Stationed in the northern Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, the Ameris Bank Amphitheatre welcomed co-headliners Halestorm and I Prevail to town on a steamy Wednesday night in the South. This summer tour bill was rounded out with two supporting acts in tow, notably the Hollywood Undead and Fit For A King. Built in 2008, this 12,000 capacity open air venue is a destination spot for concert goers, especially for those brave enough to battle the nearly unbearable summer heat with uncovered lawn seats to simply enjoy an evening of musical hits from their favorite artists. Unlike most shows I have covered at Ameris Bank, the orchestra seats were removed on Wednesday night making way for a large audience pit.
With the sweltering humidity still thick in the afteroon heat, metalcore band Fit for a King kicked off the evening in front of the early crowd at 6:00pm. Hailing from the Dallas, Texas, area, Fit for a King didn’t hold back, immediately launching into “Keeping Secrets,” a new single they released back in January. Having never seen Fit for a King before, I was captivated by their energy and sound. Lead singer Ryan Kirby had a dynamic vocal range, and my hamstrings simply cringed watching Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary jump into full air splits with his bass multiple times during the set.
Fit for a King delivered a punchy 8-song set, with three consecutive songs in “Falling Through the Sky,” “End (The Other Side),” and “Reaper” pulled from their 2022 release, The Hell We Create. They wrapped up their night with the raucous and eardrum-busting “When Everything Means Nothing” off Dark Skies (2018). Fit for a King was a perfect supporting act to help amp up the Atlanta crowd for a long evening of metal music.
Fit For A King:
Bobby Lynge – Guitars, backing vocals
Ryan Kirby – Lead vocals, unclean vocals
Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary – Bass, clean vocals
Daniel Gailey – Guitars, backing vocals
Trey Celaya – Drums, guitars
Setlist:
1.) Keeping Secrets
2.) Breaking The Mirror
3.) Falling Through the Sky
4.) End (The Other Side)
5.) Reaper
6.) Technium
7.) When Everything Means Nothing
8.) God of Fire
Breaking the mold of the more traditional band lineup structure was Hollywood Undead, a multi-vocalist rap rock group from Los Angeles, California. Starting their set at nearly 7:00pm with the tune “California Dreaming” pulled from the album V (2017), Hollywood Undead immediatedly showed off their uniqueness as nearly everyone in the band took a turn on the microphone. Hollywood Undead’s energy was infectious, and they completely grabbed the audience’s attention throughout their twelve song set.
Two quick performance highlights from me include having a crew member with a tambourine come out during “Riot” and sharing a beer with the band, as well as Hollywood Undead’s sing-along rendition of the Neil Diamond generational hit “Sweet Caroline.” The band then polished off their night with the in-your-face banger “Undead,” which was also pulled from V. Hollywood Undead is a don’t-miss band, and I hope they make their way back to Atlanta soon and appear in a more intimate venue they can headline.
Hollywood Undead:
Jorel “J-Dog” Decker – Vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming
Dylan “Funny Man” Alvarez – Vocals
George “Johnny 3 Tears” Ragan – Vocals, bass
Jordon “Charlie Scene” Terrell – Vocals, guitars
Danny Murillo – Vocals, keyboards, programming, guitars, bass
Matt “The Cat” Oloffson – Drums, percussion (touring)
Setlist:
1.) California Dreaming
2.) CHAOS
3.) Riot
4.) Everywhere I Go
5.) Renegade
6.) Comin’ In Hot
7.) Another Way Out/ Du Hast
8.) Ruin My Life
9.) Hear Me Now
10.) Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond cover)
11.) Bullet
12.) Undead
With the backline now completely turned following the supporting acts, Halestorm took to the stage in front of a near capacity crowd shortly before 8:15pm to “I Miss the Misery,” a fan favorite pulled from their 2012 release, The Strange Case Of…. Anchored by the immediately recognizable Lzzy Hale, Grammy Award-winning Halestorm continues to be rounded out by Lzzy’s brother (and band co-founder) Arejay Hale, along with Joe Hottinger (guitar) and Josh Smith (bass). Honestly, this was the band I came to see, and I was mesmerized.
Lzzy’s vocals can stretch from powerful to poignant (which served her well when recently filling in on vocals for Skid Row), and her personality just shined through her gaping smile as she shredded her guitar across songs like “Love Bites (So Do I),” “Freaks Like Me,” and “I Am the Fire.” Due to their nightly co-headliner rotation, Halestorm was in the penultimate slot performing before I Prevail on Wednesday night. This meant that their set was sadly limited to only 12 songs. Admittedly I could have gone another twelve deep, as Halestorm was just a pleasure to watch and listen to live. Lzzy and the band put a final, energetic stamp on their night with the track “The Steeple” pulled from their most recent release, Back from the Dead (2022).
Halestorm:
Lzzy Hale – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Arejay Hale – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Joe Hottinger – lead guitar, backing vocals
Josh Smith – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
Setlist:
1.) I Miss the Misery
2.) Love Bites (So Do I)
3.) I Get Off
4.) Freak Like Me
5.) Bombshell
6.) Familiar Taste of Poison
7.) Takes My Life
8.) Drum solo/Circle
9.) Black Vultures
10.) I Am the Fire
11.) Here’s to Us
12.) The Steeple
As the clock struck 9:45pm and still with little relief from the heat, the giant video wall lit up behind the risers. A hooded, doomsday-type character narrated the introduction as I Prevail entered the dark and smokey stage and kicked off their night with “There’s Fear in Letting Go,” a song off their third studio album, True Power (2022). In fact, the first 4 songs I Prevail powered through were off True Power.
Following, I Prevail delivered upon their well-known Taylor Swift cover “Blank Space” early in the set, and then rolled through bangers like “Deep End” and “Viseral” with accompanying video screen mood elements. Before introducing “Breaking Down” as a song about mental health challenges, vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe thanked the crowd for “packing this place on a week night” and joked that “they don’t call this Hotlanta for nothing – it is hot on this stage!” Even with the heat, fans broke into a sizeable mosh pit as the band crushed tracks like “Judgement Day” and “Choke.”
I Prevail hammered home their exhausting performance with back-to-back tunes in the Grammy Award-nominated “Bow Down,” followed by “Gasoline,” both off their 2019 release, Trauma. I Prevail was loud, in command, and provided that final heavy metal punch to the gut that only a tour bill like this could land.
This tour continues on for a few more weeks, wrapping up in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, August 17th, in the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Casino & Resort.
I Prevail:
Brian Burkheiser – clean vocals
Eric Vanlerberghe – unclean vocals (2013–present); clean vocals (2016–present)
Steve Menoian – lead guitar (2013–present); bass guitar (2014–2015, 2017–present; studio recordings only)
Dylan Bowman – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Gabe Helguera – drums
Setlist:
1.) There’s Fear in Letting Go
2.) Body Bag
3.) Self-Destruction
4.) Bad Things
5.) Blank Space (Taylor Swift cover)
6.) Deep End
7.) Visceral
8.) Breaking Down
9.) FWYTYK
10.) Judgement Day
11.) Choke
12.) Hurricane
13.) Bow Down
14.) Gasoline
Follow Fit For A King Online
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Follow I Prevail Online
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.
