Fresh from the Halestorm set at Download, Lzzy Hale and guitar-slinger Joe Hottinger brought their Unplugged Sessions to The Garage in Glasgow for the first of five shows.
Lzzy & Joe Unplugged
The Garage, Glasgow – 14 June 2026
Words: Ian Sutherland
Photography: Mark Ritchie
Halestorm, throughout their history, have always been a people’s band, constantly touring and coming regularly to hundreds of different markets across the US, Europe and more.
Always happy to chat and have photos taken, calling out to the fans who do multiple shows from the stage, Lzzy’s open and honest discussions with fans on social media, the band and their freaks fan base, we are all the same is always the message.
The problem with how successful they have been with that strategy is that over time, there are more and more people in their rock family and the venues have to get bigger to compensate.
As someone who saw their first Glasgow show as third act on a bill headlined by Theory Of A Deadman, I will not have been alone in watching them up on the city’s OVO Hydro Arena stage and feeling wistful about those smaller gigs of yore.
It is for that reason there is such an air of anticipation in The Garage tonight. The scene of Halestorm’s first headline gig in the city is sold out again tonight, but this time for just half of the band.
Billed as an evening with Lzzy And Joe, this is not officially a Halestorm event, probably out of respect for the two missing members. But the freaks have come out in force to get to see two of their heroes up close and personal again.
No support, the two stars of the evening just wandered onto the stage and started doing their stuff. Honestly, it was just mind-blowing to see how easy this is for them.
Starting with a couple of ‘spicy’ tunes, they are not afraid to get personal about their long-term relationship or pretty much anything else, including threesomes as referenced in Do Not Disturb!
Nothing is off limits, it seems, and while the set obviously must have pre-planned elements, you can see the chemistry between the two, the banter about their lives, and that a look or a word from either one through the set can take things off on a totally unplanned tangent.
Without the full rock band sound, the rockier Halestorm tunes like Love Bites and I Miss The Misery still worked, with raucous crowd sing-alongs and an audience rhythm section. But the format lends itself to making the gentler side of their sound become goosebump special.
The Silence was just amazing, Gold Dust Woman was the pick of the covers that were played, and Familiar Taste Of Poison sounded fresh and new yet still deliciously familiar.
The obligatory Scotland tops and No Scotland No Scotland No Party section was a nice nod to their surroundings and a set closer of Here’s To Us was sung with huge gusto on and off the stage. Tell them to go fuck themselves indeed!
This was inevitably going to be a great night, Lzzy’s charisma and vocal chops, Joe’s easy yet eloquent acoustic stylings, a crowd who loved them both before they even set foot on the stage, the only mystery was which songs they would choose to wow us with.
And wow us all they did. All I have to do now is persuade the full band to do week-long residencies in The Garage next tour instead of playing the OVO Hydro. Whatever the ticket price, it would be worth it.
Raise those horns, Glasgow, few have earned like these two legends.
