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“Up to that point, it was the biggest headlining show we’d ever done,” Mark Tremonti says about Alter Bridge’s performance at London’s O2 Arena on November 24,“Up to that point, it was the biggest headlining show we’d ever done,” Mark Tremonti says about Alter Bridge’s performance at London’s O2 Arena on November 24, 2016.
That gig, which the guitarist estimates to have taken place in front of roughly 15,000 fans, can now be heard in full on the recently released Live at the O2 Arena + Rarities.
The three-CD package features the evening’s set list spread across two discs, as well as a third disc of rare cuts that includes two previously unreleased tracks—“Solace” and “Cruel Sun”—from the sessions for Alter Bridge’s 2004 debut, One Day Remains. “I’ve always loved those two songs,” Tremonti says, “and I’ve been saying for years we should put them out. It just never came to fruition until now.”
But while the Rarities disc unearths some interesting deep cuts, the meat of the new release is the spectacular live set, which encompasses everything from defining Alter Bridge hits like “Open Your Eyes” and “Isolation,” to fan favorites like “Metalingus” and “Blackbird,” to recent tracks like “Show Me a Leader” and “The Writing on the Wall.” As for why the band decided to release the entire show on CD? “We always want to capture those key moments, when we hit those new benchmarks,” Tremonti says.
But, he also admits, playing those benchmark shows can be stressful.
“We were hyper-focused, because we knew we were recording and that it was going to live on for a lifetime and become part of our legacy,” he says. “So you want to make sure you don’t play too stiff, you know? You want to have a good time.” Tremonti laughs. “Then again, you don’t want to play too loose and have too good of a time, either.”
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