Written By: André La Crout
The Vine Showroom at del Lago Resort & Casino hosted a diverse crowd of music fans on a cold February night in Waterloo, New York. Nearly all wore black t-shirts, but with tributes to a variety of bands. One thing most of them had in common: connections to the night’s headline act, Alter Bridge.
There were many Alter Bridge shirts, of course, but Alter Bridge is a band that can attract fans from a variety of other places. Some wore Slash shirts from lead singer Myles Kennedy’s side projects. Others wore Tremonti shirts from guitarist Mark Tremonti’s side projects. Some even wore Creed shirts, no doubt coming to see whether the former members now playing in Alter Bridge “still got it.” Spoiler alert: They do.
Mammoth WVH kicked off the show and proved to be a perfect warm-up to Alter Bridge. They sported four guitars on stage, all playing and singing in melodically sophisticated harmony. Easygoing vibes were abundant along with their charismatic hard-not-to-love stage presence.
An up-and-coming act to keep an eye on, Mammoth WVH is the type of band who has a blast on stage and makes sure the audience has a blast too. Front man Wolfgang Van Halen, son of the legendary Eddie Van Halen, complimented New York State for how loud and fun our crowds are. “You guys are the shit,” he said.
Alter Bridge sprang into their set with “Silver Tongue,” a single off their most recent album, Pawns & Kings, released in October 2022. It proved to be a great way to set the stage for the rest of their act, showcasing the individual talents of each of the band members, from Myles Kennedy’s high-flying vocals to the loud staccato riffs of guitarist Mark Tremonti and bassist Brian Marshall to the relentless drumming of Scott Phillips.
Tremonti treated the audience to the first of many signature Alter Bridge guitar solos during their second song, “Addicted to Pain,” the lead single of their 2013 album, Fortress. Voracious fingers flew over his guitar’s frets at inhuman velocities.
During their third song, “Ghosts of Days Gone By,” off their 2010 album AB III, bassist Brian Marshall decided it was his turn to treat the audience, tossing about a dozen guitar picks into the crowd.
Crowd involvement is a key element to any Alter Bridge set, as singer Myles Kennedy asks to see hands in the air or clapping seemingly every other song and often invites the audience to sing along. Like Mammoth WVH before them, the guys of Alter Bridge want everyone to have a great time.
Five songs in, Kennedy paused to pay tribute to Mammoth WVH, thanking them for coming along and calling them “talented young whippersnappers.” He said they’ll be around for a long time, then transitioned to someone else whose timeless talents will grace the world for a long time: Mark Tremonti. Myles Kennedy introduced Tremonti as the singer of their next song, “Burn It Down.”
The performance of “Burn It Down” proved to be more than just Myles Kennedy taking a break from singing, as in reality Kennedy and Tremonti traded places. While Tremonti sang lead vocals, Kennedy treated the audience to an impressive guitar solo of his own. The number proved that either of them could be the front man or lead guitarist of just about any band.
About halfway through the show, Myles Kennedy finally addressed the elephant in the room: his ridiculous shoes. Sporting bright yellow loafers, Kennedy said he was wearing them because he lost a bet. They really weren’t THAT ridiculous though. As Kennedy said when he admitted he liked them, “I feel like they light up the room.” They did.
Kennedy then went solo for a song, playing “Watch Over You” by himself on acoustic guitar. It proved to be a well-received moment from the audience, as even more cellphones than usual were in the air to record the performance from their critically acclaimed 2007 album, Blackbird.
Acoustic numbers continued for a performance of “In Loving Memory” off their certified gold debut album, One Day Remains. This time, Tremonti joined Kennedy at the front of the stage to play guitar.
As everyone prepared to get loud again, Myles Kennedy treated the audience to an instrumental cover of “Blackbird” by the Beatles on his guitar before transitioning into their own (very different) song with the same name. The performance of Alter Bridge’s “Blackbird” featured Kennedy and Tremonti tag teaming guitar solos late in the song.
After playing the title track of Pawns & Kings along with featuring Mark Tremonti on vocals again for “Waters Rising” from Fortress, the band eventually made their way to “Metalingus” in another return to their debut album, One Day Remains.
A fitting finale song for Alter Bridge, the performance of “Metalingus” showcased the individual talents of all members in the same way “Silver Tongue” did in their opening number. Singer Myles Kennedy used the song to introduce the band members who hadn’t been featured in the same way he and Mark Tremonti had been earlier in the set. Scott Phillips was introduced as he began the song with thunderous drums. Then Brian Marshall was introduced as his rumbling bass joined in. Myles Kennedy set aside his guitar for the performance, further punctuating the sheer force of his bandmates, as “Metalingus” is arguably their loudest song despite being down an instrument.
Knowing this was the end of their set, Kennedy made sure to get some extra interaction with the crowd before saying goodbye. During the bridge, he orchestrated a screaming contest between the two sides of the Vine Showroom before having everyone do “The Wave.”
As the song neared its conclusion, Kennedy pointed directly at the audience in tribute while singing “On this day, it’s so real to me / Everything has come to life / Another chance to chase a dream / ‘Nother chance to feel / Chance to feel alive.”
This was not to be their last song, however. The audience shouted, whistled, and pounded on the floor until the guys of Alter Bridge returned to the stage for an encore that featured “Rise Today,” the popular lead single from Blackbird, along with “Open Your Eyes,” a hit single from their debut album, One Day Remains.
Almost everyone over the age of 30 has heard of Creed. Despite selling millions of records worldwide, Alter Bridge hasn’t quite reached the same level of popularity and it’s a damn shame. Scott Phillips, Brian Marshall, and Mark Tremonti have only gotten better with Alter Bridge. Pack force-of-nature Myles Kennedy in there on vocals and you get one of the better rock performances around today.