Gig Review: Alter Bridge @ Wembley Arena, London

Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Halestorm @ Wembley Arena 18/10

This was a concert of firsts. First time seeing Shinedown. First time seeing Alter Bridge (although not Myles Kennedy). And my first time to Wembley Arena. I’d seen Halestorm before, but wouldn’t pass up a chance to see them again. I was lucky to go to the gig at all. I bought a ticket on impulse the weekend before and was lucky there were still tickets available. I’m really glad I did though as all three bands put on a brilliant evening’s entertainment.

First up were one of my favourite bands, Halestorm. They may have only had a half hour slot as the opening band, not enough in my opinion, but they gave it 100%. They were in awesome form as they rattled through songs from their last album ‘The Strange Case Of…’ including the Grammy award winning ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’. Their performance was typified by drummer Arejay Hale, often likened to Animal from The Muppets and on this performance it is easy to see why. He is crazy behind the drums. Given the chance to show off he wowed the crowd with a mental drum solo. While your attention is drawn to him it is easy to overlook the other members. Joe Hottinger is a very talented guitarist while Lzzy Hale showed why she is one of the best female vocalists around at the moment, especially on their cover of the Judas Priest song ‘Dissident Aggressor’. Certainly the perfect opening act for the night.

Next up were Shinedown. Now I must confess I’m not a huge Shinedown fan. They seemed to have passed me by a bit apart from hearing them on Kerrang and Scuzz every now and then. They were a very popular choice as support though, Shinedown t-shirts were everywhere, and their set went down very well with the fans in the crowd.  They played a couple of songs I recognised including ‘Unity’ and ‘Bully’ but they still showed their versatility with ballads such as ‘Second Chance’ and hard rocking songs like ‘Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay)’.  Singer Brent Smith also found time to deliver a rousing speech; “Rock n Roll isn’t a genre, it’s a way of life,” which received a huge cheer. The crowd was definitely pumped up for the headline act once they had finished their set.

This left just band to appear to stage, the mighty Alter Bridge and they showed exactly why they are one of the best hard rock acts in the world right now. They put on a performance that showed just how a rock show should be done. Crowd pleasers mixed with new tracks from their latest album ‘Fortress’, they were on top form. Opening with ‘Addicted to Pain’, the lead single from ‘Fortress’, it set the scene for things to come. With that fantastic riff it was a brilliant way to open the show.

Not bad for a crappy camera phone

Their set consisted mostly of songs from their 2007 album ‘Blackbird’ including ‘Rise Today’, a fantastic rendition of ‘Come to Life’ (my favourite AB song) and the acoustic ‘Watch Over You’. Kennedy said that the band had played around with the setlist a bit adding ‘Metalingus’ after people had complained it had been dropped from previous shows. They finished their set with the brilliant ‘Open Your Eyes’ before coming on for an encore consisting of ‘Slip to the Void’ and ‘Isolation’.

Alter Bridge are the ultimate modern rock band. They have the sound, the riffs, the solos and bass lines that all good rock bands need. It helps though that they have an incredibly talented guitarist in Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy who is widely regarded as one of the best singers of the current generation of rock artists. But seeing them live is something else. They know how to put on a fantastic show and they get everything out of the crowd. Definitely a band I recommend you go and see if you get the chance. You won’t regret it.

Big thank you goes out to Michael who took some pictures for me after my camera broke