Gig Review

Alter Bridge
Blackstone Cherry, Theory Of A Deadman
Birmingham, LG Arena
22nd November 2011


Alter Bridge                   Blackstone Cherry                Theory Of A Deadman
                                      

Theory of a Deadman open up a night filled with pure American rock; all 3 bands I openly announce my love for and this gig really is a dream come true, I have seen all of the bands at least once before so have comparisons to go on. I must start by saying these guys have the best intro tape by far; “Blame Canada” from the South Park movie, what a way to start. It’s just a crying shame that there is only a half full room to witness the set, the performances of “Hate My Life” and their latest single “Lowlife” would have been enough to win anyone over. I would be criticising the vocals right now if I didn’t know it wasn’t Tyler’s fault, he hit a few wrong notes but he did explain he was having problems with the monitors, it’s still impressive because of his “fuck it, we’ll go in blind then” attitude he still managed to get most songs pretty spot on. In their set they also covered “Cocaine” by Eric Clapton, teased us with the intro to “Paridise City” by GN’R, as well as the best of their own material; “So Happy”, “The Bitch Came Back”, “Not Meant to Be” and finishing off with arguably their greatest song “Bad Girlfriend”. I feel the only thing hindering their performance was not receiving a huge amount of reaction from the audience, only time and perseverance will fix that one lads so good luck!

Black Stone Cherry have grown into an unstoppable rocking machine! Taking their youth into consideration as well as the fact their only 3 albums into their career, for them to be this dominant in the UK is nothing short of remarkable. I’ve watched these guys play a fair few gigs over the past few years and they have grown with so much confidence and raw onstage energy, with all this and the fact they’ve just put out the strongest album of their career makes these the number 1 contender to steal this show for themselves. In my opinion they give the best performance of all 3 bands; the teasing resumes with a snippet of iconic Black Sabbath track “Iron Man”, they flawlessly cover Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and then a further 12 songs of their own material. They address the audience with not even an ounce of hesitance or fear, getting us involved with “Things my Father Said” and “Peace is Free”. When Chris Robertson tells us we mean the world to him and that if it wasn’t for his friend’s family and fans he wouldn’t be here today you actually believe him, it’s a rollercoaster of emotion leaving us relieved and fulfilled. March tour you say? Don’t mind if I do.

Alter Bridge have finally decided to take the arena jump after their past couple of tours being a huge success; my initial impression upon arrival at 7pm was that their risk had not paid off, however as time went by people started to arrive by the hundreds and by the time Alter Bridge took the stage every seat was filled and the arena floor was flooded with eager fans. Their backdrop was certainly distinctive, as opposed to the standard sheet or the increasingly popular screens, these guys chose to have loads of lights displaying vibrant patterns with alternating colours; whilst this is definitely distinctive and different, I’m old school and prefer a band to be backed by their logo. Alter Bridge always speed up their material to try to fit as many songs into their set as possible; normally they pull this off perfectly, but tonight I don’t know whether it’s the sheer amount of projects and tours Myles has gone on but his voice sometimes can’t keep up and it feels like he’s talking rather than singing. Apart from that small inconvenience at times, he performs perfectly and still has the ability to make men and women alike orgasm on the spot (the acoustic renditions of “Watch Over You” and “Wonderful Live” are better than sex). The rest of the band perform tremendously; Tremonti is like a machine, I’ve never been so gobsmacked by a guitarist in my life, song’s like “Ties That Bind”, “Find the Real” and “Come To Life” are spectacular pieces of music. An 18 song set covering all aspects of the band’s different material and a killer energy throughout all aspects of on stage showmenship. Yes I still thing Black Stone Cherry we’re the best but don’t misunderstand me, Alter Bridge were fucking spectacular also, that is all.

Theory of a deadman – 3.5/5
Black Stone Cherry – 4.5/5
Alter Bridge – 4/5

Review By James Webb

 Alter Bridge


Myles Kennedy
Mark Tremonti
Brian Marshall
Scott Phillips

 Black Stone Cherry


Chris Robertson
Ben Wells
Jon Lawhon
John Fred Young

 Theory Of A Deadman


Tyler Connolly
Dave Brenner
Dean Back
Joey Dandeneau

 Band Related Links
Alter Bridge MySpace
Black Stone Cherry Myspace
Theory Of A Deadman Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?