Alter Bridge and Pawns & Kings: the band that outgrew Creed

On 28 November 2022 Alter Bridge played Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna on their Pawns & Kings tour. The bill was stacked: Halestorm as special guests and Mammoth WVH opening the night. The Alter Bridge gallery has photos from the headline set.

Out of Creed's shadow

Alter Bridge formed in Orlando, Florida, in 2004, when guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips, three members of Creed, teamed up with singer and guitarist Myles Kennedy. Creed had been one of the biggest rock bands in America at the turn of the millennium, and many expected the new band to be a footnote.

Instead, Alter Bridge built their own audience, especially in Europe and the UK, with heavier, more ambitious songs and two guitarists who trade solos like few bands do today. Kennedy's voice, with its huge range, became the band's signature, and he also found fame as the singer in Slash's solo band.

Pawns & Kings

The tour followed Pawns & Kings, the band's seventh studio album, released in October 2022. It is one of their heaviest and most progressive records, with long songs, riffs that shift time signatures and a title track that closes the album in epic fashion.

A European tour on a big scale

The European leg covered 25 cities in 18 countries, running from Hamburg on 1 November to London on 12 December 2022. Vienna came late in the run, when the band and their guests were fully warmed up.

Why Europe loves them

In the United States Alter Bridge are often still introduced as "the guys from Creed". In Europe they are simply one of the great arena rock bands, and their shows here sell far bigger rooms than at home. The Vienna crowd knew every word.

See the Alter Bridge photos and the support acts in the Halestorm and Mammoth WVH galleries.