"At the end of a long European tour and a total of 6 dates playing arenas across the UK, Alter Bridge didn’t seem at all exhausted and delivered a fantastic, well balanced set to their London fans. It had everything we wanted: the all-time favourites, the hits from Walk the Sky, the eye watering ballads, and a punchy encore."
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Must See
Alter Bridge and Shinedown
The O2 // London, England // 21st December, 2019
Photos and review by Gili Dailes
Following the release of their sixth studio album, Walk the Sky, American rock band Alter Bridge headlined London’s O2 Arena just days before Christmas, likely being the last gig of 2019 for many of those who attended the show.
Alter Bridge
At the end of a long European tour and a total of 6 dates playing arenas across the UK, Alter Bridge didn’t seem at all exhausted and delivered a fantastic, well balanced set to their London fans. It had everything we wanted: the all-time favourites, the hits from Walk the Sky, the eye watering ballads, and a punchy encore.
Alter Bridge took to the stage with “Wouldn’t You Rather,” which instantly set the bar high for the night. With a minimalist stage set up, the 4-piece filled the arena with their huge presence: the fat, deep sound of the rhythm section (Brian Marshall on bass and Scott Phillips on drums) glued the band together, providing the perfect ground for Myles Kennedy’s and Mark Tremonti’s heavy riffs and punching guitar solos throughout the set.
It wasn’t only the head banging tunes that got the crowd moving that night: the acoustic renditions of “In Loving Memory” and “Watch Over You” instantly led to an entire arena sing-along, accompanied by the mesmerising light of thousands of phone torches. The full band joined-in for the second part of “Watch Over You,” which was followed by Myles playing the intro to The Beatles’ renowned “Blackbird.” These notes can only mean one thing at an Alter Bridge gig, and of course their very own “Blackbird” was the next song to be played (beautifully) on stage.
Throughout their set, it was very clear that the band members don’t take their success for granted. Myles kept thanking the London crowd and said how well they’ve been accepted here in the past 15 years. They seem to truly appreciate their audience and fans, which in turn allowed them to completely immerse themselves in the Alter Bridge experience.
Supporting Alter Bridge were Shinedown and The Raven Age (who stepped in to replace Sevendust who unfortunately couldn’t make it).
Shinedown
Shinedown’s set started off strong with their 2018’s hit “Devil,” quickly followed by “Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)” which was originally written for the 2010 film, The Expendables. This catchy tune got me thinking that if Lady Gaga and Metallica had a music-child together that’s how it would probably sound like!
Following the appreciation theme I mentioned before, Shinedown’s frontman Brent Smith also seemed very appreciative of their London fans. After trying to get the audience a little bit more engaged with each other and single-handedly shaking the hands of every photographer in the pit as a token of appreciation, he started throwing rolled-up pieces of merchandise into the crowd of thousands, just moments before asking them to make a path for him to walk through – getting everyone all hyped up.
Shinedown’s 10-songs setlist continued with the best of the band’s repertoire, with songs such as “Enemies,” “Monsters” and “Sound of Madness,” ending the short but powerful set with “Brilliant.”
