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Alter Bridge: A crazy Rock and Roll Crowd

English / Konzerte / November 24, 2011

A Rock and Roll Crowd should be Crazy: Alter bridge and Black Stone Cherry

And crazy the crowd was at the Alter bridge concert in the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium on November 5. Some enthusiastic die-hard fans were to be expected, but the band created by three Creed members (Mark Tremonti, guitar, Scott Phillips, drums, and Brian Marshall, bass) and former Mayfield Four lead singer Myles Kennedy, got every single dormant rock soul out of the closet. Surprisingly enough, not only Alter bridge as headlining act  managed to charm the crowd. From the first notes, support act Black Stone Cherry enraptured  Belgians, Dutch, Germans, English, and many more.  The word of the evening was most definitely energy, pure energy of rock.

Rules of Rock

The crowd were in full anticipation what the night might have in store for them, but as so many people sang along to the songs of the support act, it was no surprise that it’d be a good night . Black Stone Cherry, consisting of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, guitar), Ben Wells (guitar, backing vocals), Jon Lawhon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, backing vocals) knew exactly how to get the crowd going. The whole band gave  their all and played like it was their last show. Their intention to impress the audience was positively futile: The audience already dove deep into the rock riffs and drum madness of this Kentucky based band. Lead singer Robertson got the music lovers to put their fists together for the louder songs, such as ‚White trash millionaire‘. Emotional chords were struck with the impressive ‘Peace is Free’. Rarely does a support act engage the audience like on this night: Black Stone Cherry obviously had the rules of playing a show down to an art.  The only point of critique is that Robertson’s vocals need some evolving, most definitely in comparison to the heavenly rock tunes that Kennedy produces.

After the amazing energy of the support act, the audience was hyped to finally see Alter Bridge perform. As lead singer Kennedy took the stage, the tone of the evening was set. Rock and Roll was the word. ‚Slip to the void‘ as a starter was the right choice to keep the energy flowing. The fantastic four kicked off with ripping guitar chords, thundering drums, and amazing vocals, albeit that, during the concert, the vocals were often drowned in the music. Myles was in a good mood and as a true entertainer of rock played the crowd well. Even the youngest fans made fists in the air and showed true rock spirit while head banging to the music. The set list was a mixture of  emotional songs and powerrock with, among others, ‚All hope is gone‘, ‚Ties that bind‘, ‚Metalingus‘, ‚Isolation‘, and ‚Ghost of days gone by‘. In between all the crazy rock and roll (which according to Kennedy is the way a rock and roll crowd should be, completely crazy), the emotional acoustic ‚Watch over you‘ felt like an ocean of emotions. Myles’s request to “sing like M*******”at the chorus was adhered to the full. Nevertheless, the occasional random shout during the emotional parts of the show proved that the younger generation missed a few rules of conduct at a concert.  The energy of rock, however, was never far behind. And when the band played ‚Metalingus‘ the crowd went wild and  truly felt the power behind Kennedy’s voice, Tremonti’s guitar, and the pounding drum skills of Philips.

Guitar hero

Headliner  guitarist Tremonti made it seem that we could all be brilliant guitar players, since the music comes so natural to him. However, in reality, no pro in guitar hero could ever dream to mimic Tremonti’s talent. Kennedy too, next to having an astonishing vocal range, shows true emotion while playing the guitar. This play between the musicians was, of course, quite evident in their battle on stage in the encore, but more pure and real in the song ‚Blackbird‘. This song moved the entire crowd, not only with its amazing lyrics, but most of all with the music that resonated through the whole room. Perhaps it was even a good thing that Kennedy’s vocals were not carried well enough by the sound system at times, in order to really be able to take in the weeping guitars and thundering bass and drum. Nevertheless, an audience deserves the whole package: Music, vibe, and vocals. Alter bridge could not completely deliver this complete package. Even if Kennedy has an amazing voice, if this instrument cannot be  heard well enough it is like a guitar without strings. Alter bridge left the stage for a few minutes, but the crowd wanted more. As encore there was the dueling guitars of Tremonti and Kennedy, but also ABIII’s attention grabber ‚Isolation‘  which  everyone sang along to. Then, finally, as fair well song the crowd was served ‚Rise Today‘ and were left sweaty and full with the essence of rock.  If only air guitars produced real and good music and concerts could last forever.

Alter bridge currently has four albums for you to feast your ears on. Their first album One Day Remains featuring songs such as ‚Metalingus‘, ‚Find the Real‘, and of course, title track ‚One Day Remains‘, is not to be missed. However, their second and third album, Blackbird and ABIII are true gems too, featuring songs such as ‚Blackbird‘, ‚Rise Today‘, ‚Watch over You‘, and ‚Slip to the Void‘. As previously mentioned, not only the main act is worth a listen. Black Stone Cherry released three full studio albums, their first being a self titled one. Their second and third albums, Folklore and Superstition and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea were released in 2008 and 2011.

For more information about Alter bridge you can visit www.alterbridge.com and to learn more about Black Stone Cherry please go to  www.blackstonecherry.com


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