“If we come back, will you come back?” Mark Tremonti asks at the end the of an exhilarating night from his self-named solo band. It’s a question which has been a tradition for the past dozen or so years at a Tremonti show. Releasing album number six at the very start of the year and an impressive run of shows to it, Birmingham sees the band almost at the end of it all. For Tremonti (the man, not the band), down time seems like a foreign concept whilst Myles Kennedy is off with his own solo ventures or slaying arenas with another guitar master and the other half of Alter Bridge are keeping a low profile whilst off-duty from some band called Creed.
It seems surreal to say Marching in Time yet that’s exactly where we are. However, from the word go, it seems like this tour is all about bucking tradition, other than that climactic question. As Mark Tremonti follows Eric Friedman (guitar), Tanner Keegan (bass) and Ryan Bennett (drums) onto the stage, they waste no time in making their presence known with one of the many highlights from debut album All I Was in the shape of “Wish You Well”. Normally the final song of the night, it’s disconcerting for all of about five seconds before heads are nodding and people are singing along. Because as soon as that song hits with its juggernaut opening riff, it completely envelops the room and the next ninety minutes simply fly by.
The End Will Show Us How may only be a month old and this tour in of us but tonight feels like more of a victory lap for the band and the dedicated following they’ve built. Indeed, it’s shown in the judicious selections from the album with only a trio from the new album putting in an appearance with “Tomorrow We Will Fail”, “It’s Not Over” and the atmospheric “All the Wicked Things”. The latter’s sombre intro works well for launching into the encore (a practice which the band have never indulged in until this tour), allowing people to catch their breath at the eighty-minute mark.
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More recent albums like Dust. But Mark Tremonti has been doing this for over three decades – he knows how to work a crowd. There are some excellent songs on the more recent albums and whilst they got a much better look-in on their respective tours compared to this year’s, those first three albums are, frankly, a cut above. And to give the crowd their due, they become unglued when those early numbers are unleashed.
While it is mainly about fast and furious riffs and Mark Tremonti having the chance to play on the heavier end of the spectrum, the band know how to drop it down with the staples of “The Things I’ve Seen” and “Dust”, the latter of which has people raising their phone torches. But when we get to the hard and heavy numbers like “Cauterize”, “Flying Monkeys”, “Throw Them to the Lions” and “My Last Mistake”, it shows the band in full flow as Tremonti and Friedman trade licks effortlessly whilst Keegan and Bennett lock in perfectly with some filthy bass lines and frenetic drums at times threatening to overpower the guitars.
Meanwhile, the foreboding intro of “Catching Fire” and the brooding “Decay” have the band do some of their grittiest work without having to rely on downtuning too much and bringing in harsh vocals. “So You’re Afraid” may have been in the set since day one but looking back, it hinted at what was to come for the band. As one of the debut album’s more sophisticated and complex tracks, it’s never stuck out like a sore thumb, its light and shade showing what metal can be capable of. But if you truly want complexity from Tremonti, look no further than “Marching in Time”, bordering on prog territory, the sprawling number is captivating with its soundscapes and powerful lyrics. Furthermore, guitarist Sophie Burrell s them for it and whilst her own band, BXRRELL, may be altrock/pop rock, she’s more than capable of holding her own with Tremonti and Friedman. Just a glance at her YouTube channel proves she has the chops to tackle and hard rock or metal song you can think of. She adds depth and texture to a song which is already dripping with it, bouncing off the band as if she’s a full-time member of the band.
Tremonti may be at the stage now where you’re either into them or not and they’re unlikely to convert any doubters at this stage but to hear a ninety-minute set where there isn’t a single dud song or bum note, who cares? For the man himself, this is what constitutes an intimate show and it allows Mark Tremonti to delve into his love of metal. In the dozen-plus years of this band, his name may be on the backdrop, but it’s never been a self-indulgent show, despite his skills as a vocalist and frontman improving with every album cycle. Needless to say, when they come back, I’ll go back.
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Photos by Skull Lens Photography
