Taken from Orlando Sentinel
Alter Bridge on right road with a solid group effort
The offspring of Creed showed a lot of ability as well as a personality of its own making.
By Jim Abbott | Sentinel Pop Music Critic
Posted September 10, 2004
It didn't take long for Creed spinoff band Alter Bridge to define its identity on Wednesday at Orlando's House of Blues.
When guitarist Mark Tremonti stood alone in the spotlight to open the show with the instrumental introduction to "One Day Remains," ownership of the band's style passed from the pretentious posturing of Scott Stapp to a more democratic approach.
While Tremonti's fleet-fingered playing is the centerpiece of a band that also includes ex-Creed members Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips, it was evident in Wednesday's show that Alter Bridge is a much more collaborative effort.
Even the band's new singer, former Mayfield Four vocalist Myles Kennedy, seemed conscious that he was part of a group, not on a personal crusade. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, his presence was confident but casual, a big improvement over his predecessor.
If the songs are often highly reminiscent of the radio-friendly Creed sound -- pensive verses that open into expansive monster choruses -- Kennedy's strong tenor takes them in a more pleasing direction.
When he launches into the soaring chorus of a song such as "Broken Wings," it's a welcome departure from Stapp's plodding, one-dimensional Eddie Vedder imitation.
Though Kennedy's voice had to fight too much to rise above the instruments in the show's opening moments, the sound mix at the crowded hall soon settled into a more hospitable blend. After playing arenas with Creed, Tremonti and his bandmates commanded attention with noticeable ease.
Bassist Marshall and drummer Phillips weren't given much opportunity to shine individually but contributed a solid foundation for the flourishes of Tremonti and Kennedy. Both the singing and guitar solos were similarly utilitarian, forsaking self-indulgence in favor of melodic hooks.
Tremonti's range on guitar was evident on arrangements that segued from intricate, understated arpeggios into a hail of metallic sparks. The band does it so often that the formula at times becomes too obvious, such as on the tedious "The End is Here."
Still, Tremonti's playing can be expressive when it's most subdued: the deep, open chords on "Burn It Down," or the bluesy opening riff in "Broken Wings." On "Find the Real," Tremonti's screaming solo dissolved into exhausted moaning.
Kennedy, who deserves the wider audience he's likely to get with Alter Bridge, showed no such fatigue. If his voice offered a contrast to Stapp, so did his demeanor. He delivered the lyrics, still occasionally bloated by spiritual images, with a disarming smile that lightened the load. At points, he wrapped an arm around Marshall and Tremonti that made it look like the band was genuinely having fun.
Still, there wasn't much anxiety from the audience about whether the band would return for an encore after its 50-minute main set -- that's what happens when you leave the stage after less than an hour without doing the album's first single.
Predictably, Alter Bridge closed the show with its best- known song, "Open Your Eyes," after an acoustic rendition of "In Loving Memory," a song Tremonti wrote for his mother.
The band will need enough material to play for more than an hour before it's ready for arenas, but the transition still looks promising.
Jim Abbott can be reached at
[email protected] or 407-420-6213