Columbus is about to be hit with a bit of girl power and plenty of rock ‘n’ roll.
Halestorm, led by frontwoman Lzzy Hale, is scheduled to perform Wednesday along with Evanescence, Chevelle, Cavo and New Medicine at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion’s outdoor venue. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
The Columbus show is the second stop on the 2012 Carnival of Madness Tour, which is scheduled for the five bands to cross the country until the beginning of September. This is the third year for the tour, which has previously featured Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman, Shinedown and Puddle of Mudd, among others.
Halestorm is headlining the tour for the first time, and bassist Josh Smith said the band is expecting it to be a good time.
“It’s our first tour with Evanescence, but everybody else we’ve got quite a history with, and we’re all super close, so it’s going to be a fun tour,” Smith said.
The Pennsylvania-based band formed from siblings Arejay Hale, on drums, and Lzzy Hale, on vocals, when the brother and sister were 10 and 13, respectively. The band has since expanded to include Smith on bass and Joe Hottinger on guitar.
Arejay Hale is the member to pay attention to during Halestorm’s shows, Smith said.
“I can’t look back a lot (during shows) because I would mess up watching (Arejay). He is animated and fun to watch. He brings a cool dynamic, which pleases the crowd and pleases us,” Smith said. “No matter what we’re always going to have a dude going nuts on the drums.”
While the drums might captivate Halestorm fans, Marissa Luther, marketing manager at PromoWest Productions, said she expects the tour’s featured females to draw in a slew of fans as well.
“We’re expecting a great crowd,” Luther said. “There also might be more women than usual for a rock show considering the lead singers of both Halestorm and Evanescence are women.”
Lina Aguirre, a Ph.D student studying Spanish, said she’s most familiar with Evanescence from the Carnival of Madness lineup.
“I like their vocals. That’s my favorite thing,” Aguirre said.
She also said she won’t be able to see Evanescence live Wednesday because she’ll be working on her dissertation, but she’ll listen to the band during her study breaks.
Smith said Halestorm has “raised the bar” for fans coming to the show and its most noticeable change as a band is well reflected on its latest album, “The Strange Case Of…,” which was released in April.
“We’ve grown up and matured all together – matured in our playing, matured in business – it’s the biggest, most noticeable change,” Smith said.
Halestorm is not new to Columbus, as the band has performed three times at Crew Stadium for the rock ‘n’ roll music festival Rock on the Range, and has also performed at the LC Pavilion.
“I love (the LC Pavilion), we’ve played both inside and outside there and it’s a really unique venue,” Smith said. “We have a lot of great memories in Columbus, and we’re looking forward to getting back there and entertaining you, and you guys entertaining us.”
General admission tickets to the show are $35.
