Welcome to an Alter Bridge concert review that is, in all fairness, more than a review of their show at The O2 Arena in London. While this article is mostly about the live performance mentioned in the title, it does include a few bits about another show, earlier in the tour, in Hungary.
Alter Bridge – Daughtry – Sevendust
The O2, London – 4 March 2026
Words: Bogdan Bele
Photography: Robert Sutton
And that is because I had the opportunity to see them in Budapest, as well, a few weeks prior to this. Yes, they are good enough to be worth seeing several times. Article over, thank you for reading.
Seriously, though, I was near Budapest for something else. When a guy who has been best friends with you (for more years than you care to admit) asks you to come see Alter Bridge with him as well, can you say no? Not that one would need a particular reason to see them, but you know.
And no, the same show it is not. First, because the Budapest one took place at Barba Negra, a tent-like venue that houses shows during the colder months of the year. It has a capacity of some 4,000, much less than the massive O2 Arena, at some 20,000.
Second, because the space restrictions made the Budapest affair a smaller one in terms of production – fewer screens behind the band, for one thing. In terms of performance, it would be hard to fault either. But now we are back in London.
The O2 show is part of the UK set of dates of the tour that promotes the band’s latest, self-titled opus. And if there is one word I would use to characterise this band, it would be “consistent”. The new record is exactly what one would expect from Alter Bridge: powerful, riffy, impeccably executed technically, and, with a significant dose of emotion thrown in there, for good measure.
Their live performances are exactly that. This tour, apart from celebrating the new album, sees them, in my opinion, sounding better than they have ever done. Yes, the production is also bigger than it ever was. Yes, the lights and accompanying visuals look very good, too. There is no pyro, though there are some dry ice canons. But it does not feel like the show needs it.
Now, I have seen Alter Bridge (as well as the members’ side projects, including covering Tremonti for MetalTalk last year) quite a few times over the years. They never disappoint (consistency, remember?).
The band is a true machine, fronted by Myles Kennedy, one of the best and most versatile singers in the business. His solo work, or what he does with Slash, is a very different animal from this.
However, I do not remember them ever sounding as good as they did on this tour. Both in Budapest and London, which are significantly different venues in size and in other aspects, the sound mix was very good, bordering on excellent. So much so that my friend, a professional musician in his own right, spent a large chunk of the Budapest show admiring the sound mix (true story).
But back to London. I have been to arena shows that, while I enjoyed them, did not sound great at all. And that is the polite way of putting it. As I said, not the case this time.
While The O2 is not full to the brim tonight, the band, together with the other two acts, Sevendust and Daughtry, manage to attract a respectable crowd. It is a massive place, after all.
And that is the rather funny thing about Alter Bridge. They have grown to arena status at an almost imperceptible pace. Ever since three (then) former Creed members – guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Bryan Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips were joined, 21 years ago, by former Mayfield Four vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, they slowly went from strength to strength, playing bigger and bigger venues.
They have done so with very little to no mainstream media presence.
Which is why, despite being, by all accounts, very popular, chances are that mentioning their name to 9 out of 10 people you meet in a pub would trigger an “Alter what?” or “Myles who?” response. That never stopped them from putting out excellent records and being, again that word, consistently fantastic live.
Tonight is no exception. The set is hard to fault from an Alter Bridge fan’s perspective, as it features some new tracks (three from the new record, to be precise), as well as all the fan favourites you would expect.
The thing is, the band now has a massive catalogue, and that yields a lot of ‘impossible not to play’ cuts, and that poses a weird dilemma. I personally expect all those favourites, and I would be disappointed if they did not play them. I am sure most people in the room would not disagree with that statement.
You can not have Alter Bridge not play Open Your Eyes and Rise Today and Metallingus and Blackbird and Broken Wings and…Which is why the set heavily features songs from their debut, One Day Remains, or Blackbird, the sophomore effort. And this, despite the fact that later records are full of great tracks that could easily find their place in there.
Not a bad problem to have, I guess.
The new album is present from the start, though. The evening starts with Silent Divide and its major-ass-kicking riff, followed by the equally powerful Addicted To Pain. And at this point, one can see what incredible charisma Myles Kennedy has. The man gestures a bit, and that is enough to get everyone moving.
The band continues to be the same machine it is known to be, and what better proof than the excellent Cry Of Achilles, with that fantastic guitar work by Kennedy and Tremonti. It must be said that, while Mark Tremonti is a guitar hero in his own right, Myles Kennedy is just the same, albeit different in style, and the soloing on this track is living proof of that.
They complete each other perfectly, and not many bands are lucky enough to have that much talent running their fingers across fretboards. Interestingly enough, that also happens on vocals.
Playing Aces is the second track of the new, self-titled album, and this one gives Mr. Tremonti the chance to shine on the soloing front.
I could not fail to mention the excellent Fortress, with the whole band truly shining. The groove of the rhythm section of Marshall and Phillips provides the perfect foundation. Then there is the fact that you get to hear Myles using his lower register on the verse, going all-out high in that chorus.
And speaking of vocals, Burn It Down shows that, in this band, just as the singer is an excellent guitarist, the guitarist can sing very well, if his solo project and Sinatra-singing projects were not clues already. Myles moves back to do some excellent guitar soloing in the meantime, as one does.
Not a bad way to take some vocal rest.
Speaking of how much the UK loves them, Myles does give thanks to London, the first city that truly embraced them, at one point in the set.
I could go on, finding highlights literally across the whole set. They really are that good live.
There are some great sing-along moments on Open Your Eyes and the powerful Rise Today. So many years after it was first recorded, this song’s lyrics are more relevant than ever.
We also get the acoustic moment everyone has been waiting for, Mr. Kennedy performing Watch Over You on acoustic guitar with a bit of Wonderful Life thrown in at the start, joined by the whole arena, and the whole band later on.
It is a beautiful, phone lights in the air moment. No matter how many times you hear and see this, it can never be enough.
Metalingus ends the set, but they come back for an encore of the emotional Blackbird and Isolation, a somewhat unlikely pandemic hit.
Were there major differences between the show in Budapest and the one in London, other than the production and venue sizes I already mentioned? The sound quality was very good for Alter Bridge in both venues. Daughtry and Sevendust had a much better mix in London, though.
Coming back to Alter Bridge, in terms of the set itself, there were very few differences. In terms of musicianship, it was hard to fault anything on either of the shows. The reality is that Alter Bridge live is a mix of power and conveying pure emotion that you want to experience as many times as possible. Too bad the tour is over.
Sevendust
Kicking off tonight’s proceedings are Sevendust. The Atlanta, Georgia band play an energetic set. If you have never seen them live, you will not be disappointed, as their heavy riffs, as well as Lajon Witherspoon’s powerful delivery, always make for a good show.
They are joined on guitar for this part of the tour by Tim Tournier, none other than their and Alter Bridge’s manager, as well as the bass player on Myles Kennedy’s solo project.
They are even dedicating Enemy to the douchebags, in the current context. A very apt thing to do.
It is a short set, well appreciated by many in the arena, with Face To Face and the aforementioned Enemy my highlights.
Daughtry
Second on the bill tonight are Daughtry. Led by vocalist Chris Daughtry, these guys are one of those bands that you have to see live to truly appreciate.
Their emotional songs and the incredible vocal acrobatics, as well as the powerful presence of the singer, work very well on a stage. They have much more pop in the mix than the other two bands on the bill, combined with strong riffs and a lot of emotion.
The sound, much better than the one in Budapest, helps them get across much better.
It is a longer set than Sevendust’s and, while focusing on their Shock To The System double release, it also gets into older tracks, like It’s Not Over, probably their best-known track.
It is interesting to see how much the older tracks, which sound like more traditional pop-rock, differ from what the more electronic-tinged, heavier thing they are today.
Another highlight is their cover of Journey’s Separate Ways (Worlds Apart). The recorded version features Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale, but Daughtry shows that he is perfectly capable of pulling it off on his own as well.
