It is always a treat when international hard rock bands tour across North America and especially when they are making a dent into the American music scene. In this case, Volbeat and HIM are two acts from two different Scandinavian countries and showed why they are a couple of rising faces in the scene on the inaugural Rock Allegiance Tour.

All That Remains was the lone American band on the tour and opened the show with their New England brand of melodic thrash that they have been grooming over the past fifteen years. They were easily the most metal band on the tour, and the crowd learned this immediately. Their set list covered much of their familiar songs from their past three albums, including ‘Two Weeks’ and ‘This Calling’ (joined by Tommy Vext, ex-Divine Heresy and Snot vocalist).

Finnish dark rockers HIM got the crowd into a frenzy when they arrived on stage. It became evident that much of the crowd was eagerly waiting for them to play their somber brand of dark love songs. Front man Ville Vallo is a man of few words, but his body language got the female audience members stirred up as the show went on. They opened their set list with a pair of newer songs, ‘Unleash the Red’ and ‘All Lips Go Blue,’ which then led into ‘Buried Alive By Love’ and ‘Wings Of A Butterfly,’ which span a healthy cross-section of their hits. Regardless of what the band played, the crowd was zoned in on them and responded with an overwhelming response.

Danish country-rockers Volbeat is another surprise to the music scene, but their powerful mix of rockabilly and country flare to Metallica-esque metallic sound with a punk edge grabbed audiences immediately and tonight was no exception. ‘We are Anthrax with three new members,’ joked frontman Michael Poulsen, as he introduced one of their songs while the actual Anthrax members were spotted watching by the sound board. He speaks through his music, and doesn’t joke too much with the crowd, but still got the crowd worked up as well. They opened with ‘Hallelujah Goat’ and ‘Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood,’ working in their outlaw metal into the crowd. Poulsen and guitarist Rob Caggiano both work well with getting the crowd into the music and rarely losing a step along the way.

They worked in a few interesting covers, such as doing the intros to Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire,’ Young the Giant’s ‘My Body,’ Slayer’s ‘Raining Blood’ and Judas Priest’s ‘Breaking the Law.’ Regardless of what song they performed, they made it into their own and got the crowd singing along immediately.

Speaking of Anthrax, guitarist Scott Ian joined them on ‘Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza’ on the encore to close their powerful set. Overall, Volbeat showed how it’s done and they are in it for the long run.

Volbeat/HIM/All That Remains

Hollywood Palladium

Hollywood, CA

Words: Rei Nishimoto

Photos: Big Shot Concerts/ Keith Johnson

Note: Photos from the Michigan date of the tour

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