PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
After reviewing the new Tremonti album Cauterize last week I was excited to get to the O2 ABC in Glasgow last night to see how the live show compared. The venue was quite full for a Monday night, but the crowd that showed up were nothing if not enthusiastic. From the second the band came on stage they never stood still for a second, jumping, clapping, horns in the air and at the very least bobbing heads as the Tremonti band ripped through an absolutely blistering set. Considering Cauterize is just out, most of the set came from debut album All I Was, but there were a few tracks from Cauterize and the fans still seemed to know every word, which must be an indication of just how eagerly anticipated the release was.
The show was started off by local rock band Halo Tora. I must admit they were completely new to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed their set. They looked original, with the bass player stomping around the middle and vocal duties shared between the two guitarists either side of him. Add in a heavy hitting drummer and a keyboard and they sounded quite original too, at times quite melodic and at others straight up rock. They got a really good reception from the crowd and made sure to plug the soon to be released album, which I’m sure quite a few of us will look forward to.
It seemed to take ages to actually get Tremonti on stage, but as the lights dropped the volume levels suddenly multiplied massively. This is a band that doesn’t mess around, launching straight into Brains and All That I Got. They are a band with huge energy, guitarist Erick Friedman is like the Duracell bunny rushing around the stage, interacting with the crowd and striking poses while never missing a note. After a few songs from debut album All I Was they played the title track from Cauterize, as well as a favourite of mine from the new album, Flying Monkeys.
Mark Tremonti chatted to the crowd throughout, saying how the Glasgow crowd is one he always looks forward to. For all I know he says that every night but he certainly seemed sincere and it went down very well with the fans. During a short pause between songs the crowd started up a chant of “here we, here we, here we fucking go,” and after a few seconds Mark and the drummer started to play along which raised a huge cheer.
The Tremonti sound is something so original it’s quite hypnotic at times, as it merges pure rock with speed metal until you can’t quite separate the two. The speed metal elements, especially from the drummer can totally distract you but then you suddenly hear the guitar solo that’s going on simultaneously. It shouldn’t work, but it really, really does. I usually like to nominate a standout track or two but in all honestly this was such a tight set choosing one track is an impossible task. If I had to choose one song I’d say I was most impressed by Radical Change, which was just brilliant.
After a short break the band returned to the stage demanding a circle pit be opened up in the crowd, and after requesting they go crazy but be safe the band played their final track, Wish You Well. As a massive queue formed to meet the band at the merch stand every face looked happy and as if they’d had a brilliant night. Tremonti will release another new album, Dust, very soon and with any luck there’ll be another tour to support it. If you get the chance make sure you see them.
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