On August 11th, 2025 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey
On the heels of the new album the heavy metal / rock monster Volbeat embarked on the North American tour that they humbly call The Greatest Of All Tours Worldwide. They started it the next day after the album release with shows in Canada where they were supported by Three Days Grace and Wage War. Since coming over stateside they are supported with special guests Halestorm and The Ghost Inside. On a wonderful Sunday night the tour rolled to New Jersey, supported by local rock stations WRAT and WDHA.
Written by Andris Jansons
Halestorm is a very interesting band. Their origins are found in back in 1997 when siblings Arejay and Lizzy Hale were just entering their teen years. Their hard work was rewarded later in 2009 when the band released their debut self titled album. I remember driving in my car and hearing Jim Monaghan on WDHA introducing this awesome new band from Pennsylvania called Halestorm and their single I Get Off. They just blew the doors open in to the rock music word and are dominating radio waves since.
The band tours actively all the time, either supporting others or headlining. Their performances are always a treat to rock music fans. Lizzy’s voice and Arejay’s drumming are well worth the admission. Let’s not forget Joe Hottinger on lead guitar and Josh Smith on bass who have been with the band since their debut album. Needless to say that the bands performance is seamless and simply perfect.
The band can rock hard – the Grammy winning hit Love Bites (So Do I) got the crowd going early with I Get Off balancing out some slower tunes and Freak Like Me providing an exclamation point !
Halestorm released their newest – sixth studio album called Everest just mere two days before this show. Naturally the bands set concentrated on a new material including seven songs from the latest release.
The bands full set list as follows – Fallen Star, I Miss The Misery, Love Bites (So Do I), Shiver, Amen, Darkness Always Wins, I Get Off, Rain Your Blood on Me, Familiar Taste of Poison, WATCH OUT!, Everest, Like a Woman Can and Freak Like Me
Halestorm links
https://www.halestormrocks.com
See full gallery of Halestorm performance below. Photo all rights reserved by Andris Jansons.
https://linktr.ee/andrisjansons
Volbeat hail from Copenhagen, Denmark. The band stands out by having fused hard rock and heavy metal into dark and melodic mix. While the bands singer Michael Poulsen started his career in a death metal band, his signature with Volbeat is a very deep but melodic singing.
My first encounter with Volbeat happened in 2013 when the band released their fifth studio album Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, with my favorite tune Dead but Rising becoming misheard lyrics staple for my oldest daughter. Since then I have been keeping tabs on their new releases.
This June the band released their ninth studio album called God of Angels Trust. With very interesting and breathtaking second single called In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom that sounds like Johny Cash / Elvis Presley heavy metal fusion, that only Volbeat can achieve. Live this song is amazing !
The whole performance was amazing ! The band is a natural live performance monster. The songs kept rolling from the stage with ferociousness of heavy metal and with melody of rock. Michael Poulsen ventured into the crowd for a quick guitar solo and fist bumped the lucky first row fans.
The full setlist for the night as follows – The Devil’s Bleeding Crown, Lola Montez, A Warrior’s Call, Temple of Ekur, Sad Man’s Tongue, Demonic Depression, Fallen, Shotgun Blues, In the Barn of the Goat Giving Birth to Satan’s Spawn in a Dying World of Doom, By a Monster’s Hand, The Devil Rages On, Die to Live, Time Will Heal, Black Rose, Seal the Deal, For Evigt, Children of the Grave and Still Counting
Volbeat are – Michael Poulsen (vocals, guitar), and Jon Larsen (drums), and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass)
Volbeat links
See full gallery of Volbeat performance below. Photo all rights reserved by Andris Jansons.
https://linktr.ee/andrisjansons
There are a handful of the dates left in this tour. Check the listings to find the closest one to you. Find tickets here : https://www.volbeat.dk/en/dates/
August 13 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion
August 14 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
August 16 – Hershey, PA – Giant Center
August 17 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
August 19 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
August 21 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
August 22 – Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
After these dates the band will go back to Europe to rock the cities with Bush and Gel.
September 18 – Herning, DK – Jyske Bank Boxen
September 19 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
September 23 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
September 24 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
September 26 – Stuttgart, DE – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
September 27 – Cologne, DE – LANXESS Arena
September 28 – Oberhausen, DE – Rudolf Weber-ARENA
September 30 – Vienna, AT – Wiener Stadthalle
October 3 – Prague, CZ – O2 universum
October 4 – Berlin, DE – Uber Arena
October 6 – Munich, DE – Olympiahalle
October 8 – Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle
October 10 – Leipzig, DE – QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena
October 11 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
October 13 – Warsaw, PL – COS Torwar
October 15 – Tampere, FI – Nokia Arena
October 17 – Stockholm, SE – 3Arena
October 18 – Oslo, NO – Unity Arena
October 19 – Gothenburg, SE – Scandinavium
October 21 – Hannover, DE – ZAG Arena
October 22 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotterdam Ahoy
October 23 – Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU – Rockhal
October 25 – Zurich, CH – Hallenstadion
October 28 – Bilbao, ES – CUBEC – Bilbao Exhibition Centre
October 30 – Barcelona, ES – Sant Jordi Club
October 31 – Madrid, ES – Palacio Vistalegre
November 2 – Paris, FR – Zénith Paris – La Villette
November 5 – Nottingham, UK – Motorpoint Arena
November 6 – Cardiff, UK – Utilita Arena
November 8 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena
November 10 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
November 12 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
November 13 – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley
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