When Skillet and Alter Bridge announced a co-headlining tour in June, the Alamo City was on the docket to receive a power-packed duo. Both bands have played the Fiesta Oyster Bake (with Skillet headlining it in 2017; coverage here). Both have made their mark over the years on the rock charts. And both know how to deliver the goods on stage.
Armed with a band headed in the same direction in its own right, Dirty Honey, the Victorious Sky tour made its way to the Vibes Event Center parking lot last Saturday night. Named as such as a combination of album titles for Skillet’s 10th release Victorious that dropped Aug. 2 and Alter Bridge’s Walk the Sky that came out the day before the show, each artist played 75 minutes with Skillet going on last. The length of time proved to be the only aspect that linked both bands as co-headliners.
Not used to playing as early as 7:50-9 p.m., Alter Bridge put on a methodical (for them) performance. They had lighting that was more befitting of an opening act than a band of their stature, zero production and played with less energy and fire than these eyes and ears are accustomed to seeing and hearing from them. Walk the Sky is not nearly as strong an album top to bottom as predecessor The Last Hero, starting with opening track “Wouldn’t You Rather.” That was one of three songs performed from the new album (setlist and 88-photo slideshow below), though Alter Bridge’s energy did pick up on older tracks “Come to Life,” “Metalingus” and “Rise Today.”
While supporting an album that was only 24 hours old in the public eye, vocalist/guitarist Myles Kennedy, guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips left tracks from The Last Hero off the menu. Had they gone on last or been the true headliner, that likely would not have been the case.
By contrast, Skillet came out blazing, had its full use of production and lit up the night’s victorious sky with bright lights and its patented risers utilized by rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Korey Cooper, lead guitarist Seth Morrison and unofficial fifth member, cellist Jonathan Chu. But it was singer/bassist John Cooper who made the biggest impression.
John Cooper, spouse of Korey, was a man possessed from the get-go, headbanging and powerfully singing on opener “Feel Invincible.” Cooper’s mojo never let up as he donned a smoke-blowing contraption on new track “You Ain’t Ready.” He gave his patented description of Texas having way better Mexican food than California, saying the latter “pretends” to have a good palate while jokingly asking the crowd not to put his comments on YouTube. He also waxed poetic, as is his custom, about the Lone Star being his favorite state to play but this time left his impression of former Britny Fox vocalist “Dizzy” Dean Davidson screeching “Fun in Texas” at home. Or maybe on the tour bus.
Even when Cooper mellowed for just a bit, he did so with passion. Cooper dedicated the title track to Victorious to the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, saying in part: “He wasn’t a friend. I never met him, unfortunately. But that’s what his music and lyrics did for me. So I’d like to dedicate this song to Chester and to anyone struggling with depression and suicide.”
With Korey Cooper demonstrating her own spark and energy on guitar and keys, drummer Jen Ledger, who is embarking on a solo side project, also made her mark behind the kit and with her backup vocals as Skillet shined on “Hero,” “Undefeated” and crowd favorite “Monster.” Another new track, “Legendary,” is currently lighting up the WWE Universe as the theme song to World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Monday Night Raw.”
Skillet’s energetic performance, however, was missed by a quarter to one-third of the amount of people who came strictly to see Alter Bridge, according to two sources. The downsizing proved to be the loss of those who left early and didn’t get their full money’s worth. But that didn’t include the train conductors.
That’s right. Train conductors.
The Vibes parking lot sits adjacent to railroad tracks, an all-too-familiar fact for Kennedy, who tried to joke about it during Alter Bridge’s set. After giving props to Dirty Honey and the actual headliners, Kennedy said, “Speaking of friends . . . was anyone here the last time we played here? I think we were doing a sensitive ballad or something. Woo hoo . . . honk, honk,” he said of the trains’ frequent presence. “Anyways, it’s back. Great,” he added sarcastically. Perhaps unbeknownst to Alter Bridge, this concert came five years and one day to the day of Kennedy’s referenced Fall Ball festival, which he discussed exclusively with me in November 2017 here. Drummer Scott Phillips also engaged ATM in conversation shortly after the 2016 Houston Open Air (listen here).
John Cooper got into the railway act as well when he told fans, “I’ve never played a concert with a train going by. My ADD is kicking in. All I can think about is songs with ‘train’ in them.” He then began to sing Blackfoot’s “Train, Train,” which was also covered by Warrant on its Cherry Pie album, before asking, “You remember that one? No? Oh well.”
Not to be outdone was Los Angeles blues quartet Dirty Honey. Armed with the task of warming things up for Skillet and Alter Bridge, Dirty Honey didn’t lack for bravado or confidence on stage. And with good reason.
Dirty Honey is the first band in the history of mainstream rock charts to have a No. 1 song — “When I’m Gone” — without being signed to a label. They already had familiarity with Kennedy, having opened for Slash, as well as supporting some band called The Who plus Guns N’Roses on the final two dates of the “Not In This Lifetime Tour” in Las Vegas.
For those locally who debated whether Alter Bridge should’ve been the true headliner, the bottom line was that you couldn’t go wrong with either band. Skillet has four consecutive albums that have reached gold or platinum-plus status, no small feat in this day and age. Alter Bridge’s resume speaks for itself, with Kennedy holding down the fort as the frontman for Slash while Tremonti leads his own Tremonti Project — not to mention the Creed trifecta of Tremonti, Phillips and Marshall. But yes, it would’ve been nice if both groups had equal headlining characteristics and gave performances worthy of such rather than simply sharing the amount of time they were on stage.
But again, Alter Bridge was playing one day after its new album dropped. This was Skillet’s time. You can bet your bottom dollar, or at least your train train, that AB will be back before the touring cycle is done. And hopefully then, media video footage will be allowed to present to you all.
SKILLET SETLIST: Feel Invincible, Not Gonna Die, You Ain’t Ready, Whispers in the Dark, Legendary, Awake & Alive, Back From the Dead, Save Me, Hero, Undefeated, Victorious, Comatose, Monster, The Resistance
ALTER BRIDGE SETLIST: Wouldn’t You Rather, Isolation, Come to Life, Pay No Mind, Rise Today, Addicted to Pain, Waters Rising, Take the Crown, Cry of Achilles, Blackbird, Metalingus, Open Your Eyes
