Halestorm

London Brixton 02 Academy

Another sure step on the road to world domination.

The only way you can move in an overstuffed Brixton Academy tonight is by vibrating on the spot every time Arejay Hale kicks his bass drum. The sound thunders across the enormous Academy floor until your fillings threaten to rattle right out of your mouth.

You have to bear it though, because Halestorm are tonight’s hot ticket: you can barely turn around in the undulating throng. When he’s not kicking the living daylights out of his drums or spinning his sticks in a way that makes Tommy Lee look pedestrian, Arejay has to work hard; fail to lock eyes with him and it appears that every square foot of the expansive stage belongs to his sister, Lzzy.

Provocative, foul-mouthed (and that’s just her lyrics), she’s a rock star writ large, equal parts Bon Scott, Paul Stanley (she’s not above a guitar dip and twirl) and Janis Joplin, her voice like broken glass laid across yards of velvet.

She makes it look easy too; head tipped back as the whole room wraps around that roar, before she smiles and winks as you’re still trying to regain your equilibrium. Freak Like Me is an invitation for the female half of the room to indulge (and empower) their inner pole dancer, while a raw, reflective The Silence occupies the other end of the emotional barometer. Both, however, sit happily in the Halestorm spectrum.