Wearing Scars were up first and they were really rather good. I heard of them a while back. They feature the guitar talents of Andy James ex of Sacred Mother Tongue. These guys were great. They really have some cool melodic tunes and in Mr James a guitarist who shreds like a mother. The singer has a great voice but walks around the stage rather awkwardly and doesn't have a metal look but he has the pipes and the band has the tunes.
Next were The Raven Age. A band I've heard quite a bit about and heard a little bit in passing. They are of course the band of George Harris son of Steve. He plays guitar in the band and not the bass as you might possibly suspect. Anyway the band doesn't resort to growls thankfully and doesn't have a whole heap to do with the emocore scene either. They play a melodic sort of modern metal with a small foot in the past and a bigger foot in the present aping bands like Trivium etc. They have some cool riffs for sure but their songs are a bit boring. They have cool sections but it never materialises into memorable metal. The odd Maiden section rears its head her and there which is cool to see and hear as the father hands the reigns down to the son. The singer is OK but he's a bit annoying as well. The sound mix was a bit muddy for TRA as well. I think the band would sound better in a small club. They just don't have the songs to carry a big hall like the Forum.
Main support were Chicagoans Man The Mighty. I've never heard of them bu Tremonti hand picked them so he must like them. They sort of sound like a more bluesy or heavy grooving Volbeat but without the cool vocals and melodies. They were OK but I failed to get into them to be honest. I was just waiting for Tremonti to blow me away.
Tremonti came on at 9.30 and played up till round about 11 which was the curfew time. They started like a house on fire with a blisteringly heavy version of the title track from Cauterize. That was a bloody amazing start. Mark's voice is fucking loud live I tell you. He really booms out the vocals just how I like it. The guitar mix was actually a little poor or they just played too fast I don't know which. It was kinda hard to tell one fast song from another. It was only when they played the slower numbers that the songs became more recognisable from the beginning.
Having said all that the band was on serious fire I tell ya. Tremonti's band are all very tight players but of course the star of the show is Mark himself and boy does he go off on his guitar! The guy shreds when needed and then plays the hammering riffage and head bangs like mad at the same time and don't forget he has to sing and remember all the words. Don't know how he does it really! Every song they played was great. The two albums don't really have any duff tunes so people were going nuts for every track with moshpits starting up on the fast tunes. Flying Monkeys is the only song I don't really like from the new CD but it sounded monstrously heavy live. The other highlights were the amazing Another Heart, The Things I've Seen from the first album, Providence and the amazing and awesome Sympathy from the new album my absolute fave song sung brilliantly by Mark. I think I might possibly like Tremonti more than Alter Bridge if that's possible. Alter Bridge is more heart rending and emotional maybe but Tremonti mixes power as well as emotion and melody into a wonderful package. A great gig indeed at a packed out venue tells you all you need to know about Mr Tremonti's capabilities as a singer front man and most of all song writer.
Cauterize
You Waste Your Time
So You're Afraid
All I Was
Radical Change
The Things I've Seen
Arm Yourself
Dark Trip
Brains
Flying Monkeys
Providence
Decay
Another Heart
Sympathy
Wish You Well
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