After a run of successful headline dates across Europe the end of last year, Alter Bridge is back on American ground hitting cities on the first leg of their 2020 ‘Walk The Sky Tour.’ This Monday night the band made a wintery rocky mountain stop in Denver, Colorado at the Ogden Theatre brining along guests Clint Lowery and Deepfall.
Michigan newcomers Deepfall promptly hit the ground running performing a well executed style of hard rock blending a barrage of guitars and the soaring soulful vocals of Rich Hopkins. It’s nice to see new bands get a longer set in front of concert goers who are not familiar with their music. The band nailed songs from their latest album, ‘Broken’ including “Im Sick”, “Monster”, and “Ghost”. One the crowd favorites was the amped up heavy cover version of Journey’s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” that had the crowd singing loudly as if Steve Perry was onstage next to Hopkins.
Next up was Sevendust’s guitarist Clint Lowery, who delivered an explosive set consisting of songs from his recently released album titled ‘God Bless The Renegades.’ Clint is well know for his contributions in Sevendust but is an underratted songwriter and vocalist on his own. For his solo live shows, he has assembled a high octane collective that includes drummer Ryan Bennett, guitarist Jonathan Jourdan and bassist Pat Seals, who is always jumping on the stage floor bouncing off risers. Not only did the songs resonate with the crowd, Lowery had an honest personality that spreads positivity and gratefulness fans can grab onto. Lowery talked about rising up from redemption being empowered and more driven before launching into his new single “Kings”.
As the introduction “One Life’ radiated in darkness across the venue, each member of Alter Bridge surfaced onstage and wasted no time ripping into opener “Wouldn’t You Rather” from ‘Walk The Sky’. Instead of a one-two-three punch, AB countered with a one to five punch hitting the audience with consecutive songs “Isolation”, “Come To Life”, “Pay No Mind”, and “Ghosts”. This would be the first pause as guitarist/vocalist Myles Kennedy addressed the crowd stating, “We travel and do this thing all of the world and when we come here there just is something special about this place” as the crowd cheered.
The band has been together for over 15 years and putting a set list together might leave fans unhappy a particular song was not played or skipped over. Tonight while promoting their new music, AB also celebrated the past. Four songs from the under-appreciated 2004’s ‘One Day Remains’ were sprinkled throughout including “Broken Wings”, “Open Your Eyes”, and “Metalingus”. The highlight was a beautifully performed acoustic revision of “In Loving Memory” with Kennedy and Mark Tremonti alone on stage. Kennedy addressed the audience saying, “This song is as old as when dinosaurs walked the earth”, before the crowd sang the chorus word for word with uninterrupted guidance from Kennedy. Right before Tremonti even took the lead vocal duty on the smashing ‘Forever Falling’ from ‘Walk The Sky’.
The most emotional and featured experience in an Alter Bridge show is “Blackbird”. Even though I have heard it live a number of times, just as the into to the song started I got chills that ran through my body. The epic song masterfully blended AB’s signature riffs, celestial vocals from Kennedy, and the mesmerizing guitar solo from Mark Tremonti. It continues to be an unforgettable euphoric adventure flawlessly shifting spotlights from Kennedy to Tremonti.
AB closed the show with what has become a new fan favorite “Godspeed” and the colossal “Addicted To Pain”. The band continues to gain worldwide acclaim and pack venues stretched out over multiple continents. The bands rabid fanbase continues to grow as they draw from the past and “Walk The Sky” into the future.
