The group Halestorm gives a thunderous concert at La Cigale

“With cheese”… Clearly, the short demonstration of the few French words known by Lzzy Hale, Tuesday December 5 at La Cigale, will not be remembered. But that’s not why the crowd filled the Parisian hall, on the occasion of the concert of the group led by the young woman. No, if people came, it was to applaud one of the best representatives of the young American metal generation, I named Halestorm. Band which includes, in addition to Lzzy on vocals and guitar, his brother Arejay on drums, Joe Hottinger on guitar, and Josh Smith on bass and keyboards.

A quartet that is always hard-hitting on stage, as it proved during the last Hellfest, which in our opinion compensates for studio records that are not always inspired. The last, “Back From the Dead” (2022), proves to be of a correct level but, like the previous ones, weighed down by too many ballads or ultra-commercial pieces, the group using it extensively, when writing his titles, to mercenaries specializing in the composition of hits. However, a jewel shines in Halestorm’s discography, his second opus, “The Strange Case Of…” (2012), of which as many extracts are offered this evening as from “Back From The Dead”, that is to say…

Lzzy Hale, the queen of the evening

But just as much on record the long vocal flights of Lzzy, a metal version of a Céline Dion or a Whitney Houston (for us, it’s a compliment, beyond their music, which we are free to appreciate or no, we cannot deny their extraordinary talent as singers), sometimes prove to be intoxicating, as much as it goes down well on stage. And Lzzy has one hell of a chest! Which she exhibits from the outset, with an a cappella concert attack on “Raise Your Horns”. Before plugging in the electricity, and throwing two missiles from “The Strange Case Of…”, “I Miss the Misery” and “Love Bites (So Do I)”, then moving on to “I Get Off” , falling to his knees at one point to deliver an even more intense performance. The audience, literally wild from start to finish, sings as soon as they are given the opportunity, and the “frontwoman” will thank them several times during the evening.

Lzzy, who doesn’t have her eyes in her pocket, spots a young girl on the balcony, whom she greets and for whom the group launches into a short rendition of “Rock Show”. But she is truly the queen of the evening, never found wanting on the vocal side, and also lining up some luminous guitar solos, like on “Freak Like Me”. But showmanship runs in the family: before “Back From The Dead”, Arejay, wearing striped convict pants and green hair, delivers a drum solo which concludes, as usual, with enormous drum sticks. ‘a meter long!

Halestorm leaves after barely 1 hour and 10 minutes on stage, and quickly returns for a long encore. Initially rather acoustic, with the start of “Break In”, then a version of “Shatter Me” (a title by Lindsay Stirling on which Lzzy sings in her studio version), before exploding the decibel meter again. This is thanks to a very nasty “Raise Your Horns” this time, the melancholic “Here’s to Us” (during which a black bra lands on stage!), then the finale “The Steeple”. Almost a year after his Parisian appearance as the opening act for Alter Bridge, Halestorm proved that he deserved to be invited to headline.