Mark Tremonti provided those in attendance at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town with a Valentine’s Day as it should always be. Namely, with tons of proper riffing and, yes, lots of love between band and crowd. But mostly guitar riffs.
Tremonti – Florence Black
O2 Forum Kentish Town – 14 February 2025
Words: Bogdan Bele
Photography: Steve Ritchie
Now, before I get killed by some of the readers for this title, maybe let me explain myself. Did your Valentine’s Day involve a lovely date, with a romantic dinner and great conversation?
Those in attendance at the Tremonti gig in London can only feel sorry for you. Even if you had a great evening and did not need to pretend you enjoyed the conversation, your evening can be no match to theirs. 
We will get into it. But first, we must admit, in case you were not aware, that Mr. Tremonti is quite a busy guy. He has a day job playing guitar and, on occasion, singing for this little band called Alter Bridge. They play pubs and small venues like The O2. When he is not doing that, he plays in the reunited Creed, his pre-Alter Bridge job. Sometimes, he even sings Sinatra songs with the latter’s orchestra.
But tonight was not about any of the above. It was about Tremonti, his solo project, an endeavour that finds itself on its sixth album in 13 years – the excellent The End Will Show Us How. Said album is the reason we are all gathered here tonight. 
The band kicks off with a triple punch of older tracks. Wish You Well, Cauterize, and You Waste Your Time are all heavy riff-driven songs, and they make me realise something very important. The people around me are not here because they’re Alter Bridge or Creed fans, as is often the case when you are talking about a rather famous musician’s solo project. 
You know, people coming to a show in the hope that they will do one or two hits from ‘the other band’, albeit for a cheaper entry price. Well, that is not the case this time. I have no doubt that many of those in the room might indeed be fans of the bands in question. But that is not why they’re here.
Most are singing every lyric and I doubt they are expecting anything else than songs from the six Tremonti albums. Just for precision’s sake, it must be said that not a single Creed or Alter Bridge track is in tonight’s setlist. And, considering the quality of the band’s output, they are not missed. 
And we get to the most recent addition to the discography fairly quickly. The fourth track in the set is the emotional Tomorrow We Will Fail. Mark explains that it’s a song about how, if you put something off, tomorrow might be too late for it. It definitely conveys that message.
Tremonti: A Well-Oiled Machine
As the concert goes on, you get more and more of a sense of a ‘proper’ band, rather than a star and some hired hands. One of the reasons is how tight everything is throughout the show. This mostly PRS-guitar-powered-thing sounds like a very powerful and well-oiled machine (definitely not A Dying Machine, to use the title of one of their most popular numbers),with no intention of stopping. 
Guitarist Eric Friedman has been a member since the beginning. He gets several deserved nods from Mark throughout the show, and so does the excellent rhythm section of drummer Ryan Bennet and bassist Tanner Keegan. The stage set is rather sparse, with an album cover backdrop and simple yet effective lights. No special effects needed here. The music comes first.
Coming back to the new record, just one other track from it – It’s Not Over – is played tonight. One of the moments of the set where one realises, yet again, what a great singer Mark Tremonti is. Apart from the guitar playing that a lot of people are here to see, he does a great job on this emotional vocal part. 
The rest of the set features tracks from all of the band’s albums, All I Was getting the most attention. I particularly enjoyed the absolutely epic-sounding Throw Them To The Lions, and it’s clear that there are some absolute crowd favourites. Dust gets a room full of lit mobile phones, with regular set closer Decay featuring a proper moshpit and some crowd surfing.
The love in the room is certainly felt on stage, with Mark Tremonti thanking London for its constant support right from the band’s debut, as he sees London as the place where this band was born.
There’s even a surprise appearance from young English guitar hero Sophie Burrell (“Gophie”, as called by Mark’s daughter), trading licks with Tremonti and Friedman on Marching In Time, a song inspired by Tremonti becoming a father for the third time. The occasion is made even more special by Sophie’s parents being present in the venue.
As I mentioned, Decay closes the regular set. It has been added, we are informed, following many requests during meet-and-greet sessions. Talk about taking feedback on board.
They cannot leave, though, without an encore. And it’s A Dying Machine, sung by the whole room before it all ends in smiles and waves from those on stage. It closes what was a powerful performance and a great evening.
I doubt anyone regretted making these plans on Valentine’s Day.
Florence Black
I have had an eye on opening act Florence Black ever since I saw them support Ugly Kid Joe a few years ago. They were very good then, and the Welsh power trio has only evolved since. 
They power through a short but very energetic set. Straight to the point and capable of a racket that you should not legally be able to make when there are just three people on that stage.
Florence Black start with the groovy Start Again and they keep going, full of energy and catchy rock ‘n’ roll, sounding great in the process. The set features mostly tracks from Bed Of Nails, their most recent album. 
It’s rock music as it should be, straight to the point and very catchy. Look Up is the kind of song you will have stuck in your head for a while. If you have not yet listened to the album, I think you should.
Florence Black promise a headline appearance in London in September. I have a hunch that the venues will be larger and that MetalTalk will be present.
