Treasure Island Amphiteater - Welch, MN
Sept 26, 2025
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick
A perfect late summer/early fall evening for an outdoor rock show this past Friday night at the Treasure Island Amphitheater in Welch, MN played host to an incredible evening of music from hard rock favorites Halestorm and violin and dance wizard Lindsey Stirling. Apocalyptica opened the evening with an exciting set of Metallica covers to celebrate their first Apocalyptica Plays Metallica album and their recently released second collection of Metallica reworkings. You can’t NOT bob your head and have a good time when they’re up there rocking “Master of Puppets”, “Enter Sandman” and “Seek and Destroy” complete with guitar solos on the cello! Apocalyptica perfectly opened the night of what was to come.
I’ve only previously seen LINDSEY STIRLING do her fantastic Christmas show so I wasn’t too sure how Lindsey was going to do in a rock show setting. Any doubts that I might have had were quickly wiped away during the opening number “The Phoenix”. Dare I say it got heavier for the second number “Underground”? All of this is thanks to shredder Jason Richardson joining Lindsey’s band for this tour. Lindsey already had a tight band backing her but with Jason added in there, it takes her show to a heavier level. This might have been of some shock to old school Lindsey fans as it sounds vastly different than her records. However, this crowd ate it up playing perfectly to a hard rock crowd! Lindsey got a good laugh out of the crowd when she brought out “The Wheel” to pick the evening’s random song. “Carol of the Bells” was one of the 6 songs that could be played and Lindsey said “Hey, Carol of the Bells slaps!” Personally, I would have loved to hear this band tackle the Christmas classic but the wheel decided on “Til the Light Goes Out” which did not disappoint. Lindsey’s fantastic dancing while playing the violin is amazing enough but paired with her stellar dancers and this heavier band. Chef’s kiss! Lindsey, please release a live album with this band!
HALESTORM came out swinging with “Fallen Star” the lead track off their new album “Everest”, a heavy number that perfectly sets off not only the new album but also tonight’s live show. Halestorm kept the gas pedal down with “I Miss the Misery” and “Love Bites (So Do I)” before slowing it down for a minute with their latest single “Darkness Always Wins” which rocked a little harder live. “Like a Woman Can” went over big with the crowd, the bluesy rocker for the ladies in the crowd. Lzzy sat at a beautiful grand piano emblazed with the Halestorm logo and gave the crowd an encore rendition of her karaoke performance from the previous night inside Treasure Island of the classic “I Will Always Love You” and nailed it! The band came back out for a stunning version of the Everest closer “How Will You Remember Me?” dedicated to Ozzy! The band took the crowd in to overdrive with the unhinged “Watch Out!”. The opening of “Familiar Taste of Poison” was given a nice classic rock overhaul complete with Lzzy drinking from a chalice (maybe a nod to Ozzy as well) which led in to a killer version of “Rain Your Blood on Me” also from the new album. “Everest” sounded just as much of a mountain climbing journey closing out the main set as it does on record, completing the night with an impressive 9 of the 12 songs from the new record. Arejay’s drum solo brought the hand from the back of the Everest record to life and gave the crew a chance to torment Arejay at the same time.
The encore brought Lindsey Stirling back out to perform the new version of “Shatter Me” with Halestorm as the backing band. The track was just released earlier in the day on a deluxe edition of Lindsey’s “Shatter Me” album. The track takes on a heavier vibe adding the guys from Halestorm and brought it to an even more epic level with Lindsey joining Halestorm in front of all those Marshall amps sharing the stage together.
This was an epic evening of magical proportions. Halestorm and Lindsey Stirling came with a co-headlining run that showcased each of their strengths perfectly while trying out something new. If they do a second leg of this tour, do not miss it! This was a perfect billing bringing each other’s fans together to make a memorable evening for every fan!
SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PICTURES FROM HALESTORM, LINDSEY STIRLING and APOCALYPTICA HERE!
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