Alter Bridge MEN Arena 24th November

AlterBridge, Black Stone Cherry, Theory of a Deadman
MEN Arena, Manchester 24th November 2011

Having spent a few hours at Cheshire Oaks shopping centre (near Chester) we had pretty much finished the Christmas shopping. We checked into Manchester West Holiday Inn Express around 15:30, have stayed here a few times before as it is only a short taxi ride to the arena and relatively good value.

The arena was not that busy when we arrived, about 6pm, and we took our seats on Block 102 with a quite near view of the stage. We noticed they had the second tier curtained off (ie lots of seats not sold), but then its hardly chart topping bands is it?

This tour for Alter Bridge would be their first arena headlining, only last year they were playing the likes of Rock City, and O2 Academy venues. Similar for the other bands of course.

Theory Of A Deadman

Theory of a Deadman came onto the stage around 19:10 after a short intro, and went straight into "Gentlemen" from their newish album. The floor and arena had started filling up now, with the floor around half full.

This group are very much like Nickelback, and have supported them and have been assisted in the past by said band. Their music is a mix of anthemic ballads, softer style rock and some, it has to be said, cliched and at times "make you laugh" lyrics. Their set was very good, with excellent sound throughout and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

We even got a cover of Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" and a teaser intro of Guns and Roses "Paradise City". C`mon guys do the whole song next time!
  

Theory Of A Deadman Set list

Intro

(Blame Canada)

1) Gentlemen

2) So Happy

3) Lowlife

4)  Bitch Came Back

5) Cocaine

(Eric Clapton cover)

6) Hate My Life

7) Paradise City (riff)

8) Bad Girlfriend

Black Stone Cherry

Now these guys we had seen twice before. Once at the Download festival, and once supporting Whitesnake and Def Leppard on their arena tour a few years ago. We came away with a view they were okay but nothing "wow" but it seems times have now changed!

With their album this year (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) they have reached even higher acclaim and the album having more of a commercial edge than the previous two albums.

To be honest, the new album has hardly ever not been played most weeks on my iPod (or days even!) and I really rate it, and the older material has definitely grown on me more.

We were not disappointed.. wow.!........ great sound, great gravelly vocals, with both heavy rock tracks and slower harmonies, this guy can REALLY sing with attitude. They hit the stage with a belter, straight into "Change" , a hard hitting older track with plenty of edge.

The crowd now filling the Arena floor went mad for it, the band's guitarists leaping around the stage from one side to the other. Fantastic stuff.

Before long the pace dropped and the ballad "In My Blood" from the new album was aired, showcasing that voice. The tempo was picked up for "Rain wizard" and then "Things My Father Said", the live version of this ballad seemed even better than the album version, the vocals so clear and echoing around the arena.

The crowd went mad for "White Trash Millionaire" the ringing guitar urging the crowd front stage to surge backwards and forwards like a wave.

  

After a short blues medley, the anthemic "Peace is Free" saw the crowd singing along loudly, and it was not long before the even more anthemic and sing-a-long "Blame it on the Boom Boom" reverberated around the arena.

The show came to a close with everyone on their feet to "Lonely Train" and the band left with a message that they would be back in the UK in March 2012.

No doubt we will be there!! Stunning!

Black Stone Cherry Set List

1. Change 

2. Blind Man
3. Yeah Man
4. Soulcreek
5. In My Blood
6. Rain Wizard
7. Things My Father Said
8. White Trash Millionaire
9. Blues medley
10. Peace is Free
11. Maybe Someday
12. Blame It On The Boom-Boom
13. Lonely Train

Alter Bridge

Myles Kennedy and Alter Bridge have gone from strength to strength in 2010/2011, particularly since the release of their epic Alter Bridge 3 album, which received very positive acclaim all over the world. Along with appearances with Slash on his recent album and tour, it seems Myles Kennedy can do nothing wrong.............................. Till tonight!

After about a 30 minute short wait, Alter Bridge came on stage to the atmospheric intro bars of "Slip to the Void". This promised to be good....................!!

All was well with the slow building introduction with Myles silhouetted on stage as he sang the intro, then the band came in............ Oh, what a disappointment...

Overloud, distorted drums and bass masking Myles' unique voice, the lead guitar master Mark Tremonti also cutting too deep and overpowering everything...... it was A MESS!!

The packed floor crowd appeared to be lapping it up, surging back and forth, security pulling many out who had either passed out with the heat or crush.

"Ghost of Days Gone By", the melodic anthem, was hardly recognisible through the distorted mess, and most songs merged into one.
Still the band and crowd were lively, but thats about all that can be said positively!

It was only when the band finally started the intro of "Blackbird" that things seemed to improve a little, and this extended version was the highlight of the otherwise messy set.

 Myles finally brough out his stool, slowed down the pace, with a reasonable version of "Wonderful Life" and "Watch Over You". This was more like it. Before long though it reverted back into the distorted sound when the band rejoined the proceedings. 

We left just before the encore, having endured enough, we were not the only ones!!


Alter Bridge Set List

1. Slip to the Void
2. Find the Real
3. Ghost of Days Gone By
4. I Know It Hurts
5. Come to Life
6. Brand New Start
7. White Knuckles
8. Coeur D'Alene
9. Metalingus
10. Broken Wings
11. One Day Remains
12. Blackbird
    (Blackbird - The Beatles Intro)
13. Wonderful Life
    (Myles solo acoustic)
14. Watch Over You
    (Myles solo acoustic)
15. Ties That Bind
16. Isolation
    Encore:

17. Open Your Eyes
18. Dueling Guitar Solos – Mark and Myles
19. Rise Today

Overall a VERY entertaining evening, but marred by the rubbish distorted sound for Alter Bridge. Black Stone Cherry should have been the headliners by a country mile!!

Our gig Scores:

T.O.A.D. - 7/10

Black Stone Cherry - 8.5/10

Alter Bridge - 5/10 (Would be lower were it not for Blackbird)

Friday 20th May 2011 - Roger Waters M.E.N. Arena

Roger Waters "The Wall" Live MEN Arena Friday 20th May 2011

An opportunity to see Roger Waters perform the classic Pink Floyd album "The Wall" in its entirety is one that cannot be missed by any Pink Floyd fan , and so we booked this as soon as we heard about it last year.

This could be the last chance to see this performed, and with promises of a spectacular stage show we got it booked. Tickets at the time were difficult to get hold of and we booked via Premier Tickets, and managed to get good seats on the arena lower tier quite near the front. The only downside was the premier price, as we paid well above the ticket face value. (we did get access to a private lounge as well for a comfortable place to sit for those pre-concert drinks.).

We stayed at the Manchester West Holiday Inn Express, costing a very reasonable £51 for the room only , and a fiver parking. The hotel is clean and comfortable and located in an area a couple of miles from the city centre, and it has its own secure car park facilities, which as  mentioned above is charged extra to the room rate at £5 per 24hrs.

A short taxi ride (about £7) and we were dropped off right outside the MEN arena around 18:30. A couple of minutes wait till the doors opened and we went in, looking over the T-shirts, mugs, programmes and other souvenirs.......we did not buy - £20 for a programme!

We headed for the Premier Lounge to while away some time as the show did not start until 20:00 (No support act). The lounge was quite small, but comfortable, and after a couple of drinks we squeezed through the assembling crowds outside the other arena bars and went to find our seats.

We took our seats in the arena, with excellent views fairly near to the front on the lower tier.

The stage was set with a part assembled white wall revealing the band set up centre stage, and a large round screen centre back stage. At just after 20:00 Roger and band took to the stage with a Spartacus spoof intro (I am Spartacus, No, I am Spartacus, (Repeat.....), reverberated around the arena! The stage then exploded with pyrotechnics as the opening bars of  "In the Flesh" erupted from the arenas sound systems.

The Pyrotechnics seemed to go on forever as Roger strutted up and down the stage amongst the cascading pyro. Once the smoke had cleared,  the projected images were seen on the large round stage screen as well as those on the parts of the wall left and right stage that had already been built. In the background we could see an army of helpers slowly begining to build the wall by adding white (cardboard?) bricks. The show went on with fantastic sound, in particular the sound of the plane dive bombing and crashing at the end of "In the flesh".  This led onto an introduction from Roger "Hello Manchester", cheers from the audience, the crying baby and the more mellow and sedate "The Thin Ice". Roger's voice  was really sounding very good, and the wailing guitar and band working well together throughout. 

It was not long then, before the familiar bars of "Another Brick in the wall pt.1" began and a large inflatable teacher dropped onto the stage, rolling into "The happiest days of our lives", a whirling helicopter noise reverberating around the arena and searchlights scanning the audience.

"Another Brick pt.2" began with the inflatable teacher moving and jiggling around, followed by an army of schoolkids to play their vocal part and run towards the 30ft high teacher pointing fingers as they sang!

The guitar solo at the end of this was particularly good (as it is on the album), but here, live, it seemed even better!

"Stand Still Laddie...... how can you have any pudding if you don`t eat your meat, if you don`t eat your meat, how can you have any pudding?"

Before long the kids had gone, and after a brief thank-you from Roger, he introduced Mother with a little reminiscing and a treat in that he would sing the track in time with a projection and soundtrack from the live shows Floyd did in the very early 80`s when they toured the wall album. "Mother, do you trust the government!" (See below the answer to that)

The remainder of the first half ran through the all familiar tracks with fantastic imagery projected on the ever growing wall. Roger himself provided good interaction with the crowd and stepping behind the wall with the band and front stage frequently via the ever narrowing gap at the centre.

The first half of the show wrapped up with a fully built wall, Roger having disappeared behind it and via the final gap during the Brick in the wall pt.3.
The slow ambience of "Goodbye Cruel world" saw the final brick put into place with Roger singing spotlight upon him, extinguished, as the brick was put into place, leaving just a complete white wall across the entire stage.

After about 20 mins or so the second half began, with both Roger and the band playing from behind the wall for the whole of "Hey-you" and "Is anybody out there", with spectacular imagery projected upon the wall.

A particular suprise was when large section left stage folded out to reveal Roger, sat inside a room within the wall on a sofa, flicking through the channels on a TV. This as you may expect was during "Nobody Home" ......... "13 channels of S*it on the TV to choose from".
The audience sang with gusto!! 

"Comfortably Numb" was perhaps one of the crowd pleaser highlights, the whole audience singing along to this track, and the guitar solo given from a platform at the top of the wall itself. Impressive stuff indeed!

The trial sections of the album began with the band now front stage, and the familar walking hammer and cartoon caricature images projected across the wall. Roger, dressed in militia uniform, megaphone in hand really conveying the feel of the album and the imagery behind him.

All too soon it was nearing the end, and the wall was demolished in an explosion of visual light and crashing crumbling (cardboard bricks)...  it looked and sounded real enough, a crescendo!

The concert at an end, Roger and the band thanked the audience many times over.

It had been both an audio and visual delight, actually surpassing our expectations, one of the best live experiences either of us had seen.

Our Gig score: 9.5/10