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Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge Kicks Off U.S. Tour at Hard Rock Tampa

| Vicky Sullivan |

Rock fans sold out the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Event Center for the opening of the Alter Bridge U.S. tour! Coming off their European tour at the end of 2022, the Orlando based band is bringing their new album; “Pawns & Kings” live to fans. They are also celebrating the 15 year anniversary of their hit album “Blackbird”. Their supporting bands are “Mammoth WVH” and “Red”.  Rock is alive and well with these bands!

Alter Bridge

A cross between hard rock and metal, don’t expect this to be a quiet show!lol   A guitar driven front line  with lead singer Myles Kennedy on guitar,  lead guitar extraordinaire  Mark Tremonti  and Brian Marshall on bass, the energy is intense.  Scott Phillips keeps the beat high on the drum riser.  Myles Kennedy’s four -octave vocal range is amazing.  They opened with the single “Silver Tongue” from “Pawns & Kings”.  The audience was amped up since there was a general admission floor that allowed for standing and VIP’s and diehard fans were right at the stage.  “Holiday” was a “never played live” tune and “Stay” debuted with Tremonti on lead vocals.  Tremonti is a strong vocalist in his own right and displays that in his own solo band, “Tremonti”.  For Alter Bridge, Mark leaves the vocals to Kennedy, who brings it to another level. There is a reason Slash has Myles for his band’s lead singer…

Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge can also play some beautiful acoustic melodies with the 2007 hit “Watch Over You”. Haunting and poignant, Myles takes us inside letting go of a relationship not working and the audience sang along, knowing the lyrics.  “In Loving Memory” a ballad from their debut album “One Day Remains” in 2004, gave the diehard fans a treat.  “Blackbird” is considered by some to be the band’s greatest song with Tremonti‘s amazing guitar work.   This band is very tight having played together for going on 20 years and writing most of their songs together as well.  They closed with “Rise Today” and “Open Your Eyes”.  Alter Bridge is one of the best rock bands around today.  They are hugely popular in Europe and have played at such gigantic festivals as “Rock in Rio” and “Pink Pop”.  They will be back to Florida in May to play at the Rockville Festival in Daytona!

There was much anticipation in the crowd for Mammoth WVH.  Wolfgang Van Halen has been working hard at both honoring his dad, guitar hero Eddie Van Halen and making his own way in the rock world.  A tough road no doubt but his talent shines through it all.  The Hard Rock audience gave his band a rousing welcome. He opened with the title track “Mammoth”.  The band is named after Eddie’s first band and he gave Wolf his blessing to use it. The Mammoth WVH debut album was entirely recorded by Wolf playing and singing on all the tracks.  Yes, he does have a band on tour but he is on guitar, keyboard and vocals keeping him busy during the 8-song setlist he played at Hard Rock.  His hit “Distance” in honor of Eddie sounded great.   A second album is said to be planned soon.  Wolf has an Alter Bridge connection; he played in Mark Tremonti’s solo band from 2013-2015, and they both have the same music producer, Michael Baskette.

Alter Bridge

Grammy nominated Christian hard rock band “Red” opened the show with an energetic six-song set that included “Death of Me” and “Feed The Machine”.    A great tour to catch for all rock fans! You can check out all the tour dates at Alter Bridge.

Vicky Sullivan Photos

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