Vana, The Lady in Red

Arrow at Archer Music Hall

5/28/26

Support: Redhook, Deadlands, Eyes Set To Kill

Shot by: Sarah Swetz

The lady in red, Vana, visited Arrow at Archer Music Hall in Allentown, PA yesterday to scream and sing her heart out with her fans. Originally from Anaheim, but raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Vana has been on the scene since 2022 when she released her first song “You’re Not The Only One” but start gaining more mainstream popularity with her breakout single “Beg!” released in March of 2024. This is her first headline tour but she is no stranger to the stage having supported several acts including Linkin Park.

For this stop along the Lady In Red tour – Vana brought support from Redhook, Deadlands, and Eyes Set To Kill. All three brought their best and had the crowed thoroughly energized. Not to mention the pure feminine power in the room with all bands bring female fronted.

Redhook, hailing from Australia, started off the night with some amazing metal/rock sounds for their first tour in the US. They have a strong stage presence and plenty of theatrics, with lead vocalist Emmy Mack coming on stage in a straightjacket and then later in the set a dress covered in blood with blood pouring out of her mouth. Guitarist Craig Wilkinson, bassist Ned Jankovic, and drummer Alex Powys kept the energy high as Mack called for the crowd to make some “bad decisions” in line with their song by the same title. What followed was a wall of death that had the room shaking.

The crowd was already plenty warmed up but there are still two more acts prior to Vana so we go next to Deadlands. Fronted by powerhouse vocalist Kasey Karlsen the band hails from New York and has been making music together since 2021. With guitar/production from CJ Arey and drums for tour from Andrew Gaudio, the group absolutely rocked and called forward a healthy amount of crowdsurfing. It was hard to not get caught up in the energy and power of Kalsen’s voice, easily transitioning between clean and unclean vocals.

After an amazing set from Deadlands its hard to believe there was more to enjoy. Next up was Eyes Set to Kill. I knew it would be a wild set when security gave us a heads up that this would be the most crowdsurfing we have had all night, and they were right. By the third song Alexia Rodriguez (guitar and clean vocalist) called for everyone to get up off their feet and into the air because she wanted to see as many crowdsurfers as possible. The set was filled with amazing vocals and electric energy from Alexia, bassist Anissa Rodriguez, Jeremy Anderson with unclean vocals and guitar, and Caleb Clifton on drums.

Then came the woman in red herself- Vana. Vana put on an amazing show with incredibly powerful vocals to fill the room. She commanded the crowd and fans hung on her every word as she moved through her metal/dark-pop fusion discography. She had a few tricks up her sleeve as well to get the crowd pumped. Like earlier in the night she called for a wall of death, this time with a twist. Her brother, who had been busy manning the merch table, was going to throw a stuffed animal up when the breakdown started and as the crowd runs into each other in a fit of chaos, whoever caught the animal was rewarded with a free shirt. And thats not all – Vana brought out some Magic The Gathering Cards and threw the unopened pack into the crowd. The recipient came up on stage to open the pack and throw the cards back out into the crowd. Vana joked that the cards were a business expense and then went right on with her set. Very briefly things slowed down so she could sing about lesbian vampires and fans started a “soft” mosh pit – holding each others hands and slow dancing in the pit. She continued to filled the night with powerful songs and had the crowd begging for more – literally. Prior to playing her breakout hit “Beg!” the fans were screaming for more and begging “please!”. It was an amazing night and I foresee Vana’s next headliner to be on even bigger stages.