Finishing off the year 2019 with one immense show, three awesome bands. The Raven Age, Shinedown and Alter Bridge know how to put on a show!
The Raven Age take to the stage first, and it’s great to see most people in the arena are already in their seats or have taken their place standing on the floor. These guys have definitely moved up the ranks in the past couple of years, and have played a large range of venue sizes, but they seemed to be very comfortable up on an arena stage. Certainly making a statement that they are where they belong. Vocalist Matt James is clearly having a good time on the last night of the tour, and that kind of energy beams out to the last crowd.
Shinedown are next up on stage this evening, displaying a completely polished set you simply can’t fault. Within the first three songs, vocalist Brent Smith shakes hands with every photographer in the pit to display his gratitude (which we really appreciate!), before parting the crowd and creating a walkway for himself. The interaction he has with the crowd creates a more personal atmosphere when watching them play, which is something you don’t get with a lot of live bands. If you thought that was enough, Brent Smith shot out a number of free t-shirts to the crowd with a t-shirt cannon – the gift that keeps on giving.
Guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass keep the energy alive as they dart from each side of the stage constantly, we could barely keep up! The crowd absolutely love the set as we are spoilt with old tracks and new from their most recent album Attention Attention. Nearing the end of the set, phone torches light up the arena as the crowd all sing along to ‘Second Chance’ – a stunning moment.
Alter Bridge were the main act of the night, and it would be extremely hard for them to disappoint. With Myles Kennedy’s striking vocals, each song beams through the arena with great power and the production screens behind them bringing more drama to the show. Their set is strong, and their guitar faces are even mightier as they play.
We take a quiet moment half way through the set, where Myles and guitarist Mark Tremonti play a few acoustic tracks ‘In Loving Memory’ and ‘Watch Over You’. While most of the crowd loved this, and phone torches were released once more, there was a sense in the air for the rock to come back strong. Of course the energy builds back up, with tracks ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Open Your Eyes’.
The set comes to an end with ‘Godspeed’ and ‘Addicted To Pain’, two tracks you are forced to nod your head to. They leave the stage and it’s easy to say that the audience was satisfied with the night they’ve just had – a perfect end to the gig season.
