Live @ Manchester Academy 19/10/2010
I was looking forward to Alter Bridge being a fan myself, but didn’t really know what to expect only having only heard about there live performance’s by word of mouth. The Academy in Manchester was the setting for this night of riffs and rock carnage. The sold out Academy was packed to the rafters and that set the stage for the phenomenal atmosphere.
After being warmed up by the superbly tight and determined support act, Slaves To Gravity, It was clear this was going to be an extra special performance. With the rising anticipation drawn from the recently released new album ABIII, it was clear that the crowd had fans new and old expectant of one almighty performance.
The lights went down and with the crowd roaring an eerie drone rang out round the Academy. From the smoke appeared Myles Kennedy and with the crowd going wild they opened the show with the opening track from there new album “Slip to the Void”.
This being the first time I had seen Alter Bridge live, I wasn’t prepared for this flawless performance. Myles Kennedy had the responsive audience in the palm of his hand and the crowd participation could genuinely only be matched by the Iron Maiden Rock in Rio version of Fear of the Dark. It was that good. With Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall providing a bone crushing back line it allowed Axe-meister, Mark Tremonti to showcase his skills as a guitar legend with flawless solo’s and brutal riffage .
After a great set they left stage with the crowd thirsty for more and from the darkness appeared Myles with an acoustic guitar and played “Watch Over You” and then joined by Mark and they performed a version of “Wonderful Life”. They threw their guitars back on and played a blinding 3 track encore.
Alter Bridge impressed me to the extreme with their staggering performance through out the set. It was clear to see that the 2400 ‘Sold Out’ capacity crowd went away with large grins on their faces and as artists, Alter Bridge must be extremely satisfied with that. This band are already huge, but I feel that the next progressive step is surely arena dates.
Head over to their site at http://www.alterbridge.com and also check our
Alter Bridge gallery below!!
stage1
mt4
mk4
mk9
mk10
mk2
b1
mk3
mt5
mk6
mt3
mk7
mt2
mk8
mt5
mk1
mt1
Words by Liam Gierke and images by Don Jackson-Wyatt
