Caught Live: Alter Bridge with Black Stone Cherry, Manchester Evening News Arena 24 November 2011

After seeing Alter Bridge play a storming gig at Birmingham's o2 Academy last year I wrote on this blog that arenas beckoned for them next time around. Sure enough here we are 12 months on and Tremonti's troops have indeed made the jump to the cavernous barns of Great Britain. Along for the ride this time out were Canada's Theory of A Deadman, who I missed because of the early start (and traffic jams/ roadworks heading into Manchester, which I won't bore you with), and as special guests, Black Stone Cherry (who I did see).

Chris Robertson's gang were on the stage as I entered the enormous bowl that is the Manchester Evening News arena, and took my seat. The upper tier was curtained off all the way around, with the floor packed and most of the lower tier already filled, it appeared many were there for BSC as well as the headliners. By my reckoning the crowd there would have filled up the Echo Arena, so even though large parts of the MEN were unused, it was still a sizeable crowd which showed.

I've seen BSC on several occasions before, as support to other bands on arena tours similar to this and as headliners at the nearby Apollo theatre, and every time I've been scratching my head as to why such an obviously talented band, with good songs and a great singer, were not 'lighting my fire' in the live setting. They do everything right, performing with verve and enthusiasm, but there was always something lacking which I couldn't put my finger on. That was not the case tonight, perhaps I'm warming to these guys at last but this was finally the BSC gig where I broke out the air guitar - they were excellent. I still can't see what they're doing differently but perhaps it's just a couple more years on the road in this sort of company that's given them that finishing touch - I enjoyed this set much more than all of the previous sets I've seen BSC give. Frontman Chris Robertson looks like he's been following the Dave Wyndorf guide to Britain's pie shops, but his vocals were strong. They had the hardcore fans towards the front bouncing and clapping at will, and when they took it down for 'The Things My Father Said' the invitation to sing the chorus was enthusiastically accepted.

The only -slight- disappointment was that their set was a song or two shorter than at the other shows; no 'Iron Man' cover, nor did they do their HM rendition of Adele's 'Rolling In The Deep', which I was kind of looking forward to despite not being a fan of Ms Adkins herself. However they left us with news that they are to return to the UK for a headline tour in March, and I understand that will call at our end of the M62 so I will plan to be at that show and see the guys again.

Alter Bridge came on after a reasonably short turnaround, with minimal fuss lead singer Myles Kennedy appeared alone to start proceedings with 'Slip To The Void', before being joined by the rest of the band. The set they gave was a rearranged version of that performed last year, with only 'Coeur d'Alene' being added from the new record. Once again, despite 'ABIII' being the newer album it was 'Blackbird' which had most songs in the set. The 2007 album is in danger of becoming a Tough Act To Follow, with so many of its songs surviving into 2011, but there are no complaints from this fan who still prefers that record to the later one.

This was one of Kennedy's better vocal performances, you can always tell when he's suffering when he 'talks' through parts of songs but tonight, there was a lot less of that and more long holding of notes. He's clearly not suffering from a cold like 12 months ago, and when he is healthy it really makes a difference.

Having seen this band climb from small university-type venues to arenas over the past few years, it is gratifying to see them attain arena status, but the step up has come at a price. The show tonight was different to a year ago in that the band seemed more detached, distant on that big stage, they didn't connect in quite the same way as they did when they were playing the likes of the Academy. Although Kennedy did make efforts to reach out to the crowd, the occasional interlude such as during 'White Knuckles' where he performed the time-honoured 'split the crowd down the middle' routine just appeared clichéd. Consequently, despite the excellent vocal performance and solid playing, it seemed just that bit soulless compared to previous tours.

As a live band, AB never disappoint and they didn't tonight - I just get the feeling they're headed down the same path as the Foo Fighters or the Chilis; where they become so big they no longer have that same connection with their dedicated fans. AB are different to Creed in many more ways than just the lead singer, and I hope that the fact they're now performing in the large venues doesn't make them just another stadium rock act.

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Has it really been twenty years...

On this day in 1991 two rock musicians died; the fact that one of them was Freddie Mercury almost totally overshadowed the sad loss of KISS drummer Eric Carr on the same day, after he lost his own long battle against cancer.

When Eric Carr (born Paul Caravello) joined KISS in 1980 it was at a low point in the band's career; original drummer Peter Criss had parted company with the band amid allegations of substance abuse and the arrival of the new drummer signalled a new character behind the kit: The Fox. His first album with the band was the ambitious concept album '(Music From) The Elder', an intended soundtrack for a film which never came about. The album's musical style completely threw the band's fans, who were expecting a return to harder rock but were instead presented with a radical departure. It would be another year before Carr really got the chance to show himself as a premier hard rock drummer, when KISS fulfilled their promise of a hard rock record a year late with 'Creatures Of The Night'. The lead-off single. 'I Love It Loud' featured the band in full make-up and with Carr, as the Fox, sat atop a drum riser shaped like a tank, pounding out the intro to the song.

The resulting tour proved a success, re-establishing the band who would shed the make-up altogether in 1983. Carr's popularity during his time with KISS was down to his powerful drum sound and his willingness to connect with the fans, and he remained with the band for eleven years.

His cancer diagnosis was in early 1991, with the drummer being given a leave of absence by frontmen Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley so that he could recover. His last appearance on a KISS record was on their cover of Argent's 'God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You', contributing backing vocals. Carr's death hit the group hard, with drummer Eric Singer coming in to deputise for Carr on the band's next album 'Revenge' it was always intended that Carr would return to the group once fit again. However Singer remains in the band to this day, and KISS dedicated 'Revenge' to Carr with the inclusion of a 1981 studio jam on the record.

As said at the start, Freddie Mercury's death on the same day as Carr completely dominated the news, with the British media having noticed the Queen singer's declining health throughout 1991 and newspapers running increasingly-lurid headlines speculating on his condition. Mercury, as private when off stage as he was flamboyant on it, admitted to nothing until the day before his death when he released a statement confirming his illness and urging his fans to join him "in the fight against this terrible disease" (AIDS).

Mercury had long known of his illness, but had elected to keep it secret, known only to his bandmates and close friends until that statement came out. He was diagnosed about a year after he and Queen had completed their biggest and most successful tour to date, the Magic tour which culminated in a massive concert held in the grounds of Knebworth Park. The attendance that day has been estimated at anything between 150000 to 200000, as one of the fans who was there myself I can only confirm that the huge field was totally packed with people!

1986 was a monumental year for Queen, coming off the back of their now-legendary performance at Live Aid, seen by billions worldwide, interest in the group had rocketed from merely very popular to stratospheric. Nobody knew it at that time, but Knebworth would be Freddie's final live performance with Queen. Anyone who has seen the Live Aid performance, or was lucky enough to see Queen live during that period will know just what a giant of a rock star he was. He bestrode the biggest stages and could enthrall hundreds of thousands of people. With a flamboyant image, a voice that could handle anything from hard rock to ragtime and a neat, self-deprecating line in camp humour, he had the lot. It's difficult to overstate Queen's popularity at that time, although still considered a rock band they had a huge fanbase and extremely broad range of appeal. Mercury was regarded in the same echelon as other high-flyers like Elton John or Rod Stewart, all of whom had began as rock singers but had broadened their appeal to reach almost everyone.

The tribute concert which was held at the old Wembley stadium in 1992, the scene of his greatest triumph, really brought home what the music world had lost. The remaining members of Queen performed a selection of their best-loved songs with a diverse range of singers - it took over a dozen people ranging from George Michael to Axl Rose to perform what one Freddie used to do.

Although I personally did not get to see Queen live until 1984, a whole generation has grown up knowing the band's music and never having seen them at all, so those who did see them must consider themselves very fortunate. There's been nobody who even comes close to taking his crown as the ultimate rock star - there are great singers out there, very good frontmen (or women), and some very showy, flamboyant stars still, but none put it all together the way Freddie did and none have managed to succeed him as the total, complete rock star.

I'll close this by posting a trio of songs that reflect Freddie in different eras; many still think of that bright yellow jacket when they think of Freddie but his look changed radically during the 1970s before he settled on that slicked hair and moustache image remembered today.

The first shows how the band handled 'Bohemian Rhapsody' live when it was first out; from the famous Hammersmith Odeon show filmed by the BBC, here they turn it into a medley incorporating 'Killer Queen' and 'The March Of The Black Queen':

Taken from the 'We Will Rock you' live concert DVD, filmed in Canada, this is 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' which took on a whole new dimension performed live:

Finally - from the seminal 1986 Wembley DVD, yellow jacket and all, this is 'In The Lap Of The Gods (Revisited)' - which was put back in the set partly for the band's older fans at that point:

I expect that we will still be remembering Freddie Mercury in another 20 years' time!