The Greatest of All Tours: Volbeat, Halestorm, The Ghost Inside

Phantom Light Media
Jul 25
4 min read

July 22nd will go down as a day forever mourned in rock history as the news broke across the music community that Ozzy Osbourne had passed away. Tributes came pouring in from every corner of the globe and it seemed as though every touring artist on the road decided that tonight, Ozzy would appear at all of their shows in some way. It was no surprise then that the Cascades Amphitheater rang with the iconic sounds of Ozzy’s discography as Volbeat’s “Greatest of All Tours” began its opening preparations, much to the sorrow and delight of all those assembled. The Danish band hasn’t played a show near the Portland/Vancouver area since their 2021 co-headliner with arena rock darlings Ghost, so turnout was expansive and spirits were high as the amphitheater welcomed a sizable crowd for the opening band.

On this idyllic Tuesday night, that would be Warped Tour-era mainstays The Ghost Inside, who stormed the stage to open the show with seven songs packed with soaring choruses and smashing breakdowns. It was clear some members of Volbeat’s audience weren’t familiar with this style of music, but lead singer Jonathan Vigil’s infectious smile and roaring gutturals soon set heads nodding and certainly won the band a few new fans. Their latest album, Searching for Solace, formed the main bulk of their set (“Death Grip”, “Earn It,” “Going Under,” “Wash It Away”), but they played a few fan favorites to pad their time that were quite well-received (“Dear Youth”, “Avalanche”) before exiting with a cacophonous rendition of “Aftermath,” a song that marked a turning point for the California outfit following a near-fatal bus crash. Even with only seven songs, The Ghost Inside left an impression on the crowd, and the energy levels were visibly rising as the first changeover began.

The “Greatest of All Tours” features different lineups on each of its three legs, and our show was lucky enough to be treated to an expertly-executed set from Pennsylvania’s Halestorm for the second round of the night. Namesake frontwoman Lzzy Hale wasted no time getting the crowd’s voices warmed up with “Fallen Star” as the first song of their set, flowing effortlessly into “I Miss the Misery” and then again into fan favorite “Love Bites (So Do I)” as the sun sank behind the amphitheater’s shell. The band has a new album due out on August 8th entitled Everest, and the Cascades audience were treated to no fewer than five cuts from it across the night, including “WATCH OUT!” and the album’s title track. Fan favorites “Freak Like Me”, “I Get Off”, and “I Like It Heavy” provided plenty of opportunities for the dual guitars of Lzzy and supporting guitarist Joe Hottinger to bathe the crowd in flashy riffs and lengthy solos. Standout drummer Arejay Hale got a solo of his own about halfway through the set to thunderous applause, and the band closed their set with a touching and powerful cover of “Perry Mason,” dedicated of course to the Prince of Darkness himself.

Both supporting bands put up outstanding performances, but by this point the crowd were hungry for their main event. Chanting of “Volbeat! Volbeat!” were already filling the shell even as changeover was underway, and not even the house PA blasting Black Sabbath classics could silence them for more than a couple minutes at a time. Luckily, the headliners soon obliged their eager fans as the lights darkened to the sound of bleating goats. Certainly not the most common intro track for a headlining band, but it got the crowd’s attention immediately. More recognizable, however, was the distinctive droning guitar riff of “Children of the Grave,” which the band played a snippet of to start the show with yet another loving tribute to Ozzy. The transition to “A Warrior’s Call” was effortless, and the set moved ahead with truly breathtaking showmanship as frontman Michael Poulsen rotated between three stagefront microphones to take in every angle of his adoring audience. The stage production was fairly simple by headliner standards, but the cascading spotlights and colorful spirals had rapt attention as the band blasted through a lengthy run of fan favorite songs. It wasn’t until nearly halfway through the set that Volbeat touched on their latest album, 2025’s God of Angel’s Trust. It was well worth the wait, however, as these newer songs channeled much of the rockabilly laden groove that the band’s older material is often so beloved for, with a modern twist easily detectable in the lyricism. This show also saw the tour debut of album single “Time Will Heal,” which got an absolutely enormous response. Not quite as enormous, though, as the crowd-wide singalong of “For Evigt / The Bliss” and “Still Counting” that bore the show’s closure into the Washington summer night in high spirits, voices still ringing off the shell walls long after the crowd had departed. If there’s one thing Volbeat are exceptionally good at, it’s making live shows feel like one massive karaoke night, and they delivered on this tour with absolutely no room to be questioned.