Concert Review - Sodder, Heaven's Basement, and Halestorm

Southern Man has been working very hard and when he saw that Halestorm was playing tonight at a mid-sized venue just a few miles from work he decided to treat himself to a night of rock and roll.

First up was Sodder, a local goth-rock band fronted by (get this) a business major, Jennifer Newton, who (when not prancing about the stage) runs the band like an actual business. According to their bio on reverbenation.com they've slowly and steadily built up a following over the last ten years. Years of exposure to Southern Son's music has left Southern Man with a bit of a taste for hard-core rock so he rather enjoyed their set.

Official Sodder pic from the 'net.

Sodder on the stage. All of the clearly non-professional photos are the product of Southern Man's cell phone.

Next up was Heaven's Basement, a British hard-rock band that put on a solid set of hard-driving rock.

Love that logo.

Then we got to the main event: Halestorm, which started as a brother-sister duo and gets a fair bit of airplay on the local rock station. Southern Man picked up their first CD a while back and likes it a lot.

Halestorm publicity still from the 'net.

"Lzzy" Hale.

As expected, they put on a terrific show and had great rapport with the audience, particularly the girls who showed up in force. And then it got better!

Arejay Hale

About two-thirds through the set the band surrendered the stage to Arejay Hale who put on an absolutely blistering drum set. It was fantastic. We're talking the next Neil Peart here. Southern Man knows next to nothing about drums and drummers but in his uneducated opinion Mr. Hale is someone to watch. If Halestorm comes around again he'll go just for the drum solo - it was that good.

Brother and Sister.

And then they closed out the show with probably their most popular single (video below) and then a good old fasioned Southern State country song.

Yeah, it's a little crazy to go to a concert alone but when you're a hard working Southern Man you grab your entertainment opportunities when you can even when none of the usual companions are available. It was a great show. Southern Man's only complaint is that the venue served no food at all so he ended his evening (at eleven-ish) at a local bar for nachose and 'ritas. Thank you, Lord, for giving me a life filled with pleasure. Amen.