LIVE REVIEW: BABYMETAL – THE BIGGEST BABYMETAL TOUR EVER @ AMERIS BANK AMPHITHEATRE, ALPHARETTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 16, 2026

BABYMETAL brought the biggest North American tour of their career to Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on September 16, joined by Halestorm and Violent Vira for a night that showed just how wide the definition of heavy music can be.

It would have been easy to build a bill around three bands that sounded similar. Instead, this one went the opposite direction.

Violent Vira opened the night with a darker, more atmospheric approach to alternative metal. There is a rawness to the music that separated it immediately from what would follow. On an amphitheater stage, the project still felt personal and uncomfortable in the way some of the best darker alternative music should. It was a sharp contrast to the polished hard rock of Halestorm and the full production spectacle BABYMETAL had waiting later.

Then Halestorm took over.

At this point, Lzzy Hale has nothing left to prove as a rock vocalist, but hearing that voice live is still different from hearing it on a record. She can move from a clean melody to a scream without making either feel forced, and the rest of Halestorm gives her plenty of weight behind it.

The Ameris set pulled heavily from the songs that have made the band such a reliable live act, including “Love Bites (So Do I),” “Freak Like Me,” “Familiar Taste of Poison,” “Amen” and “I Miss the Misery.” Their cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” also fit surprisingly well once Halestorm dragged it into their own world.

Arejay Hale remains almost as much fun to watch as he is to hear behind the kit. Halestorm didn’t need an elaborate stage production to fill the amphitheater. The songs, Lzzy’s voice and the sheer force of the band handled that on their own.

But BABYMETAL was an entirely different kind of show.

When the lights dropped for the headliner, the night shifted from a rock concert into something much more theatrical.

SU-METAL, MOAMETAL and MOMOMETAL came out with the kind of precision that has become central to BABYMETAL. The choreography is timed against music that can move from J-pop melody to crushing guitars and double-kick drums in seconds, yet somehow none of it feels like two different shows fighting each other.

“BABYMETAL DEATH” opened the set before the group went straight into “from me to u,” one of several songs representing the METAL FORTH era. From there, Atlanta got “PA PA YA!!” followed by “Song 3,” BABYMETAL’s collaboration with Slaughter to Prevail.

One of the most interesting stretches came next with “KxAxWxAxIxI” and “Sunset Kiss.” The latter originally features Polyphia and shows the more melodic side of METAL FORTH before “Monochrome” gave the set another change of pace.

Then things got heavy again.

“Syncopation” led into solos from the Kami Band before BABYMETAL returned for “METALI!!.” Whatever anyone wants to call the combination of Japanese pop, metal, choreography and electronic music that BABYMETAL has spent years creating, hearing it live makes one thing clear: this is not a novelty act. The musicianship underneath the production is serious, and the three performers at the front never seem to stop moving.

“Iine!” pushed the show back toward the group’s earlier material before “RATATATA,” their collaboration with Electric Callboy, brought one of the most immediately fun moments of the set.

Then came the song that helped introduce a huge part of the world to BABYMETAL in the first place.

“Gimme Chocolate!!” closed the main set, more than a decade after the song became an international breakthrough for the band.

The encore went back to the heavier side with “Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!” before “Road of Resistance” finished the night.

That closing stretch probably explains BABYMETAL better than trying to place them into any particular metal subgenre. The show can be theatrical, colorful and carefully choreographed, but underneath all of it are enormous guitars, relentless drums and songs designed for a live setting.

Fifteen years into their career, BABYMETAL is now playing the largest North American headlining tour they have ever attempted. Ameris Bank Amphitheatre showed why that progression makes sense.

Violent Vira brought the darkness. Halestorm brought straight-ahead rock power. BABYMETAL finished it with something that still doesn’t really sound or look like anyone else.

And that is probably the point.

Babymetal Photo Gallery

Halestorm Photo Gallery

Violent Vira Photo Gallery

Setlist

• BABYMETAL DEATH
• from me to u
• PA PA YA!!
• Song 3
• KxAxWxAxIxI
• Sunset Kiss
• Monochrome
• Syncopation
• METALI!!
• Iine!
• RATATATA
• Gimme Chocolate!!
• Encore: Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!
• Encore: Road of Resistance

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Live photography by Chris Collett for No Flash Needed. © 2026 No Flash Needed. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without written permission.