Alter Bridge are finally coming back to London, with The Last Hero Tour. Day 2 of the Tour tonight at the O2 Arena saw a heavy line up composed of Like a Storm, Gojira and Volbeat. The night had a good start with Like a Storm, a band I must admit I knew very little about. The public was present in large numbers to warmly welcome the hard rock group from New Zealand. The sound was powerful and all the heavy riffs mixed with didgeridoo compositions worked together very well from the beginning. The band played a little AC/DC cover and also “Gangster’s Paradise” from rapper Coolio, then ended with their new, most famous track “Love the Way You Hate Me”. An awesome show combining a solid stage performance as well as a high sound quality!
Next it was time for Gojira. This is the 8th time I have seen them live. As they hit the stage, the diehard fans were regrouped to the front, cheering and yelling, as Joe Duplantier thanked everyone for being there. Mario’s drumming was insane and I just couldn’t stop watching him, meanwhile the bass and guitars were flying on stage and Joe kept the crowd pumped up with some interaction. The new album tracks were blinding perfectly in the middle of the rest of the set list, but sadly only a small portion of the arena was full at that time, but nonetheless, we saw our buddies flying and a pit. I was really disappointed with the low amount of people there to welcome Gojira, since the UK has always been very strong with them and kinda let it down here. There are only a few metal bands out there capable of putting on a show anything like Gojira.
The band next up were Volbeat, and the arena was finally packed and they flew straight into it with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown”. The crowd was on fire, singing along with them. After playing the usual Johnny Cash song, Micheal Poulsen introduced Mark “Barney Greenway” of Napalm Death to sing the song “Evelyn”. This was definitely epic and one of the best highlights of the night. “Seal The Deal” got a couple of mini pits going into the arena. I also managed to snag the perfect view on the big screen to see Rob Caggiano “fast fingers”, who really does have a good charisma on stage and always has a smile. Volbeat played songs from 5 of their albums and ended with “Still Counting” Alter Bridge finally hit the stage, and the boys were classy and really heavy. It was my first time seeing them and I really enjoyed every minute of the performance –I loved the sound of their guitars, and the band itself just looked like a bunch of down-to-earth people with no rock star ego. Good interaction with the crowd and just a sublime set.
Myles Kennedy was in good shape, with multiple interactions and contacts with the crowd while the band was playing famous songs like “The Writing on the Wall” and “Addicted to Pain”, mixing it up with the new album songs like “The Other Side”. Myles’ live vocals are amazing, and add a perfect sound and you will have an insane performance. I definitely can feel the passion they play with as delivered powerful melodies. When it was time for Myles’ solo, the whole area turned their phones or lighters on to light the whole arena, and was beautiful to watch. They continued with their hit songs “Metalingus” and “Open Your Eyes”. As they walked out, everyone yelled until they came back to play 2 song on their encore list.
Overall, it was a solid package of 4 very talented bands with 4 different offerings that definitely was your money’s worth. Make sure you see this tour in your city!