Halestorm’s Lzzy & Joe: Unplugged - Engine Rooms, Southampton 16.06.2026

Halestorm are one of those bands that I only discovered after having them recommended to me back in 2018, and once I discovered them I eagerly devoured their back catalogue, and since then I’ve been trying (and failing) to see them live – However, every time I try something else always comes up and I miss out on seeing them.

Therefore, when I happened to be looking at my email as the artist presale for these gigs dropped, I immediately logged in and booked the tickets. A venue reasonably local to me and tickets at a reasonable price? I knew I would be excited to be there.

I’ve never been to the Engine Rooms, though my wife (who accompanied me to this gig), has been a couple of times, and there is something very comforting about going to a venue that feels exactly like a small city venue should feel like – cramped, intimate and full of excitement. After paying far too much money for a couple of drinks (not a dig at this particular venue, as that seems to be the norm everywhere nowadays!), we settled in near the front of house soundman (cos that’s always where the sound is best, and we didn’t fancy fighting our way to the front), and waited for the gig to start.

I had no real expectations of what this gig would be. Obviously I know a lot of Halestorm songs, but in my experience of acoustic gigs, sometimes there is a change in style, and the gig is often very relaxed, but not necessarily high on the rock factor. But oh boy, was I wrong! The set kicked off with 'I Get Off' and it became very clear that even though this was just an acoustic guitar and a singer, Lzzy Hale was not pulling any punches. Her vocals were delivered with the same force and intensity as a full band performance, and it really made this gig something special.

As I write this up (two days after the event), I am kicking myself for not taking a photo of the setlist, as I can remember lots of songs that were played, but not in the order they were played! The set was full of fan favourites, mixing with songs that you’d expect would work beautifully acoustic ('Heart of Novocaine', 'Familiar Taste of Poison'), with ones that you might not expect to work with just an acoustic guitar, such as 'Mz Hyde', 'I Miss the Misery' and 'Love Bites (and so do I)'.

There was plenty of between song banter, with both Lzzy and Joe giving as good as they get as they gently poked fun at each other and also gave us background information on a couple of the songs. There were also two sections where Lzzy took the stage solo with her piano, performing 'Dear Daughter', a cover of 'I Will Always love You', and a handful of others.

Speaking of covers, we were treated to a few – the aforementioned Whitney cover, as well as 'Bad Romance' (somewhat of a Halestorm specialty) as well as a Stevie Nicks cover.

The audience were full of excitement and enthusiasm throughout, and by the time we got to the end of the two hour long set, everyone was singing along with set closer 'Here’s To Us', an amazing end to an amazing gig.

Halestorm

Review - Michael Braunton