Alter Bridge [Live] @ Civic Hall November 11th 2008
 

As part of Alter Bridge's 2008 Blackbird tour, it was time that the band came to Wolverhampton, which was maybe a smaller gig seeing as Alter Bridge are playing cities like London, Munich and Madrid as part of the tour. After waiting 3 months to go to this gig, I was certainly hoping and expecting something special, and my god did Alter bridge deliver.

The support act Logan were pretty impressive as they played their 40 minute set. While I was a new listener of Logan, sections of the crowd were familiar with the songs and certainly sung their hearts out, showing that Logan were very good at pleasing the crowd. Although, being that Logan sounded exactly like Alter Bridge, just with different songs, it wasn't really a suprise that the crowd were so fond of them. The other support act Hot Leg were a no show, apparently due to illness, although certain rumours are suggesting otherwise!

After a short break, the opening 'Thunder-like' sound, that most bands seem to have these days, came on before Alter Bridge rushed out and into an energetic guitar riff, which began the first song - 'Come to Life'. Before the gig started I predicted that Alter bridge wouldn't start with this, as i thought they may want to warm the crowd up a little before playing one of their main tracks. Oh how I was wrong, the crowd were ready and started pumping their fists in the air straight away.

After a playing a couple of songs from the first album 'One Day Remains', Alter Bridge returned to 'Blackbird' with the song 'White Knuckles', which is one of their most energy-filled tracks. Whatsmore the crowd weren't giving up, Alter Bridge still had them in their control and were not going to disappoint.

There were three main highlights of the night for me, which will make this one of the most memorable gigs I have ever been to. The first was the acoustic track 'Watch over You', which Myles Kennedy performed individually. This provided a definitive contrast from the high-power, thrashing of all the other tracks, and gave the crowd a bit of a rest and a real chance to actually listen to and enjoy the music. Also, its a fantastic song!

The second was 'Ties that Bind'. This is one of Alter Bridge's most prolific tracks, one of the best guitar riffs ever written (in my opinion) and it's really crazy. The crowd moshed, pumped their fists and generally everyone got shoved forward - the good old grinding stuff you really want from a rock gig.

Finally, Alter Bridge ended the main set (before the encore) with 'In Loving Memory' and 'Open Your Eyes'. 'In Loving memory' was dedicated to a huge Alter Bridge fan who had recently been killed in a car crash. I struggled to hear bits of the track because the crowd were singing so loudly - I actually got goose pimples by the atmosphere surrounding this song, it was fantastic. Alter bridge closed the set with 'Open Your Eyes', which I was hoping they would. It was a superb ending to a brilliant set.

When Alter Bridge left the stage, the crowd chanted their name and 'we want more' and frankly, they weren't going to give up until Alter Bridge played just a few more tracks.

Overall the set was fantastic, the crowd was fantastic, and it may be the best gig I have even been to. Myles Kennedy's live vocal performance was breath-taking, not many singers can hit all the ridiculously high-notes they sing when doing it live, but Kennedy had this pin-pointed to perfection from start to finish. Mark Tremonti was also sensational throughout, I have never seen someones fingers move continuously in the way Tremonti's does. It was guitar playing to take example from. Finally the drumming of Scott Phillips and the bass riffs of Brian Marshall should not go unmentioned. They were also brilliant and held the set together well, while Kennedy and Tremonti showed off their expertise - and I can't really blame them for it.

To sum up the gig in one word: Epic!!