Words and Pictures: Bracken Hake
Mark Thomas Tremonti (born April 18, 1974) is best known for his tenures with the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. He is a founding member of both bands, and has also collaborated with many other artists over the years. He formed his own band Tremonti in 2011 and has released five albums with them, including A Dying Machine, which was adapted by Tremonti and science fiction novelist John Shirley.
His time in both Creed and Alter Bridge has seen Mark grace multiple arena stages around the world and he currently seems to be able to switch from one globe trotting arena filling band to the next with ease, slotting into a style of playing that suits that particular band perfectly.
Since his early years with Creed, Tremonti has received positive recognition as a guitarist and songwriter and has received a number of accolades, including one Grammy Award for Creed’s single “With Arms Wide Open”. He was also named “Guitarist of the Year” for three consecutive years by Guitar World, and in 2011 he was listed in Total Guitar magazine as the fourth-greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time.
Heavy metal you say? But neither of those bands is really ‘heavy metal’ is it? No. However Tremonti is where Mark gets to play with the sort of added muscle that would see Captain America call him out for a fight on the White House lawn. The Tremonti albums to date have really allowed Mark to expand his horizons and latest ‘The End Will Show Us How’ continues to explore his heavier style of music. With Michael “Elvis” Baskette producing, a man who knows Tremonti as well as he knows his own family, it’s no surprise that it ticks all of the boxes.
With this in mind, we descended on a damp London to the rather excellent O2 Forum in Kentish Town (where the Tube Station, finally, has reopened) in time to see opening act Florence Black.
Florence Black
I’d heard they put on a killer live show, so this was set to be a solid night from start to finish. By the time I’d got inside, the venue was already packed. The crowd was a mix of Alter Bridge fans, metal-heads, and straight-up guitar nerds—everyone here for one thing: big riffs and even bigger solos.
The buzz in the room was real, and as the lights dimmed for the first act, the excitement continued to build. As this was my first time seeing them live, it’s safe to say, they didn’t let me down one iota. Tristan Thomas commanded the stage like a frontman twice his age, his voice rough and powerful over thick, heavy guitar tones. They tore through “The Deep End” and “Look Up,” and it’s clear they had no problems winning the crowd over, which is of course the job of the support act. By the time they closed with “Sun & Moon,” the room was fully on board.
To be fair them, this wasn’t just a warm-up act. They were and are the real deal.
Tremonti
Then it was time for the main event. No drawn-out intro, no messing around. Tremonti and his band walked on, grabbed their instruments, and launched straight into “Wish You Well.” When you think that Mark is used to performing to those massive arena crowds where ‘the show’ is as much a part of the performance as the musicianship, it’s heartwarming to see how easily he can adapt to a no-frills performance at the drop of a ‘pick’.
From the moment they came onstage, the energy was immediate, the sound massive. The setlist a perfect mix of old and new, from the relentless “Cauterize” to fresh material from “The End Will Show Us How”. Songs like “It’s Not Over” and “Tomorrow We Will Fail” hit just as hard as the older material and the reception from the crowd would suggest that they lapped it up. “Dust”, one of my personal favourites saw the room light up with a sea of lighters held high… no… wait.. it’s mobile phones these days isn’t. I suppose they do have a use at gigs after all!
It wouldn’t be a London gig without the arrival of a special guest or two and on cue, guitarist Sophie Burrell helped deliver another of the night’s standout moments when she accompanied the band on “Marching in Time”. Like they say in Mortal Kombat, “flawless”!!
You would think that tracks like “Dust” and “Decay” would lean towards more sombre music but not so with Tremonti, heck on the main set closer, “Decay” saw the crowd part faster than the Red Sea at the hands of Moses and a mosh pit formed. The word ‘enthusiastic’ doesn’t quite cover it but this was the sort of pit that even Machine Head fans would have been proud of.
They closed with “A Dying Machine,” leaving the crowd buzzing. No gimmicks, no over-the-top production, just top-tier musicians playing at their absolute best. Tremonti and Florence Black delivered, and if you weren’t there, you missed out.
SETLIST:
Wish You Well
Cauterize
You Waste Your Time
Tomorrow We Will Fail
The Things I’ve Seen
Throw Them to the Lions
Another Heart
It’s Not Over
So You’re Afraid
Flying Monkeys
Dust
Catching Fire
My Last Mistake
Marching in Time (with Sophie Burrell)
Decay
Encore:
A Dying Machine
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