Alter Bridge: AO Arena, Manchester – live review

Alter Bridge | Halestorm | Mammoth WVH
AO Arena, Manchester
9th December 2022

Alter Bridge bring their Pawns and Kings European tour to Manchester AO Arena to deliver a career-spanning performance that celebrates the present and honours their past.

Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy both have high profile careers beyond Alter Bridge. Both are successful solo artists while Myles has a long established and ongoing recording and touring history as vocalist with Slash. As a band, Alter Bridge reconvene to record every two or three years. Tonight, they’re are here to promote their new Pawns and Kings album; except that they don’t! Yes, we get a couple of new tracks but as the evening unfolds we’re treated to material from across the bands career. In fact, as the night progresses, the performance becomes more of a homage to their first album, One Day Remains.

Opening proceedings are Mammoth WVH, led by Wolfgang Van Halen (son of Eddie.) Their music’s rooted in a classic rock vein. Riff-laden but melodic too; it’s hard rock with poppy tinges at times. Their short set’s pleasant enough, but for me lacks real energy live. It’s music for listening rather than feeling at a gig.

Halestorm have no such issues. Out of the darkness Izzy Hale’s extended screech announces their arrival. No more introduction’s required as they launch into The Steeple from their new album, Back From The Dead. It’s pure rock n’ roll. No frills, just powerful vocals, and a great chorus punctuated by succinct guitar breaks. Love Bites (so do I) follows. It’s faster, reminiscent of the pace and energy of Motorhead but with another eminently singable chorus. They continue with the more melodic, mid paced Wicked Ways and Psycho Crazy; both from Halestorm’s new album. Old favourite, Familiar Taste Of Poison then slows things before the juggernaut begins to roll again; culminating in I Miss The Misery. It’s a brilliant high octane performance.

Myles Kennedy wanders on stage in semi-darkness; others in the band follow. It’s a pretty low key introduction until the opening riff of Silver Tongue suddenly erupts into life. Kennedy’s soaring vocals take things to another level as drums propel the track onward. There’s no better way to start. It’s more metal than rock and probably the most accessible track on the Pawns and Kings album. What’s more, it’s just been voted best guitar riff of 2022 by Guitar World Magazine. Addicted To Pain follows in the same vein, maintaining energy levels, before the more melodic Ghost Of Days Gone By slows things with a more old fashioned heavy rock feel.

The Other Side, has a more metal edge with Myles adding vocal snarl to his trademark style. Then pace and style change again for Burn It Down. Mark Tremonti takes vocals with Kennedy on lead guitar and as the song develops I’m struck by just how good a guitarist Myles is. Cry Of Achilles brings us back to uplifting, bass propelled, galloping rock, climaxing with some scintillating guitar. As the song abruptly crashes to a close I’m left wondering, how do Alter Bridge follow this: Well they don’t!

The band depart, replaced by two stools with Mark and Myles returning with just an acoustic guitar. Together they deliver a delicate, almost fragile version of In Loving Memory. It’s a real showcase for their abilities as writers and performers and warmly received. The others wander back on stage, and the opening notes of the epic Blackbird are greeted with knowing appreciation. The song’s ebbs and flows are a signal for thousands of waving phone torches to illuminate the arena; it’s quite a moving sight.

Pawns And Kings brings us back to metal, but with the added twist of almost operatic vocals interspersed by machine gun guitar. It feels as though we’re on a roll now and Isolation, which follows, is a real triumph. With its menacing metal riffs and some tremendous guitar interplay between Mark and Myles, it elicits the best response yet from the crowd. They close with Metalingus, another classic from One Day Remains. Essentially it’s fairly generic metal but as a live spectacle, it’s perfect for generating mass rhythmic clapping and fists in the air adulation.

Coming back on stage to encore with Rise Today, sees Alter Bridge returning to their classic hard rock sound. They follow it with Open Your Eyes. The uplifting, soaring vocals and stunning guitar pyrotechnics as the track builds towards its climax bring a great gig to a tumultuous finale.

Alter Bridge can be followed on Facebook | Twitter |and their website

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Words and photos by Trev Eales. More work by Trev on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s profile. His photography portfolio is here

Source: louderthanwar.com