Myles Kennedy is the lead singer of Alter Bridge and also Slash's band. But tonight saw him take the stage under his own name on the back of his second album "The Ides of March". While he toured his debut album "Year of the Tiger" in Glasgow and Edinburgh on separate UK tours. I didn't make it along to either of those shows. But I did rank "Year of the Tiger" in my top 10 albums of the year, the year it came out. In those shows he went proper solo with just him on the stage. This time he had a drummer who was a friend he grew up with along with a bassist whose actually his manager too.
But first up tonight was Cardinal Black, a band whose story began over 10 years ago. They were in the process of writing their debut album in American but as you can read on their debut album but things didn't go to plan and they disappeared. Fast forward to 2021, re-formed and some single releases. Who knows, hopefully an album is around the corner. The Academy was pretty full for them coming on and Cardinal Black certainly didn't disappoint. Tom Hollister on vocals delivers such a heart-warming performance with his emotive and powerful vocals. Chris Buck on guitar is a serious talent, one which Myles himself acknowledged during his set later on. Not often I have been to a gig and the audience gives a round of applause after a guitar solo during a song. But tonight, it happened twice in total awe of Buck's genius.
I think many would probably be wondering about Cardinal Black only having a half hour set when there was only one support act but I think tonight the quality more than made up for it. Plus having a second support act only adds to the risk of having someone test positive. Which is the last thing the tour needs.
Myles came on to the stage with Tim and drummer at 9pm sharp and played a variety of songs stretching out from his illustrious career. But most of the songs were from his 2 solo albums. With one Alter Bridge song - All Ends well on the acoustic guitar which probably got the best ovation of the night. He also played "World on Fire" which comes under his Slash repertoire, and he played one Mayfield Four song too. But the rest was all his solo stuff. And one thing would be clear is that as much as Myles is known for being one of the nicest, friendliest guys in rock. He still can't please everyone. It just shows his talent and the strength of his 2 albums that there were strong songs that he had to leave out. Most notably 2 of my favourites, the title track from "The ides of March" which is a total rock epic. And also "The great beyond" which I think he didn't play because to fully do it justice you need the string section. On another date after this one Myles did actually play "Ides of March" and admitted he didn't play it much because its more challenging to play but he totally nailed it. I'm just glad I got to see the video!
But take nothing away from not playing these songs. There were plenty of songs played tonight that were so, so good. And with the likes of "Haunted by Design" and some others he did even do some extended jams to mix things up a bit. Which is something Alter Bridge, to my knowledge don't really do. I think Mark Tremonti may have some influence over this in Alter Bridge as Tremonti normally keep to the core of songs too. Which is fair enough on both accounts. One thing you really notice about Myles during the gig is just how insanely talented he is, not just as a songwriter but a guitarist too. When you work alongside some like Tremonti, you could be forgiven for blending into the background due to Marks talent. But you can see that Myles is just as much of talent as Mark is.
I do love the latest Myles record. There are so many warm, upbeat songs like "In Stride", "A Thousand Words" and "Wake me up when it’s over". Then you have the likes of the slower more brooding "Moonshot" and finishing the encore with "Worried mind. It really was just an excellent gig and I'm so glad I went to see him this time round.
Photos by Craig Graham and Campbell Hunter
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