ALTER BRIDGE + SHINEDOWN // THE SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW

Alter Bridge return to Glasgow for their ‘Walk The Sky Tour’ to The SSE Hydro, bringing special co-headliner guests ‘SHINEDOWN’ and ‘The Raven Age’ opening the show.

ALTER BRIDGE PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SSE HYDRO - 17.12.2019 PICTURE BY: | CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY — **ALTER BRIDGE PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S SSE HYDRO - 17.12.2019**
PICTURE BY: | CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

★★★★☆ (4.5/5)

Opening what was already known by the thousands of ticket holders to be an incredible night was English melodic metalcore band ‘The Raven Age’. They took to the stage shortly after doors opening to get the night off to a great start. Playing a 7 song setlist their music filled the arena with their thick and powerful riffs, heavy drumbeats and thudding bass along with wailing yet smooth vocals playing tracks from albums new and older. From start to finish of their set it was clear the audience was already having a great time and it was only the start of everyone getting pumped up. The Raven Age filled in last minute on the UK leg of the tour as Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose was unfortunately hospitalised leaving the band unable to join the tour this time around.

By the end of The Raven Age set the arena was packed and the atmosphere had a very special feeling of excitement buzzing as everyone eagerly waits for Shinedown to take to the stage. This is a band that doesn’t perform in the UK very often which only added to the excitement of fans getting to see them return. They took to the stage and the arena went wild; the band opened with the track ‘Devil’ from their latest album ATTENTION ATTENTION. The band played a strong 10-song set lasting an hour with songs ranging across their many loved albums. Frontman Brent Smith was a performer that is very rare to come by now-a-days – he interacts with the audience in ways that only a handful of performers do, he shows love to everyone who attends their shows and is not afraid of getting close with them. As they band built up to their high energy song ‘Enemies’, Smith separated the audience creating an open gap down the middle from the stage to the back of the arena. He proceeded to walk through the crowd whilst getting them hyped to go crazy when the song kicked in. This is one of the many things that make Shinedown stand out from all other rock bands, and it is what makes the audience feel a better and closer connection to them. This is a band that anyone who is into any genre of rock music must go and see whenever they get the chance, it is a performance that you would never forget.

When Shinedown finished their set, I had a feeling that I’ve never had before following a support band at a concert – the audience had such a buzz that it felt as though we had just experienced a full nights worth of music and could happily have gone home at that, yet we still had the headliners to go. It was an incredible feeling.

Half an hour or so had went by, the lights snapped off. The audience roared. Alter Bridge’s opening track ‘One Life’ from their latest album ‘Walk the Sky’ played, this is the point where it hit the audience that if we didn’t think the night could get any better, we were wrong. Opening with their hit song ‘Wouldn’t You Rather’ from their latest album the audience and band simultaneously erupted, and the already high energy levels shot right up with the whole venue singing along. The combination of Myles Kennedy’s clean and powerful vocals, Mark Tremonti’s heavy and skilful guitar playing, Brian Marshall’s deep and thick basslines and Scott Philips big sounding drumbeats and fills are the perfect complement to each other to create a sound that few bands in this genre can achieve.

The band’s set included at least one song from all of their albums dating back to their first release in 2004. This included a rarely performed full band version of their moving song ‘Watch Over You’, their awarded song for best guitar solo of the century ‘Blackbird’ and a treat of Tremonti singing for the song ‘Waters Rising’. The set lasted around one and half hours comprising of 17 songs. During their set Tremonti was on the lookout for the one fan who was having the most fun, singing and dancing along to their heartfelt lyrics, between songs he pointed him out and Santa Tremonti [as Myles calls him] gave that very lucky fan one of his signature PRS Tremonti guitars that he played during the show as a gift and appreciation for them. For any fan to receive such a gift from the guitarist of the decade is less than a once in a life-time opportunity. This reinforces the thought in knowing just how genuine and caring Tremonti is. I have met him personally several times and can stand up and say he is one of the most humble and nice person I have had the pleasure of meeting.

One thing the band were determined to do with this tour as opposed to previous tours is up their game on the production side of things and they did not disappoint. This tour saw use of a much larger lighting rig, lots of video wall and the use of CO2 cannons that all tied together what was a truly epic night. Alter Bridge are one of those bands that there is always at least one song everyone can get into and feel the meaning behind the lyrics along with the powerful melodies track after track. Each album has a different sound and feel that were written about different points in their lives and what they have gone through from a personal standpoint. But ultimately every song on every album is pure Alter Bridge with some of the best musicians playing in the rock world today all together in one place. My one and only complaint of the night is through each band’s performance is the vocals were rather quiet and at times I couldn’t work out what they were saying, but the band mix was very well done and I could feel in my chest every note and beat.

Alter Bridge, Shinedown and The Raven Age all in one night was a night I will never forget.

It was truly epic.