Halestorm rocks Carnival of Madness tour this summer
Halestorm lead singer Lzzy Hale has one particular reason for being excited about the forthcoming Carnival of Madness tour with Evanescence, Chevelle, Cavo and New Medicine.
"Not only do we know everybody on this tour and love everybody," Hale said via telephone from Great Lakes IL. "This is the first time I am touring with another female singer since '06. We're few and far between. Usually I'm the only girl on the bill. I'm excited about that."
But it's not that she doesn't enjoy the men on the tour, which kicks off July 29 in Dallas.
"It's cool, too, because we love the Chevelle boys," she said. "Cavo's going to be there, too. We've toured with them. We're out with New Medicine right now. We're doing a headlining run and they're opening for us. It's really fun. It's going to be one of those tours where nobody needs to go through the "get to know you" phase. We're already there."
Formed by the singer and her brother, drummer Arejay Hale, Halestorm is pushing its sophomore full-length CD "The Strange Case Of ..." The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's hard rock albums chart, while making a top 15 entry onto The Billboard 200 chart.
Halestorm has made history with its single "Love Bites (So Do I)," which ascended to No. 1 at active rock radio outlets, marking the first female-fronted group to top the format's airplay ranking, according to a press release. All the success has surprised Hale.
"I love the record and I'm so proud of the record," she said. "But just because I like something, it doesn't mean the rest of the world will. It's so exciting to see everybody sing along to the songs."
Hale said the band was under the gun to make "The Strange Case Of ...." Halestorm ended a three-and-a-half-year world tour and had 24 hours to pack and then head in the studio.
"We were kind of frazzled for a little bit, wondering how this was going to turn out," Hale said.
"We didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare, which ultimately ended up being the best thing that could have ever happened to this record. We kind of took all of our brains out of it. You take the mind out of the situation and all of a sudden you're just following your gut, saying, 'OK, do we like the song? Do we not like the song? Does this get us excited? Does this not get us excited.'"
Hale not only gets excited about her own music, but other artists' tunes as well. Hale lent her vocals to a reworked version of the Shinedown song "Shed Some Light" from the album "Us and Them." She reteamed with the Brent Smith-fronted act on the track "Breaking Inside."
Lzzy Hale appeared on Black Stone Cherry's album "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" as a backup vocalist on the songs "Such a Shame" and "Won't Let Go." Finally, she duets with Adrenaline Mob lead singer Russell Allen on Duran Duran's "Come Undone," which appeared on that act's "Omerta" collection.
"I love singing on other people's records," Hale said. "It's so much fun without the pressure of [working on] your own record. You're trying to help them out in the best way possible. It's not really a selfish thing. When you're making your own record, it's very inward and psychological.
"With these guys that I lend my vocals to, we're all friends. We're helping each other out and singing and having a great time, whereas, a lot of it happens very, very organically."
6 - Struthers, OH - The Cellar
7 - Tremont, IL - Twisted Spoke Saloon
8 - Milwaukee, WI - Henry Maier Festival Park (Summerfest)
10 - Des Moines, IA - People's Court
12 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland by AMC
13 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
14 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
16 - Missoula, MT - Wilma Theatre
17 - Billings, MT - Babcock Theatre
19 - Fargo, ND - The Venue at Playmaker's
20 - Cadott, WI - Chippewa Valley Festival Grounds (Rock Fest)
21 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
29 - Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion (Carnival of Madness)
31 - Springfield, IL - Prairie Capital Convention Center (Carnival of Madness)
August 2012
1 - Columbus, OH - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (Carnival of Madness)
3 - Atlantic City, NJ - House of Blues (Carnival of Madness)
4 - Chester, PA - Harrah's Chester (Carnival of Madness)
6 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion (Carnival of Madness)
7 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Pavilion (Carnival of Madness)
8 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Carnival of Madness)
10 - Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood (Carnival of Madness)
11 - Gulfport, MS - Jones Park (Carnival of Madness)
13 - Belton, TX - Bell County Expo Center (Carnival of Madness)
14 - Laredo, TX - Laredo Energy Arena (Carnival of Madness)
15 - Midland, TX - Midland County Horseshoe Arena (Carnival of Madness)
17 - Lubbock, TX - Amphitheatre at Lone Star Event Center (Carnival of Madness)
18 - El Paso, TX - UTEP Don Haskins Center (Carnival of Madness)
20 - Sioux City, IA - Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena (Carnival of Madness)
24 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre (Carnival of Madness)
26 - Bridgeview, IL - Toyota Park (Carnival of Madness)
29 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center (Carnival of Madness)
31 - Clifton Park, NY - Upstate Concert Hall
September 2012
5 - Evansville, IN - TBA (Carnival of Madness)
6 - Johnson City, TN - Capone's
7 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
8 - Lexington, KY - Buster's Billiards and Backroom
21 - Birmingham, England - O2 Academy Birmingham 2
22 - Nottingham, England - The Rescue Rooms
23 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Cathouse
24 - Manchester, England - Academy 3
26 - Newcastle, England - O2 Academy Newcastle 2
27 - Leeds, England - The Cockpit
28 - London, England - O2 Academy Islington
30 - Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
October 2012
1 - Bristol, England - Bristol Fleece
3 - Cologne, Germany - Luxor
4 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
5 - Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
6 - Zurich, Switzerland - Dynamo
7 - Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generali
9 - Vienna, Austria - Szene Vienna
10 - Munich, Germany - Backstage
11 - Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp
12 - Tilburg, The Netherlands - 013
14 - Berlin, Germany - TBA
15 - Hamburg, Germany - Logo
17 - Stockholm, Sweden - Debaser Slussen
18 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
19 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Beta
November 2012
20 - Kennewick, WA - Toyota Center Kennewick
21 - Garden City, ID - Revolution Concert House and Event Center
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