Before delving into the gig review I'll start from the beginning of my Tremonti journey but don't worry it's not that long. It started when tickets came out for the gig. At this point I knew Campbell was really into him so I told him that tickets had just come on sale. At this point I had never heard a single song by them. Campbell then asked if I wanted to go so I said I would listen to them and get back to him. I went onto You tube and played the Tremonti playlist. And to be honest the first few videos I heard did not sound good. They were live videos but in hindsight I think they were crowd live videos which was the problem. But then "The things I've seen", "Proof" and "New way out" came on and I was blown away. "New way out" was the clincher and I ordered Campbell to get me a ticket!
The gig was meant to be in the ABC but unforetuantley due to the devestating fire a few weeks back, it got moved to the Academy which was something Mark Tremonti touched on during the set. I arrived at the gig just after 7 and met with tonights gig buddies Campbell and Craig. It was soaring tempretures of around 30 degrees celcius so one thing which had to be taken into account more than usual tonight was hydration. Something the Academy took into account by keeping doors open and leaving plenty of water at the bar for people to just take. The queue to get into the gig was huge and stretched right along the side of the academy. So much so that when in the queue we heard the first band coming on which was Anchor Lane. So we missed the first few songs but I think we caught most of the set. They are a Scottish hard rock band and were a very good opener. I actually thought they were the second band Fallen state during the set as Fallen State had their banners up but I was quickly corrected.
Which takes us on nicely to Fallen State. There was quite a quick turnaround. When the delved into the first song it did feel a bit messy and I was a bit disappointed with them. But throughout the set they just got better and better. I think maybe it was the sound wasn't quite right at the start of the set. But by the end I was really impressed with them. I would have bought CDs from both supports tonight but one thing I was amazed with when I got into the venue was the size of the merch queue. It was huge. And you can see that Tremonti fans really are loyal as every second person seemed to wear a Tremonti t-shirt. Obviously there were quite a few "A dying machine" t-shirts bought and worn tonight. But there was also a tonne of "All I was" t-shirts too showing that he has had this loyal fanbase right from when he started releasing his stuff. I do refer to Tremonti as them and him because it is a band but also has a feel about it as a solo project too. After all Tremonti is Mark's surname!
Anyway, onto the headliner! We were trying to predict what he would open with and we all named tracks off the new album. But we were all wrong as he opened with the title track off "Cauterize" and then leaping into another track off that album "Another Heart". It's an album which is my least favourite Tremonti album but these are the tracks I like the most off it so for me it was a very good start.
One thing I was concerned about going into the gig was that I maybe unfamiliar with some of the songs as he does have 4 albums. But this wasn't really the case at all and it really did show how much I have listened to this band since I got into them back in March. I would say there was a good spread of songs played across all of the albums with 5 tracks played from the latest release "A dying machine". Personal highlights for me was the title track "A dying machine" which just sounded absolutley awesome live and also "Dust" where everyone had their phones out to light up the place.
There was a very good atmosphere about the whole gig and you felt that all the bands really wanted to be there, taking pictures and what they were saying in between songs. And during Tremonti, Mark would always be getting the crowd involved getting them to clap during songs. In fact I don't think I've ever been to a gig where there was so much clapping. But it was a good thing as it added to the atmosphere. There was also the obligitory mosh pit too for those that wanted to get involved.
I did find myself really enjoying this gig. I would say it is probably in my top 5 gigs I have ever been to although i would need to work out this list! Tremonti really are as good live as they are on record. And that is really saying something as the songs, especially the solos he does seem so complex but he pulls them off live with effortless ease. The band also are so tight. It was nice as well that we got to wish guitarist Eric Friedman something he seemed to appreciate. I can appreciate now why Tremonti has such a hardcore following and I certainly looking forward to seeing them again.
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