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GREATEST OF ALL TOURS
Live at Kia Forum
August 3rd, 2025 Review by Jimmy Alvarez
It was another warm night in Los Angeles, music fans were rolling in to the Kia Forum to check out the Danish Rockers from Copenhagen, it was Volbeat on their Greatest of All Tours.
If you like your music loud, this would prove to be an exceptional night as the openers were The Ghost Inside and Halestorm.
The Ghost Inside is from nearby El Segundo, so this metalcore band had fans in the arena. And from PA, Halestorm also had their share of supporters.
As the crowd rolled in, the early birds got a full dose of fuel on fire electro-blast of guitar and screeching vocals from Jonathan Vigil. Immediately everyone’s ears perked up as they opened with “Dear Youth,’ and segued immediately into a very familiar song as the crowd cheered to “Earn It.”
In between songs, Vigil let everyone know how much he loved The Forum. He said he would come to games there all the time with his dad when he was a kid, which drew a very loud cheer from the crowd.
Vigil thanked everyone for coming out so early and thanked Volbeat for having them on the tour as well. Then the mayhem began with “Death Grip,” and “Wash It Away.”
It wasn’t long, in fact it was a very abbreviated set as the crowd cheered to their final song, “Aftermath.” As they closed, the crowd went nuts over the over-the-top drum finish and top end screams from the animated front-man.
After a very short break, the lights dimmed again and out came Halestorm. Fronted by vocalist and mega shredding guitarist, Lzzy Hale, she was accompanied by her sibling and kick-ass drummer, brother Arejay Hale. With Joe Hottinger on lead guitar, and Josh Smith on bass, the quartet leaped right in with “Fallen Star” followed immediately by “I Miss the Misery.”
What I found very interesting is that despite Lzzy being an incredible vocalist, each bandmate was featured prominently throughout their set showing off their musical skills. “Love Bites (So Do II)” and “Watch Out,” were a perfect example on how each member of the band was able to showcase their sonic goods.
“Amen,” and “Familiar Taste of Poison,” took it up a notch and “Darkness Always Wins” took the Forum into another realm of existence. The crowd was losing its mind over “Rain Your Blood.” Then it got funny and real at the same time.
The band walked off to the side of the stage as Arejay started off with a pretty cool drum solo. As he ended, he stood up in a very Ringo Starr-esque manner, then bowed and then reached back to pull out a very oversized set of drumsticks: the crowd lost its mind yet again. We all thought they were just props, but no, as if from a scene from the Flintstones, Arejay started another drum solo with those enormous sticks. It was amazing to say the least. The crowd gave him a very well-deserved ovation at the end.
Halestorm wasn’t done yet, Lzzy took to the stage, front and center and with followers in the crowd. They knew the next song was coming; and off we went with “Freak Like Me.” To say it was insanity defined; yeah, that’s the best description. Then, they closed with a string of fan favorites, “I Get Off,” “Everest,” “Here’s to Us,” and finally they dedicated their final song to an enthusiastic arena as they said farewell with a cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Perry Mason.”
Again, hats off to the road crews for each band as the downtime was little time at all. By now the near capacity crowd was in the house; The demo had all ages, all races and everything else was accounted for. Ready to support their latest album, “God of Angels Trust,” Volbeat took to the stage looking very much ready to kill it!
The Copenhagen rockabilly-nu-metal crooners were in rare form. Lead singer Michael Pulson from the jump admitted he was suffering from some kind of throat virus, but he wasn’t going to miss this show as the crowd cheered.
And off we went to the races with Volbeat who opened with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown,” followed by “Lola Montez” which had the crowd head banging and dancing, weird I know – but that’s what happened.
Pulson thanked everyone for coming out and thanked A Ghost Inside and Halestorm for being part of the tour. They then jumped into “Enlighten the Disorder,” which got a nice hand from the concertgoers in the front row. Then, a very funny thing happened, the stage crew brought out an acoustic guitar and perched it on a stand, Poulson then started to laugh a little. He said they were going to dedicate this song to the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
He went on to say, “Many bands say they are inspired by Johnny Cash, I’m gonna tell you, we straight out stole this from Mr. Cash” and they launched into the most electrified version of any Johnny Cash song I have ever heard. Volbeat delivered unto us a snippet of “Ring of Fire,” before launching into “Dead Man’s Tongue.” How the Forum still had a roof after that is a mystery to all who attended, it was that good!
Slowly the night started to become a blur as each song was epic in delivery and with the stage lights, it was like being in an old school live MTV music video. “Demonic Depression,” “Fallen Play,” “Shotgun Blues,” “By A Monster’s Hand” and “The Devil Rages On” were just some of the standouts.
“Die to Live” nearly engulfed the entire Forum into this orbital bebop that resembled a headbanging line dance. Again, not sure if that makes any sense, but that’s what happened.
The hit parade continued with “Black Rose,” “Seal the Deal,” and their Black Sabbath cover honoring the Prince of Darkness himself – Ozzy Osbourne with “Children of the Grave.”
The night was just about in the bag when the band invited kids from the crowd to join them as they closed with “Still Counting.”
They might have stolen a few songs from Johnny Cash, but they didn’t steal this, Volbeat can put on a show and with flare – just like the Man in Black.
And the tour continues. If you have a chance to check them out anywhere on the planet, seriously go out and see this band on this tour!
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