The excellent feedback of “Pawns & Kings”, as well as the presence of Lzzy and her company (or “her boys”, as she calls the band members) give a good motivation to catch Jubilee Line and go to the outstanding O2 Arena.
Opening act is Mammoth WVA, the band of Wolfgang Van Halen, son of the legendary Eddie Van Halen who is simply trying to honor his father’s name; after all, something more than that would be utopia and out of reach. The band put on a decent show for about 35 minutes. Their alternative rock -slightly down tuned- style was good from a compositional standpoint and in combination with Wolfgang’s flawless guitar playing, warmed up the half-full (by that point) venue.
Whatever I say about Halestorm is simply not sufficient enough or paints an accurate picture of their overall performance because simply put Lzzy Hale’s on stage presence is absolutely out of this world! She puts on her heart and soul into every note of each and every song and I gotta say that she is the definition of how rock n’ roll should be identified with in 2022! Half of Halestorm’s set was cued of their excellent latest album, “Back from the Dead”, but “Mine” and “I Get Off” set O2 on fire! All in all, it was an absolutely spectacular 55-minute show that can only be described with one word: sensational!
Setlist: The Steeple, Love Bites (So Do I), Wicked Ways, Bombshell, Mine, Familiar Taste Of Poison, drum solo, Back From The Dead, I Get Off, I Miss The Misery.
The time for the Super Group had arrived and the first notes of “Silver Tongue” put the London crowd on its feet. Myles Kennedy may be the Alter Bridge persona, but my attention was drawn towards Mark Tremonti as he seemed to be the undisputed driving force. In any case, Alter Bridge put on an excellent show with songs from almost all their releases (the sole exception being the conceptual “AB III”). Closing with “Rise Today” and “Open Your Eyes” at the encore, the standing ovation and applause of the crowd spoke volumes in regards with Alter Bridge’s great show. For 100 minutes on stage, Alter Bridge managed to excite the audience and emphatically confirm their musical abilities. They did not manage to fill a 20.000 venue capacity-after all, they had played also there in 2019- but I don’t think they should be worried by that fact. It was a very good show by the American outfit and that says it all…
Setlist: Silver Tongue, Addicted To Pain, Ghost Of Days Gone By, Before Tomorrow Comes, This Is War, Shed My Skin, Burn It Down, Cry Of Achilles, In Loving Memory, Blackbird, Pawns & Kings, Wouldn’t You Rather, Isolation, Metalingus, Rise Today, Open Your Eyes.
Dimitris Kazantzis
