Review and photos by Marc Leach
Mark Tremonti with support from Man The Mighty
Tuesday 14th June 2016 – Limelight, Belfast
So, what’s the best way to cure those post Download festival blues? That’s right, go to a rock concert! Who doesn’t deserve a break from spending days washing the mud off from the torrential weather that hit the world famous festival at Donnington, UK? And who better to hit Belfast than Tremonti, led by Alter Bridge/Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti.
Chicago four piece Man The Mighty kicked off the night’s proceedings with their brand of chunky hard rock. While kickstarting the energy for the night the band themselves were faced with a number of downfalls in their performance, primarily not being able to hear lead vocalist Timothy Tournier’s powerful vocals. However, this didn’t stop the guys from not only showing Belfast what they have musically but by having great banter with the hyped up crowd post-set.
Just like this reviewer, the sea of Tremonti & Alter Bridge (no Creed?) shirts were ready to see one man and one man only, Mark Tremonti. The very second the guitar hero and his posse took to the stage for their debut Belfast show, the venue went ballistic especially since this show was one of two headline shows in the UK from the band (Glasgow being the other venue).
Myles Kennedy? Scott Stapp? I’m sorry, but this was Mark Tremont’s moment. He came to dominate, and dominate is what he and his band did. From tracks off their debut album ‘All I Was’ to tracks off their brand new release ‘Dust’, the band fed off the energy of the Belfast crowd, even going so far as to not walk off for their encore but continue playing. Just right I say. What I was most impressed about was how humble Mark was towards not only the crowd but towards his band, especially swapping guitar solos with fellow touring Creed guitarist Eric Friedman, who just kept shining his guitar all over the place.
What this reviewer enjoyed the most was was that while he played one Alter Bridge song (‘The Things I’ve Seen’) and didn’t touch the Creed stuff he just solely focused on Tremonti songs. I will admit, I haven’t listened to much of Mark’s solo work but after this outstanding performance I will even go as far to say that this was gig of 2016 material.
