It was snowing for hours and as it was the first time this winter the public transport got affected, so the train ride took 100 minutes instead of 55 minutes - and so I missed most of The New Black. When I came in the band just started to play Drive. Somehow I missed some heaviness... The power they have on CD, perhaps a problem of the live mix tonight... "This is the last show for us on this tour. And almost the last for 2010. It has been a great year for us and I want to thank everybody who made this such a blast! Thank you!" said Markus Hammer before they ended their set with Everlasting.
While The New Black played and during the change over more fans arrived and the ones who were hanging out in the cafe or foyer were now joining the crowd. At 9 PM the lights when out and Myles Kennedy entered the stage. He was bathed in red light when he sang the first lines of Slip To The Void. Soon he was joined by the other band members and they headed into their set with full force. Drummer Scott Philips was placed behind clear screens, I guess it has something to do with the sound... After the first songs I walked through the crowd to find a better spot, but soon figured out that everywhere Kennedy's high notes weren't clear... But all in all the sound was powerful and clear. The light show was simple but effective. The focus was on singer / rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, but the songs gave guitarist Mark Tremonti and bassist Brian Marshall space to shine. At White Knuckles Kennedy wanted to hear how loud the crowd at the left and the right could be... "You guys are great! This will be an interesting night!" Mr. Kennedy said and they headed into All Hope's Gone. Songs like White Knuckles and All Hope Is Gone were welcome by their fans and afterwards the fans loudly chanted the bands name. Time to introduce the band, first drummer Scott Philips who did a short drum part, then bassist Brian Marshall was introduced and joined in. Last in line guitarist Mark Tremonti joined in to play Metalingus. Myles Kennedy was obviously in good mood, so he started joking... "We do another song of the AB III record. What do you call it? Something you steal from the internet? I know, I know, you all bought the album!" And they kicked off Ghost Of Days Gone By, a song with a melancholy edge, but also quite heavy. Alter Bridge presented songs from all 3 albums, but focused in AB III. After Couer d'Alene Kennedy thanked The New Black and they headed into the title track of their debut album One Day Remains. "The tall guy is our guitar tech Wooki. Why can't I have a cool name like Wooki? From now on I'm Yoda!" Myles Kennedy announced and the fans started chanting "Yoda! Yoda!" and that made Kennedy smile. Time for their current hit, time for I Know It Hurts. It seemed like everybody was singing along. After Come To Life the fans started shouting "Yoda! Yoda!" again which Myles commented "For the rest of my career I'll be the Yoda guy!" and everybody started laughing. Little later the other guys left, a crew guy carried a bar stool onto stage and Alter Bridge fans knew what's next - Watch Over You!
Another highlight of the set. The band returned for Open Your Eyes, the closer. As soon as the band left the fans demanded more and so the foursome came back and kicked off Isolation. Just before they started the 2nd verse some technical problem stopped the band, commented by Myles: "Don't fuck with Yoda!" and they restarted at the 2nd verse. The last song of the night was Rise Today.
The atmosphere was pretty good, but it seems that the crowd was a bit lame... I thought there will be more fan action... Anyway, for a Monday night the crowd was more then decent and so the band should be happy, especially as weather conditions weren't the best. And I don't think that anybody regretted the trip to FZW at this cold winter's night!