Review and Photos by Robert McDonald
Alter Bridge Photos HERE
California Breed Photos HERE
It was a thrill to catch Alter Bridge during the sixth stop of their 2014 Fortress Summer tour at The Palladium in Worcester, MA. Alter Bridge is led by Myles Kennedy, who I consider to be the hardest working frontman in Rock today. Myles spent the summer as the lead vocalist for Slash during his Summer tour with Aerosmith and shortly after he and Alter Bridge hit the road for a late summer tour to promote their album, Fortress.
A huge surprise of the night was California Breed, who preceded Alter Bridge with an electrifying set that seemed to surprise and delight the diehards who had gathered for the main event. California Breed was formed in 2013 and consists of the legendary Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath fame, Joey Castillo formerly of Queens of the Stone Age and an exciting new upstart, Andrew Watt. California Breed brought some old school rock and roll, including Hughes’ piercing vocals and some blistering guitar work from the energetic and gyrating Andrew Watt. The performance included a 8 song set from their new self-titled album and concluded with a great cover of Deep Purple’s “Burn”.
Alter Bridge took to the stage to open their set with “Addicted to Pain” a dynamic non-stop showcase for Myle’s vocals and Mark Tremonti’s searing guitar riffs and did not let up for the rest of the night. The night’s 19-song set was a great mix of the band’s discology with a nice combination of their latest songs from Fortress and favorites from their other three albums. Alter Bridge’s performance, a rare blend of sweet melodic lyrics and heavy riffs combined to create a unique sound sound experience that I won’t soon forget.
Kennedy, Tremonti and the rest of the band kept the pedal to the metal all night with hits like “Fortress”, “Ghosts of Days Gone By”, “Metalingus” and “Isolation”. They kept the energy level of the crowd at peak, taking only a few acoustic breaks during “Watch Over Your” and Tremonti’s vocal-led “Waters Rising”. The set culminated in a 3-song encore including “Broken Wing”, “Open Your Eyes” and ending with “Rise Today”
This was an evening well spent with a band that only seems to gets better with age, I look forward to seeing them again in the future.
Alter Bridge
California Breed
Set List
Addicted to Pain
Find the Real
White Knuckles
Come to Life
Cry of Achilles
Brand New Start
Ghost of Days Gone By
Fortress
Ties that Bind
Waters Rising
Further than the Sun
All Hope is Gone
Metalingus
Blackbird
Watch Over You
Isolation
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Broken Wing
Open Your Eyes
Rise Today