When the announcement first came out for this gig saying that Alter Bridge, Shinedown and Sevendust were all going to be playing under the same roof, on the same night in Glasgow; To say I was excited would be an understatement. I messaged my gig buddies, who are hardcore Alter Bridge fans and who I went to see Shinedown with last year to see if they were up for it. And it turned out Craig wanted to go with his mum to celebrate his mums 60th and Campbell wanted to go with his wife Mico who needed accessibility tickets. But Brian stepped up to the plate and said he would join me so I was relived and excited!
We all assembled before the gig at Clydebuilt just before the gig, having banter and food before going our seperate ways as we made our way over to the Hydro to catch of the first support acts. This was meant to be Sevendust, but unforetunatley due to illness, they had to cancel, so The Raven age who had just done the European part of this tour were kept on for the UK leg too. Myself and Campbell had seen The Raven age last year suppporting Tremonti and enjoyed their set. This time round they were playing to a much bigger audience. They are a classic hard rock band and you really feel like they give it there absolute best when they play. They have good songs, a lot of energy and a singer who tries to connect with the audience. Hopefully they will move on to bigger and better things but one thing I have observed recently as there are a lot of good rock bands about and it must be hard to break through.
Next up was Shinedown. As I said, we saw them headline the O2 Academy last year and it was sold out. This really was a huge support act for Alter Bridge to have and even on the ticket it says "Alter Bridge + Shinedown" rather than having one underneath each other. To be honest I thought they would get 30-40 minute set and that would be that. So when Brent Smith (the lead singer) started talking in between songs (as he does). I did turn round to Brian at one point and said just play the songs! I like his interaction and general positivety but I thought it was going to be a short set so wanted maximum music. Turns out I was wrong. They were on for a full hour! And each song they played I knew and they were all absolute belters! I enjoyed it so much! "Cut the Cord", "Devil" and set closer "Sound of Madness", all in there. Brent really is a showmen and the place was packed out for this. Something I noticed during Alter Bridge was that being up the back it was actually quieter around us that it was for Alter Bridge. Meaning I think some people were there just to see Shinedown. And I do genuinely feel they are big enough here now to headline a show at the Hydro - thats how big and good that they are getting.
Now onto the headliners for the evening, Alter Bridge. The difference between them and Shinedown was there for all to see as Alter Bridge generally give you the music with little chat in between where as with Shinedown there is a lot of chat and movement round the stage. This is nothing against Alter Bridge as they are both good in their own way and boy was Alter Bridge good. The songs from the new album like "Wouldn't you rather" and "Dying light" stood up well against the giant songs they have made in previous albums. I was so pleased they played "Water Rising". It was just the one song Mark Tremonti got main vocals on tonight but it really is such a good song. "Cry of Achillies", "Rise Today", "Metalingus" and "Ghost from days gone by " were other highlights. But to be honest I recognised all the songs in the set bar one.
There was one track though which stood above the rest and to me is their all time best song ever. That song is "Blackbird". It is their epic. Great vocals by Myles and the guitar solo, first by Myles and then by Mark was just next level. I rank this song in my top 5 songs of all time now and I feel so lucky to have seen it live.
It was one of those gigs that really wont go out of my memory for a long time. It was simply amazing.
