by Mike Augusti, contributor
Alter Bridge (photo by Mike Augusti)
What do you get when you mix one part Saint Asonia, one part Alter Bridge, one part Breaking Benjamin and one part Disturbed? A fire spitting, ear splitting rawk concert with a side of thunder and lightning.
Last Friday night at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford CT this rawk and roll circus came to town for a seriously loud night of music.
Saint Asonia opened the show with a 30 minute set of originals and two covers of Three Days Grace, Just Like You and I Hate Everything About You. Saint Asonia is a new band that includes the former lead singer Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace, hence the covers. The band also features former Staind lead guitarist Mike Mushok. During the set the band jokingly asked who has their new release and then proceeded to count out how many raised their hand.
Up next, Alter Bridge! One of, if not the best live rawk band going today. This is basically the band Creed without lead singer Scott Stapp and in his place, Myles Kennedy. Kennedy has been tabbed to front Guns N Roses guitarist Slash’s touring band. He was also once tabbed by Jimmy Page to possibly front a Led Zeppelin reunion.
Alter Bridge ripped through a six song high energy set that included some of their hits like Come To Life, Addicted to Pain, Blackbird and Rise Today. This band deserves much more than being second on a concert bill of four bands. New music coming from them in October with hopefully a headlining tour to follow.
Breaking Benjamin was up next with a 13 song set that has spanned the bands career which started in 1999. BB has reformed from a six year hiatus in 2009 and released all new material with 2015’s release Dark Before Dawn.
The band opened with So Cold and followed it up with Angels Fall, Sooner or Later and Blow Me Away. The band opted for a four song medley of covers including Star Wars theme (with lead singer Benjamin Brumley toting out a light saber), Tool’s Schism, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Pantera’s Walk. Needless to say a varied but entertaining cover song montage.
Other highlights came towards the end of the set when the band ripped through Failure, I Will Not Bow and The Diary of Jane.
One odd note, lead singer Brumley went on a five minute rant about eating an entire pizza by himself and then asking the crowd which females could eat a whole pizza by themselves. I am not sure what spurred this, but was completely out of character and unnecessary.
Finishing up the night was headliner Disturbed. Disturbed brought the pyro and lit up the theater like the 4th of July. The band played a thirteen song set, which seemed short for a headliner, but with four bands on the bill and an 11:00 curfew, not much they could do.
Disturbed is touring in support of 2015’s release Immortalized. After a brief weather related delay, the band came out to their hit Ten Thousand Fists to delight of the packed house. During the entire set, the skies about the theater were filled with the sounds of thunder and streaks of lightning. I suppose it was appropriate given the show Disturbed was putting on.
Some other highlights included Stupify, The Light, Stricken and Indestructible. One highlight was when the band completed slowed the set down and did a hair raising version of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence. Lead singer David Draiman nails this song live.
Disturbed did a two song encore of Voices and Down With The Sickness.
A great line up of some of today’s hottest bands. The entire show had a ton of energy and all bands were on top of their game tonight. As they say, Rawk and Roll All Night and Party Every Day!
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