ALTER BRIDGE HELLFEST 2017
Alter Bridge took the main stage at Hellfest this year, the festival was packed with fans waiting for Alter Bridge to come on stage, eager to see their favourite band play their best songs, the fans were ecstatic to be part of the ‘Last Hero Tour’. Looking out at the crowd there were fans from every direction streaming in to watch Alter Bridge play their set. The first song they played was ‘Come to Life’; some of the other songs they played were ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Metalingus’ these two of Alter Bridges favourite when they perform live on stage. Alter Bridge also performed ‘Crows on a Wire’ and the last song on Alter Bridges set was ‘Rise Today’.
Twinmusix asked Alter Bridge what their favourite performance songs were. Scott Phillips replied with “I think the general consensus among the four of us is Blackbird, it felt like a special song when it was created and it continues to be a staple of the set ever since then, there are some others ‘Metalingus’ is a fun one for me because it is such a drum heavy song.”
With that in mind Twinmusix proceeded to ask Alter Bridge about the guitar solo in Blackbird which was named the best of all time in Guitarist Magazine, and if it has an impact on the way they write songs today. Alter Bridge were quick to respond with “You know the accolades are nice but you try and keep your head down, to do what you do best, play from the heart, and hope that your fans enjoy it. You know it doesn't really change things, you just work harder.”
Alter Bridge originated from the band Creed, with the members Mark Tremonti (lead guitar/vocals), Brian Marshall (bass), and Scott Phillips (drummer). All were previously members of Creed with lead vocalist Scott Stapp since 1993. Marshall left Creed in 2000 when Creed decided to go on hiatus after their controversial tour in 2003. After a year of soul searching, Creed then announced their breakup in 2004.
In 2004 Tremonti started writing new material, he planned to form a new band with Phillips and Marshall. The former members of Creed where fans of Myles Kennedy and they invited him to join as their new lead vocalist. Alter Bridge named there band after a bridge near Tremonti's home on Alter road in Detroit, and subsequently began recording their debut album ‘One Day Remains’. The album peaked at number five on the billboard charts for fourteen weeks and sold 750,000 copies.
In 2007 Alter Bridge released the album ‘Blackbird’ the album had an award winning song of the same name, this song won the coveted award from ‘Guitar Magazine’ for best guitar solo of all time. Alter Bridge sold 227,000 copies of the album with 47,000 of them being sold in the first week. In 2010 Alter Bridge furthered their success with their album ‘AB III’ the most popular song on this album ‘Ghost of Days Gone By’ this sold 80,000 copies in the UK alone.
In 2013 they released their album called ‘Fortress’ it reached twelve on the billboard charts top two hundred, an outstanding achievement. This album moved more than 30,000 copies in the first week and gained the upmost praise in the record industry. Over the next few years, the band moved through a formative phase including touring with other acts. Mark Tremonti even formed his own band Tremonti in 2011, launching successful songs like 'All I Was', 'Cauterize', and ‘Dust'.
In 2016 Alter Bridge came together again to release the album ‘The Last Hero’, this album reached the top ten on the billboard charts. The song ‘Show Me the Leader’ from the album ‘The Last Hero’ hit number 18 on the billboard chart and the video clip has been viewed over 1.9 million times. The celebrated band has been touring since 2004, following their European tour they are returning to America to begin the US tour in early August. They will follow through South America, before returning to Europe in October. Their hectic schedule doesn't let up, but at the end of 2017 they will finally have some down time to work on new projects.
Alter Bridge recently announced other shows in the UK with a complete orchestra, which is already sold out. Alter Bridge revealed, “Those two shows did sell out rather quickly, so we are trying to find a way to add a third show. We are going to add more shows throughout Europe but those will be the only two shows with an orchestra accompaniment, I think after that it will just be the four of us which will probably be a lot easier.” With Revolver Magazine recently naming 'The Last Hero' as one of the top 20 albums of 2016 the band looks like it is once again poised to create a stir at the next batch of award ceremonies around the world. We aren't alone in expecting big things from this band.
Look for them appearing with disturbed in August, and until then you can always checkout all the news from Hellfest and the world of rock on Twinsmusix!
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW CLICK HERE:
FOR ALTER BRIDGE PHOTOS CLICK HERE:
