After Creed came to an end in 2004, members Mark Tremonti (lead guitar), Brian Marshall (bass) and Scott Phillips (drums) joined forces with ex-The Mayfield Four singer and guitarist, Myles Kennedy. Forming Alter Bridge, the band quickly got to work on their debut album, "One Day Remains," which found great success, eventually being certified Gold. The virtuosic guitar talent of Tremonti and the powerful vocals of Kennedy helped the album stand apart from Creed's discography.
After touring globally in support of the album, the band left their label, Wind Up, and moved to Universal imprint, Republic. Returning to the studio for their second effort, 2007's "Blackbird," Alter Bridge found success with the lead single, "Rise Today," finding widespread positive critical acclaim, displaying a greater songwriting influence of Kennedy.
In 2009, Creed reformed and Alter Bridge was put on the back burner by the members, with Kennedy joining Slash's touring band. Yet a year later, Alter Bridge was back in full force, returning with the album, "AB III." A live album of their stadium-sized performance, "Live at Wembley: European Tour" soon followed, which displayed their anthemic abilities. Praise continued for Alter Bridge with their fourth record, "Fortress," which was released to positive acclaim in 2013.
Prior to meeting through a mutual friend, vocalist, guitarist, bassist and drummer Richard Patrick had been a touring member of Nine Inch Nails on the band’s first tour, and programmer, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer Brian Liesegang had graduated in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Shortly after meeting the pair began recording their brand industrial rock that resulted in Filter’s debut album “Short Bus” in 1995. Recorded in a small room in Cleveland and released by Reprise Records, the album hit the mainstream aided by notable MTV rotation of the single “Hey Man, Nice Shot”.
In support of the album the duo enlisted the help of guitarist Geno Lenardo, bassist Frank Cavanaugh, and drummer Matt Walker and embarked on their first tour. Two years later in 1997, Liesegang left the group citing creative differences, however Patrick continued on and released “Title of Record” in 1999. Thanks again to significant radio air play and MTV rotation, the album proved another success, later being certified platinum, featuring the single “Take a Picture”. The album marked the departure of Walker who left to work with the Smashing Pumpkins and the arrival of Steve Gillis on drums.
In 2002 the band’s third full length “The Amalgamut" arrived, aided by the singles “Where Do We Go From Here?” and “American Cliché”. Alan Bailey was hired to perform guitar on the subsequent live tour, however it didn’t last long as Patrick voluntarily checked himself into rehab for alcohol and drug dependency. After getting himself clean Patrick was part of the supergroup The Damning Well and formed the other supergroup Army of Anyone, although neither found particular success and the band leader returned his focus to Filter.
Filter released their fourth studio album “Anthems for the Damned” in 2008 and in the same year the remix album “Remixes for the Damned”. The band’s fifth full-length “The Trouble with Angles”, produced by Bob Marlette, was eventually issued in 2010 and was notably much heavier and industrial then their previous releases. Working with Marlette again on the album “The Sun Comes Out Tonight” (2013) the album was led by the single “We Hate It When You Get What You Want” and was supported by a tour opening for the Stone Temple Pilots.
Reports that straightforward, no-frills hard rock is dead have been greatly exaggerated; if you need proof of that, Alter Bridge would be more than happy to provide it. They’ve only been going for a decade, and they’re hardly household names, but they’re already veterans of the UK arena circuit, and were second only to the mighty Aerosmith on the bill for this year’s final day of Download Festival. Frontman Myles Kennedy has a prodigious work ethic; his other job, if you can call it that, is fronting Slash’s band, and he tours extensively with both outfits. Despite everything he puts it through, though, his voice remains as fierce as ever; he has one of the finest deliveries in modern rock, with the kind of classic sound that allows him to pull of Guns n’ Roses classics with Slash as well as sound genuinely aggressive and forward-thinking on Bridge material. Last year, the band’s fourth record, Fortress, met with superb reviews, with an average of 81 on Metacritic; it also saw them solidify their reputation as one of the finest live acts in rock, with a UK arena tour enjoying a rapturous reception in October of last year. Kennedy will be back on Slash duty in those same huge rooms later this year, putting Alter Bridge temporarily on the back burner; rumour has it, though, that they’re already lining up UK dates for 2015.
If I could recommend a band for someone to see live, It would be Filter. Although they are getting to be an older band, they celebrated there hey day in the late 90’s and early 00’s, I recently saw them and they are still a phenomenal group of talented live performers.
The last time I saw them live was at an outdoor venue, during a summer festival. It was a hot day, and of course Filter had to be playing later in the day, as they are still one of the best bands and live performing acts, so all I could do is stick out the heat and hope Filter would make it all worth it and trust me, they did.By the time Filters sound check started, you could tell the crowd was worn out, but the second Richard Patrick took the stage, everyone jumped to their feet and mad a mad rush for the stage.
The band played the hits but since they only had a thirty minute set, it seemed like they jumped straight into “Hey Man Nice Shot”, the song we all came to hear. The place erupted in excitement! Fists Pumping and people jumping everywhere. My only complaint, it was all over too soon. Filter is still one of the best shows I have ever seen and I would love to see them do a longer set somewhere.