It was a cold and windy night in Chicago where Alter Bridge, Mammoth WVH, and Red would continue a phenomenal tour supporting Alter Bridge’s new album Pawns and Kings.

Red was the first band to perform and hyped up the crowd on their last day on this tour before the other two bands continued across the country. Despite it being their last night on the tour, they played an excellent and energetic show! Their drummer seemed very precise and played with a lot of stick tricks which was really cool to witness!

Mammoth WVH’s 2021 self titled album is easily one of the best albums to come out recently and their performance at the Rivera Theater in Chicago proved this perfectly. The five-piece band led by Wolfgang Van Halen put on a wildly spectacular show that vastly heightened the experience of the album. While WVH played all of the instruments himself on the debut album, his touring band was also phenomenal. From start to finish the show was beyond entertaining due to the incredible musicianship and stage performance. Wolfgang let loose a flurry of insane rhythm guitar playing, soloing, and tapping parts, and would switch to his keyboard which kept the show exceedingly fresh. The best part of the show was when Wolfagang Van Halen let it slip that Mammoth WVH’s second record might be out this Spring! Surrounded by a massive amount of Van Halen guitars, pedals, and amps, Mammoth WVH kept the party going while opening for Alter Bridge in both the US and Europe. After seeing Mammoth WVH play live, it was clear that you should definitely follow the band for the rest of their career.

The following paragraph is like every baking blog where you hear the history of the authors life, how they finally started to love cheesecake, learned to enjoy walks on the beach, and then slowly fell in love with the Blair Witch Project before they tell you how they bake their muffins. Just skip the next paragraph to continue the show review!

The first time I ever heard the band Alter Bridge, I was on an adventure with my friends traveling up to the Scottish highlands to visit Skyfall’s filming locations. Our Scottish friend and guide Kieran, introduced us to Alter Bridge and he said they were his favorite band and that he had seen them 7 times. At the time, I thought that was a bit extreme, but after our expedition, I slowly began diving into their record collection and soon became a gigantic fan. Now that I have finally seen them live, I 100% understand Kieran’s enthusiasm for the band.

Alter Bridge’s concert at Riviera Theater in Chicago was easily one of the best rock concerts I have ever been to. The audience didn’t have time to start circle pits, walls of death, or crowd surf because they were entranced by the truly superior performance and musicianship of Alter Bridge. There were no fireworks, pyrotechnics, smoke cannons, or confetti cannons because the audience was already having the time of their lives. None of the band members had the time to stage dive, flip their guitars around their backs, or participate in crazy on stage antics; Alter Bridge just played their songs and the crowd collectively lost their minds. Myles Kennedy played his unreleased Black PRS Telecaster and sang the songs insanely well. Myles sang “Watch Over You” and played his acoustic guitar by himself on stage. Then, Mark sang the song “In Loving Memory” with Myles which concluded the relaxed acoustic portion of the set. Mark also sang “Burn It Down” which really emphasized the his vocal skills after his album, “Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra.” Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, and Scott Phillips were immaculate musicians and performers and their concert was easily one of best I’ve ever seen. My new goal is to see them more times than Kieran.

Overall, the show was legendary and I wish I could go back in time and experience it again. I just wish there had been at least one circle pit.

Red Gallery:

Mammoth WVH Gallery:

Alter Bridge Gallery: