Page 61 - Black Velvet Issue 87

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TREMONTI / MAN THE
MIGHTY / THE RAVEN
AGE / WEARING SCARS
– BIRMINGHAM INSTI-
TUTE, 11.12.15
What better way to get the
weekend started than attending
a rock show that turns out to
have four impressive bands on
the bill; not only is the vocal work
top notch but there’s guitar
shredding a plenty, it is music to
the ears.
Northampton based Wear-
ing Scars, a band that features
former members of Mutiny
Within and Sacred Mother
Tongue, are up first. The five-
piece’s guitar-driven hard rock is
well suited to Tremonti and they
make an instant connection with
the crowd as opener ‘Become
Numb’ leaves its mark. Tracks
such as ‘Stand Alone’, ‘A Last
Goodbye’ and ‘Butterfly’ follow
and they sound huge. Their
debut album is titled ‘A Thou-
sand Words’ and Wearing Scars
let the music do the talking
tonight and it rocked.
More melodic metal is un-
leashed by The Raven Age as
they deliver a powerful set, in-
cluding the hefty numbers ‘Eye
Among The Blind’ and ‘The
Death March’, taken from their
self-titled EP. It doesn’t take long
for the five-piece to get the audi-
ence on side and soon arms are
aloft, swaying side to side along
to ‘Salem’s Fate’. Set closer
‘Angel In Disgrace’ proves pop-
ular. The Raven Age’s contem-
porary sound and confident
performance makes it easy to vi-
sualise the potential these guys
have to enter the mainstream.
Next on stage is Man The
Mighty from Chicago, Illinois. It’s
their first time in the UK and they
are welcomed warmly by the
Birmingham crowd. Frontman
Derek Smith is less aggressive
vocally than the other singers
tonight and as a whole Man The
Mighty have a more commercial
sound, with songs ‘Beneath The
Skin’ and ‘Sick’ holding a muscu-
lar radio-friendly vibe. Wrapping
their set up with ‘I Am Icarus’, it’s
more than likely we’ll be seeing
more from Man The Mighty here
in the future. favourite ‘You Waste Your Time’ and ‘Flying Monkeys’ pummel hard. Performance wise, Tremonti has gone from
A technical difficulty with the strength to strength, it’s tight and well executed. Unfortunately Wolfgang Van Halen was unable to take up his
PA system delays Tremonti’s set role as bass player for this tour because of his commitments with Van Halen, however Tanner does a sublime
by 15 minutes. The crowd get a job; his stage presence and interaction between himself and Eric certainly adds more vibrancy to the show.
little restless but as soon as the “This is the part of the show where Birmingham shows us what you’ve got,” Mark challenges; feeling the
problem is fixed and Mark need for more speed, ‘Radical Change’ comes into play. The crowd love it! In fact, all the newer songs that are
Tremonti (vocals/lead guitar), played transcend well in the live environment. “How are you fuckers doing?” yells Garrett without the aid of a mi-
Eric Friedman (guitar), Garrett crophone; the crowd respond with a big cheer. The blistering ‘Decay’ goes down a treat, seeing Eric and Mark
Whitlock (drums) and Tanner doing a guitar dual, Mark wins, with Eric laughing, “I quit, I quit”.
Keegan (bass) step out onto the Hopefully the soaring ‘Sympathy’ will be a staple in the set at future shows, it sounds stunning live. There’s
stage all is well. The title track of no messing around with encores, the ferocious ‘Wish You Well’ brings a great evening to its end. Let’s just hope
the latest album ‘Cauterize’ Mark will be able to find some time in his ever busy schedule in 2016 to bring Tremonti back to the UK once new
leads the way and the audience album ‘Dust’ hits the shelves.
is taken on a journey through the YYYYY
songs from both ‘Cauterize’ and Penny Gower
debut album ‘All I Was’. Live Mark Tremonti Photo By Sam Gower
CONCERTS