Electronic violin star Lindsey Stirling pairs with Halestorm’s hard rock in Syracuse

A sea of concert goers donned in black and leather took over The Oncenter on Tuesday night during Lindsey Stirling and Halestorm’s stop in Syracuse on their co-headling nEVEREST Duality Tour.

Apocalyptica, a three-man cello metal band, took the stage as the opener, claiming to be “Your favorite metal cello band from Finland.” They proved that classical music and heavy rock can go hand-in-hand. The band excelled at warming up the crowd and performed a 35-minute set they referred to as their “Metallica setlist” featuring covers of rock classics such as “Master of Puppets,” “Nothing Else Matters” and “Seek and Destroy.”

Photo by Alicia Hoppes

Apocalyptica cellist Eicca Toppinen performs at the OnCenter on Tuesday. The band, comprised of three rock cellists, opened for Halestorm and Lindsey Stirling with a Metallica-inspired set.

Stirling then took the stage, immediately astounding audience members with her showmanship. Stirling effortlessly combined playing her electric violin with clean and quick choreographed dance moves.

The violinist’s hour-long set consisted of a mix of original songs and covers, including a duet cover of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” with her lead guitarist, Jason Richardson. Stirling showed off her bright vocal tone, alternating between singing and playing violin during her song “Starry Night.” Audience members filled the venue with their phone lights, swaying along to the music.

Toward the end of the set, Stirling brought out and spun a wheel onstage to determine the mystery song of the night. The wheel consisted of Stirling classics such as her cover of “Carol of the Bells” before ultimately landing on “Til the Light Goes Out,” a song that had yet to be performed on the tour.

Halestorm took the stage not long after and soon had the audience jumping up and down while throwing rock signs in the air as the band kicked off their set with “Fallen Star.”

The band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Lzzy Hale, amazed the audience with her powerful voice and ranging riffs in songs like “Shiver” and “Love Bites (So Do I)” to a raspier sound in slower ballads like “Break In.”

Photo by Alicia Hoppes

Halestorm’s crowd rocks out to their opening number, “Fallen Star,” at the OnCenter on Tuesday. The rock band’s set combined new and old favorites.

During the set, Hale told the audience that she had performed many years ago in The Oncenter where she sang the National Anthem for the Syracuse Crunch, and that she was more than thrilled to be back in Central New York.

The band continued the set, featuring songs from their latest studio album Everest including “Like A Woman Can,” “How Will You Remember Me?” and “Watch Out!”

Hale noted how thankful she was to be on tour with Stirling, especially since the two have been close friends for over a decade. Their close bond was showcased when Stirling briefly returned to the stage during Halestorm’s performance for a duet of “Shatter Me.” The women danced around one another and laughed along to the music.

Halestorm finished their set by performing one of their older songs, “Here’s to us,” where Hale and the rest of the band closed out the night by taking a shot onstage and toasting to the audience, “Here’s to you, Syracuse.”