Alter Bridge Winter Tour 2016

[The Plotblocker]

Really hope they bring back YWBR for Basel. I know I'm in the minority when I say it's one my top 5 on this record.

Same for me man. Just really like that song.

the constant changing of the setlist is something I've wanted AB to do for 10 years! Finally doing it!

Yup. So glad they are finally mixing things up. Would like to hear a few more from Fortress and ABIII though, and a little less from Blackbird. Also, 100% less Isolation would suit me nicely. Really really do not get the hype around that song.

[Blackbird]

Really hope they bring back YWBR for Basel. I know I'm in the minority when I say it's one my top 5 on this record.

Same for me man. Just really like that song.

the constant changing of the setlist is something I've wanted AB to do for 10 years! Finally doing it!

Yup. So glad they are finally mixing things up. Would like to hear a few more from Fortress and ABIII though, and a little less from Blackbird. Also, 100% less Isolation would suit me nicely. Really really do not get the hype around that song.

So true. Remove Ties That Bind and put in something from ABIII, preferably Slip To The Void or All Hope Is Gone. Don't think you can and should remove CTL, Rise Today, WOY and Blackbird, though.

[Jim]

The Blackbird songs play live better than anything they've ever done. They keep them on there for a few reasons -
1. The fan's ADORE the Blackbird record so they'd be missed if they weren't played
2. They're easy to play so can be performed well
3. They know them better than any other songs they do

[Timotheus]

I'm honestly fine with the setlists the way they are, as long as they keep rotating and keep playing this many new songs.

[anguyen92]

Here's the problem with them playing around 17-19 songs a night with five great albums to choose from. They just got too many songs to choose from, which is a good sign, and they have claimed that just because they wrote and recorded the songs, doesn't mean they can play it on the fly (they are not Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen). They saved 6-7 song slots for The Last Hero and which is a great sign and I hope they continue that trend for the rest of the album cycle, but switch out certain songs for like Cradle to the Grave, This Side of Fate, The Last Hero from time to time.

Now that leaves the 10-12 songs remaining. I would love nothing more for them to play an out of nowhere track (they did that back in the US tour where they played Make it Right and Calm the Fire in a show), I still want them to play Fallout one day. When you fill those slots with main singles that casual audiences knows (that's usually on the fence regarding AB, but still buy a ticket just to have a casual good time anyway) and songs that people still give a great reaction with like Blackbird and Watch Over You and Metalingus (Myles playing Watch Over You acoustically always gets one of the biggest reactions of the show, no matter what), the slots to play rare tracks are pretty much reduced to like one song slot (which is what they should do sometimes).

Of course, my answer to fix remedy this scenario is wanting them to do away with having opening and supporting acts and have them play longer, but that probably wouldn't be enough to fill arenas in the UK. It could still fill the regular venues they play in Europe (HMH, Ancienne Belgique, Gasometer, Le Zenith, etc.) I believe.

[austin.]

I don't know if it was just being 15-19 years old, but concerts used to seem so much longer.

It seems lately it's cram as much in as fast as you can in a hour.

Creed and Staind in arenas, the shows felt so long and like a roller coaster.

The last 5 or so concerts I've been to, alter bridge and tremonti included, have felt really rushed.

I'd gladly pay double the ticket price for 2 hour AB show.

[anguyen92]

Really? This seems like a rushed show? This looked like a standard length for them, nowadays. I mean the Wonderful Life/Watch Over You Medley is essentially one song, and I guess the dueling solos is like 3/4ths of a song, but the 17-18 songs of their set always goes around the 90-100 minute mark.

Come to Life
Farther Than the Sun
Before Tomorrow Comes
Addicted to Pain
Ghost of Days Gone By
Metalingus
Calm the Fire
Cry of Achilles
Isolation
Waters Rising
Ties That Bind
My Champion
Blackbird
Wonderful Life
Watch Over You
Dueling Guitar Solos – Mark and Myles
Rise Today

Show Me a Leader
Open Your Eyes

In comparison, here's a Creed setlist I found when they played Madison Square Garden in 2000.

Ode
Torn
Are You Ready?
Beautiful
Say I
Never Die
My Own Prison
What If
Unforgiven
Illusion
Faceless Man
With Arms Wide Open
What's This Life For?

One
Higher

To me, 15 songs for a headlining set, especially for a big band like Creed at the time in the album cycle of their biggest selling album, is a bit on the short end. However, I looked back at the lengths of these songs and some of those were over 5 minutes or so, two of them (Torn and Faceless Man) was around 6 minutes.

[Blackbird]

You really can't complain about the length of a
usual AB setlist. And if you feel like doing so, visit a Shinedown or Sevendust concert. They rarely play more than 13 songs, sometimes even less, as the main act! THAT'S a real disappointment.

Edit: Here, look at this:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/shinedown ... a0a3e.html

11 songs. ELEVEN! Plus, the new album has been out for an eternity now and I think they only ever played 4 songs from it. The rest has never seen a live audience.

Man, thinking about this shows me once again how amazing Alter Bridge are.

[anguyen92]

I heard 14 songs when I saw Shinedown and they went 75 minutes. Brent Smith did go crazy with his buzzword speeches though which could have fit another song or two.

I did see some setlists during Sevendust's acoustic tour, a few years back, and they were doing 17 songs. In fact, a fan video, that got uploaded to Youtube of a show of that tour, was around an hour forty.

[anguyen92]

Edit: Here, look at this:
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/shinedown ... a0a3e.html

11 songs. ELEVEN! Plus, the new album has been out for an eternity now and I think they only ever played 4 songs from it. The rest has never seen a live audience.

Man, thinking about this shows me once again how amazing Alter Bridge are.

The thing is that is a co-headlining tour with Five Finger Death Punch and FFDP is not doing any better with their set having 13 songs. The weirdest part was that Shinedown did a co-headlining tour with Breaking Benjamin, last year, and both bands were doing 15-16 songs a night with Sevendust or Nothing More opening.

[Blackbird]

Oh okay, that actually explains the 11 songs. They don't play that much more when they're the exclusive headliners though, at least in Germany. I mean, they don't even play 45 anymore!

About Sevendust - 17 songs has to be an absolute exception for them. Whenever I check their setlists, it's 13 or 14 songs at a max, which is so weird because they have so many albums and great songs...

[The Plotblocker]

So true. Remove Ties That Bind and put in something from ABIII, preferably Slip To The Void or All Hope Is Gone. Don't think you can and should remove CTL, Rise Today, WOY and Blackbird, though.

Rise Today and WOY could be dropped in an instant and I would give no fucks at all. Rise is dull and WOY has been done to death now. Find a new acoustic moment, or at least rock it with the full band once of twice.

The Blackbird songs play live better than anything they've ever done. They keep them on there for a few reasons -
1. The fan's ADORE the Blackbird record so they'd be missed if they weren't played
2. They're easy to play so can be performed well
3. They know them better than any other songs they do

1. Fans ADORE ODR and Fortress too.
2. The songs from ODR are piss easy to play, especially for Myles lol.
3. Source? I would say they know the songs from the first album just as well, probably even better.

[Timotheus]

Watch over You is one of their best live moment. Watch youtube after a concert. 80% of the videos are WOY. I agree I'd love to see it electric, but the acoustic version is just such an amazing experience live (actually live, not behind a laptop).

[The Plotblocker]

Watch over You is one of their best live moment. Watch youtube after a concert. 80% of the videos are WOY. I agree I'd love to see it electric, but the acoustic version is just such an amazing experience live (actually live, not behind a laptop).

It was, back in 2007 when they first did it. nearly 10 years later it has just gotten stale for me. Ihave seen Myles play it that way so many times now. I would probably use that song as a toilet break, or bar visit.
And the only reason there are so many videos of it on YouTube is because it is acoustic and therefore the average phone can capture the sound better.

[The Plotblocker]

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!! I cannot believe it!!! I just won 2 tickets for the O2 show!!! They just turned up. From a Kerrang competition I don't even remember entering So fucking hyped up now I am vibrating my way to another dimension!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

[Nicklord]

Watch over you got the by far the biggest cheer in Vienna 2 days ago. Actually, that's the thing that moved the crowd from the worst I've seen to 2nd worst I've seen

Forgot to complain about that. I was in front and there was no movement at all, nothing. The crowd was so dead 90% of the gig. Last year I went to Vienna to see Muse too and it was even worse. I don't get it. Also I've been to Novarock and it's also pretty much dead except one moshpit area with 20 people in it

[Blackbird]

The acoustic live version of WOY is a memorable moment every single time. I've been to about 8 Alter Bridge gigs now (maybe one or two more), and the best moments have always been Blackbird, WOY acoustic and surprise setlist additions like Island Of Fools in Berlin on Sunday. I'd hate to see it replaced with anything but Wonderful Life or In Loving Memory acoustic, and even that only occasionally because I think most of the crowd knows WOY better.

Watch over you got the by far the biggest cheer in Vienna 2 days ago. Actually, that's the thing that moved the crowd from the worst I've seen to 2nd worst I've seen

Forgot to complain about that. I was in front and there was no movement at all, nothing. The crowd was so dead 90% of the gig. Last year I went to Vienna to see Muse too and it was even worse. I don't get it. Also I've been to Novarock and it's also pretty much dead except one moshpit area with 20 people in it

I've seen great and really bad crowds at Alter Bridge concerts in Germany. I think one reason for the latter is that there are a lot of "older" AB fans that simply want to enjoy their music live and don't jump around that much. The crowd in Berlin on Sunday was actually pretty good, the best probably was in Dortmund 2010 (?), but I've had tours where I went on multiple AB concerts where one crowd was good and the next one was pretty much dead.

[The Plotblocker]

Sounds like the Viennese rock fans just do not know how to rock. I can;t stand a dead crowd. Why even go if you are just gonna stand around all silent and sombre? Seems like a waste of time and money to me.

[Timotheus]

Silent doesn't mean sombre. They might be enjoying the hell out of themselves on the inside. Some people just prefer to be a spectator in stead of a participator.

[The Plotblocker]

Silent doesn't mean sombre. They might be enjoying the hell out of themselves on the inside. Some people just prefer to be a spectator in stead of a participator.

I didn't say it did. I said silent AND sombre.