Well, AB officially kicked my ass tonight, and they get to do it again tomorrow too.
So my girlfriend and I got into the HOB a few minutes after 6pm. We ran to the front of the stage, and I got right to the area where Mark usually stands. Right where I wanted to be. I'm a big fan of Mark's, so I was without a doubt pumped up and ready. I knew I had about 2.5hrs to wait, but I didn't care. I was ready. Bring it on!!!
SubmerseD – Well I had never seen/heard these guys before, but they sure had some good riffs! Their lead singer had a Todd Walker Cubs jersey on, and he commented on the Cubbies a few times, drawing lots of cheers and a "Cubs suck!" from 1 of the several White Sox fans in the entire city.
He said we should take out the pent-up aggression from the Cubs loss today inside the concert tonight. Oh yeah! Their guitarist with long blonde hair was standing right by me, he was rockin' out. He gave me a pick at the end of their set. Very nice of him, thanks man!
Crossfade - Same thing, I had never seen these guys before, although I did recognize the song, "Cold." They were good, but their backup singer/keyboard guy just seemed really out of place, in my opinion. If I had to pick between the 2, I'd go with SubmerseD, but both were decent opening bands.
Ahh yes, Alter Bridge. It was great to see Mark and Flip back onstage, as well as Brian. I had not seen Brian up on stage since Creed played the Aragon in October 1999. And Myles, wow, he just has so much energy, talent and passion, not to mention a good sense of humor.
He fucking rocks. He said that the guys told him Chicago was gonna be off the hook, and how he cannot wait to come back MANY, MANY, MANY MORE TIMES!
At one point, Myles looked into the crowd and noticed a certain girl's hat. He said, "What does your hat say? Happy Birthday? It's your birthday? Should we sing?!" and everyone cheered. He asked her name, and right as he started to sing, Mark interjected and told her to come up on stage with them. So she came up there and Myles put his arm around her and everyone sang Happy Birthday. Out of all the concerts I've ever seen, this was definitely a first! So after they were done singing, Myles gave her a big hug and then she kinda gave Mark a kiss, and went back into the crowd. Her hat had "Happy Birthday" kind of dangling off the top, and Myles said something to the effect of, "We need to get Mark one of those that says DORK on it."
The setlist was the usual... the entire album, acoustic ILM, and "Highway Star" by Deep Purple. Now that was a fun jam! My neck is sore from headbanging so much, especially to Watch Your Words, The End is Here, and Metalingus.
The acoustic rendition of ILM gave me a little bit of that feeling you get before you get teary-eyed. It was quite intense to be within 3 feet of Mark, watching his demenor go from the usual grit-your-teeth-and-bang-your-head-metal look to this stone serious glare while he picked away at his 12 string. Knowing that Mark's family was there also added to the overall vibe of the song. Myles said it's a beautiful song; how right he is.
I was hoping Mark would toss me a pick at the end of the show like he did with Creed a couple years ago, but no luck, maybe tomorrow.
But I was basically the first one to get a nice handshake from him at the end of the show. That was good enough for me.
I also got high fives from Myles and Brian.
I get to do the same thing again tomorow and I can't wait. I shall report back later...