour, the crowd are riotous whilst also still trying to process what they have just seen!

From here, all the greatest hits boxes are ticked as promised, a huge Eddie leers out from the screen during Iron Maiden and Eddie then jumps into a Spitfire for officially the best song about the Battle of Britain ever Aces High. The visuals here are amazing as we see Eddie dogfight with German planes, it’s uncanny how the whole crowd are pulled into this truly immersive show.

The ritual mass singalong of Fear Of The Dark is rapturously received, it always generates goosebumps when the crowd sing back all the guitar lines of the entire song. The set is wrapped up with guitarist Adrian Smith’s uplifting Wasted Years. In my book, it is the nearest Iron Maiden get to a proper, upbeat ‘pop song’, that talks about seizing the day and realising how good you have got it right now — an apt closer for a band and crowd that know how good a show they just seen and performed. Can you really say a band have never been better, 50 years into their career? I think the 70,000 people present here tonight might just say yes — and then run for their lives to the tube!

Iron Maiden @ London Stadium

Iron Maiden @ London Stadium (Kalpesh Patel)

Live review of Iron Maiden @ London Stadium on 28th June 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Billy Proves He Is No False Idol, But A Truly Authentic One At Wembley Arena

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

Support act New Model Army are the perfect warm up and well received, contemporaries of Billy Idol, they are difficult to pin down in terms of genre, but they still get the crowd going with their searing guitars and occasional extra percussion. Particular highlights were Never Arriving and set closer, Green And Grey, lapped up by the crowd.

It’s now time for Billy Idol to hit the stage, decked in a red and black leather jacket with a large screen behind him, which seems de riguer at rock shows in 2025, allowing a dynamic backdrop that changes with each song. Billy appears delighted to be playing to his hometown crowd (he tells us he was born on the Edgware Road) and promises us we are going to have some fun tonight. During a knowing performance of Flesh For Fantasy, at least half the crowd have that fun early, as Billy performs an onstage costume change, facing the drum riser and removing his jacket and T-shirt, to wild screams, and then replacing the jacket, theatrics already!

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena

Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena (Kalpesh Patel)

Billy’s new album, Dream Into It, is like a chronicle of his life and as he goes on to say, the song Too Much Fun is a punk song about his horrific 1990 motorcycle crash amongst other tribulations, and how he now takes as much as he can from life. The light melody hides real feeling, Billy emotes and the crowd love it. Dry ice sweeps the stage and we are transported back to 1983 and a dramatic performance of Eyes Without A Face has the crowd signing along.

Billy then says he has a couple of covers for us and first, his classic take on Mony Mony gets even the people in the dreaded floor seats up dancing and clapping. Backing singer Jessica Childress is then called forward and joins Billy for a powerhouse rendition of the Rolling Stones’ classic Gimme Shelter, both vocalists really going for it, a fantastic surprise. Finishing up the climactic solo in Blue Highway, lead guitarist Steve Stevens, a note perfect showman throughout the gig, reminds us he was also the guitarist on the Top Gun Theme by Harald Faltermeyer, and that iconic guitar line soars around the arena.

A word on Billy here, he is a much more thoughtful and vulnerable character then his outward image projects, he relates stories from his life in an emotional and endearing way, and is clearly still having fun performing at the grand old age of 69. He recounts the time he was at a party with all the Rolling Stones, well, not Charlie Watts, he was of course sleeping, but they were drinking a whiskey that Billy has not seen before, he liked the name of the whiskey and asked the band if they were going to use it in a song, they said that Billy could use it if he wanted….

The name of that whiskey was Rebel Yell, and Billy and band launch into an amazing performance of that song, the crowd screaming back the More, More, More refrain.

If the crowd thought that this show could not get any better, they were proved wrong for the encore as Billy was joined by his ‘old China’, Tony James, bass player from Generation X, an unexpected treat for the London crowd. They then proceed to rip through two GX classics, Ready Steady Go and Dancing With Myself, by this point the whole of Wembley Arena was bouncing. To hear these punk classics played by two of the original band was a real privilege – I wonder if the object of Billy’s affection in Ready Steady Go, Cathy McGowan, was in the crowd?

A very apt Hot In The City was followed by a turbocharged, muscular singalong version of White Wedding to end a brilliant and heartfelt evening from one of our secret national treasures, keep on rocking Billy.

Live review of Billy Idol @ Wembley Arena, London on 25th June 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.

Trent And Atticus Nine Inch Nail It At The O2 Arena

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have recently taken a break from composing award-winning film scores and teamed up with their old touring band for a whistle-stop tour of Europe’s arenas and rock festivals – their first live shows of any kind since late 2022 – so the anticipation is palpable amongst the crowd.

Following the pounding beats and red lighting display of the support act, German producer/DJ Boyz Noise; suddenly a curtain drops in the centre of the arena, revealing a small B-Stage ‘in the round’. Trent Reznor sits alone at a piano, and plays the first bars of Right Where It Belongs from the 2005 album With Teeth – the crowd are hushed and we are all dragged into the moment, a truly unexpected and astonishing start. He stays at the piano with a stripped down version of Ruiner, the first of tonight’s seven cuts from classic 1994 album, The Downward Spiral. Having been joined by the rest of the band by the end of this short opening ‘in the round’ section of the show, a fully formed Nine Inch Nails now take to the more conventional main stage at one end of the arena – this is an awesome start.

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

The band proceed to rip through a selection of their back catalogue surrounded by drapes with ghostly figures projected onto them. March Of The Pigs, with it’s jarring loud-quiet refrain sung back by the rapt audience, then onto Reptile during which are the first inklings of a few technical glitches – guitarist Robin Finck ends up having to deliver the vast majority of the vocals as Trent’s microphone isn’t working – more on this later. Ross’ Swarmatron analogue synthesiser is broken out to perform Copy Of A – an ode to the repeatable nature of our digital lives – with drummer Ilan Rubin’s stick work immaculately replicating the drum machine on the original.

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

The atmosphere in the arena shifts again as the band stride around the seething crowd to enter the central B Stage once more. This time they are joined by support act Boyz Noise and his endless banks of gear, the beat and those red lights kick in again and we’re now transported to the biggest club night any of us in the crowd have ever been to – it’s like the goths have invaded Ibiza, and we are loving it. The band remix three hits into club bangers, including a fantastic Came Back Haunted. I’ve never seen an act so skillfully change the vibe in such a massive arena – it’s huge, then intimate, then back to epic again throughout the entire 100 minute set. Nine Inch Nails have been performing live for over 35 years now and all of that experience is showing in this amazing production.

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

A final visit to the main stage includes all the songs we have come to hear, including a brilliant cover choice: in 1997, Reznor collaborated with David Bowie to remix I’m Afraid Of Americans. Bowie also appears in the amazing, claustrophobic video where Trent pursues Bowie through the streets of New York. After a brief rant about having to ‘kill time’ between songs due to the mic problems, they launch into a big, bouncy rendition of Bowie’s song; fitting in his hometown of London. The song concludes with Reznor throwing his mic to the ground in disgust – a bit of showmanship, or a verdict on his stage crew?

The set wraps up with breakthrough hit Head Like A Hole – a guitar the latest item of equipment to be thrown 10 metres by Trent at the climax – and finally with Hurt, Reznor’s song written in the depths of heroin addiction, which also closes album Downward Spiral.

Stagecraft, production, some incredible songs and noise all contribute to an excellent night’s work from the band. Although they don’t tour too often these days, they REALLY know how to work an (enormous) room. They won’t be doing it forever – but whilst they still perform as Nine Inch Nails, I highly recommend you try to catch these masters at work.

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala

Nine Inch Nails @ Scala (Kalpesh Patel)

Live review of Nine Inch Nails @ The O2, London on 18th June 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Kalpesh Patel @ Scala, London on 20th August 2013.

Ghost Prove They Have The Power On Skeletour Date At The O2 Arena

Ghost @ The O2 Arena

Ghost @ The O2 Arena (Ryan Chang)

Those familiar with Ghost’s act know to expect a dazzling stage show, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek theatrics from both the vocalist and his masked band, known only as the Nameless Ghouls. Also notable is that this is billed as a ‘phone-free experience’ – audience members’ mobile phones are sealed in grey and green pouches on arrival and only reopened again upon leaving the venue. The intention is to encourage the crowd to engage more with the action on stage, and it’s noticeable as we wait for the show to start (no support this evening, it’s all about Ghost) that people are actually chatting to each other. The sudden pitch black when the house lights go down is jarring but welcome.

A huge, ruffled black sheet eventually falls and Ghost are here in all their glory. They begin with two new songs from the forthcoming album Skeletal, released on Friday 25th April. Performing Peacefield and Lachryma is a bold start, these new songs could fit cosily onto a setlist by Hysteria-era Def Leppard, and even though Peacefield is unreleased, and Lachryma is only about 10 days old, the crowd are loving it.

A muscular Spirit follows – an ode to the powers of Absinthe – with the band bathed in green light as they rip through it, sounding on top form. Next we’re treated to fan favourite Faith from the 2018 album Prequelle for its tour debut, the rapt audience sing back every word of the ‘I am all Eyes’ refrain.

Ghost @ The O2 Arena

Ghost @ The O2 Arena (Ryan Chang)

The Future is A Foreign Land is the final song of Ghost’s Sixties trilogy (allegedly written by Papa V’s ‘father’) with the ironic claim that looking forward from 1969, 2024 will surely be free of oppressive regimes and be filled with love… How is that going, Papa’s papa?! The set also features Kiss The Go-Goat and Mary On A Cross, completing the psychedelia-tinged holy trinity.

It would not be an authentic Ghost live experience without some devil worshipping and we move to that section of the set with an absolutely electric version of Ritual – the best rendition your correspondent has ever heard – followed by He Is – imagine Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote a show-stopping ballad about ‘the beast with many names’, and you are not far off the vibe here. Brilliant.

Mummy Dust ends with streamers of confetti ‘mummy dust’ and what appears to be some actual dollar bills – “Now you are all rich!” announces Papa, to the crowd’s amusement. Monstrance Clock concludes the main set, the colossal screens behind the band imploring all in attendance to “Come Together, for Lucifer’s Son”. Indeed.

Ghost @ The O2 Arena

Ghost @ The O2 Arena (Ryan Chang)

A few words on the singer’s latest rebirth then, Papa V Perpetua is a total triumph tonight, there are a lot less gags, he is a slightly more earnest performer than his predecessors, but none the worse for it. As he stalks the stage with a stunning array of natty sequinned jackets, his vocal is clear and strong, delivering each song perfectly. Notably, this Papa’s mask does not obstruct his mouth as previously, perhaps enabling the vocals to really soar. The Nameless Ghouls are a delight as always, wordlessly firing up both the crowd and each other with their gestures and incendiary playing, this band really does look a whole lot of fun to perform in and it really shows.

The stone cold classics of Dance Macabre and Square Hammer wrap up the night, and every member of the Clergy present are safe in the knowledge they had just seen one of the very best live acts around today. Look out world, Ghost are coming for your souls.

Live review of Ghost @ The O2, London on 19th April 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Ryan Chang.

Royal Blood Bring Debut Album Out Of The Black At Reopened Brixton Academy