ALTER BRIDGE, CALIFORNIA BREED Live In Northfield, OH With Photos!
By
Geoff Ketler,
Cleveland Contributor
Monday, October 20, 2014 @ 4:21 PM
Two Acts Put On A Great Performance
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I was excited to catch ALTER BRIDGE for the first time live, mostly because I had the pleasure of seeing SLASH at the same venue only a few months ago and I was blown away by the vocal performance of Myles Kennedy. In addition to that, I was pumped to be able to catch the newest group put together by the ageless Glenn Hughes, CALIFORNIA BREED. The show, as I am about to explain, turned out to be much better than I could have ever predicted.
Up first was CALIFORNIA BREED. After BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION announced that they were disbanding, vocalist and bassist extraordinaire Glenn Hughes put together the band and a debut album alongside Jason Bonham on drums and young guitarist Andrew Watt. The trio has that soulful, groovy vibe that so many great bands of the 70’s had. Glenn Hughes routinely climbed the octaves vocally and Andrew Watt left it all up on stage as they cruised through their set. I thoroughly enjoyed their single “Sweet Tea”. The entire set was like the musical equivalent of soul food. It made you feel good, warm, and stuck with you. That all being said; the highlight of the set was the DEEP PURPLE Cover, “Burn”. I absolutely loved their energy, especially during that particular song. I was so glad to get a chance to catch them, especially since BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION never did make it to my neck of the woods. Any fan of the classics will dig this band.
SETLIST:
“The Grey”
“Chemical Rain”
“Sweet Tea”
“Scars”
“Spit You Out”
“All Falls Down”
“Midnight Oil”
“The Way”
“Burn” (DEEP PURPLE Cover)
After a very brief set change, ALTER BRIDGE was set to take the Rocksino by storm. I am going to begin this by saying that I was never a fan of CREED. In fact, I despised them and all of the “yarling” of Scott Stapp that hijacked the rock industry for a few years. However, ALTER BRIDGE has grown on me over the last couple of years, especially their most-recent offering, Fortress. I was willing to give it a go and allow them the chance to impress me. And impress me they did. First of all, Mark Tremonti can shred on guitar, but more importantly, the song-writing is top-notch. Between the highs, lows, ballads, and speedsters, ALTER BRIDGE has to be one of the most dynamic bands I have had the pleasure of reviewing. They kept me guessing and were very unpredictable.
The set kicked off with “Addicted To Pain”. Wow. I mean it’s a great song to begin with, but even better live. Mark Tremonti couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face as he played up to the crowd’s reaction. Highlights…and there were many of them…were “Fortress”, “Farther Than the Sun” and “Cry Of Achilles”. Mark Tremonti took over lead vocals for the song “Waters Rising”. It was a valiant effort, and solid by most standards, but everything is relative and when Myles Kennedy is who you are playing with; forget it. Myles once again, effortlessly hit all of the notes and played a mean guitar as well. The set ended with “Open Your Eyes” before they returned to encore with “Broken Wings” and “Rise Today” along with dueling guitar solos between Mark and Myles sandwiched in between. I had underestimated them and I now I am so glad that I was able to check them out live. Never again will I make the CREED connection. ALTER BRIDGE is a completely different, talented, energetic, and dynamic live band. Afterwards the entire band hung out near their bus to sign autographs, take pictures, and mingle with fans.
SETLIST:
“Addicted To Pain”
“Come To Life”
“Bleed It Dry”
“Cry Of Achilles”
“Brand New Start”
“Ghost Of Days Gone By”
“Fortress”
“Ties That Bind”
“Waters Rising”
“Farther Than The Sun”
”All Hope Is Gone”
“Metalingus”
“Blackbird”
“Watch Over You”
“Isolation”
“Open Your Eyes”
Encore:
“Broken Wings”
“Rise Today”
Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Geoff Ketler/Aces High Photography
SETLIST:
SETLIST:
