Alter Bridge Pawns & Kings Tour With MammothWVH Spokane, WA 3/25-26/2023

Concert Review:

It has been a long 3 years since Alter Bridge has graced a stage in Myles hometown of Spokane,WA but the long wait finally ended this past weekend with a double header Saturday March 25th & Sunday March 26th, 2023 and they brought the incredible Mammoth with them. The first scheduled date sold out in a matter of days and being this was Myles hometown and it had been so long due to the Covid crisis a second show was added which also sold out by the time the concert date rolled around. Alter Bridge's last show in Spokane was February 27th, 2020 a week before the Covid shut down, I remember the date well as it was my birthday and was looking forward to seeing my classmate perform on stage. I had the opportunity to attend both the Saturday night and Sunday night shows and was looking forward to finally getting to see Mammoth with Wolf Van Halen the son of the guitar king Eddie Van Halen. I was to see MammothWVH in the summer of 2021, August 13th to be exact in Missoula, MT when they were touring with Guns N Roses but a band member ended up with Covid so the band had to sit that show out, needless to say I was disappointed but all that came to an end this past weekend.

Mammoth took the stage right on time at 7:30 Saturday night, Wolf Van Halen pulled out his pink guitar and commented to the audience oabout the color and said he thought it was cool. The Infamous Pink Guitar

The Sunday night show after staying a night at the Northern Quest Casino Wolf mentioned how he enjoyed the craps table the first night but by the second day not so much. I'm thinking he may have started losing at the game lol. Wolf also mentioned how nice it was to be in Myles hometown and that Spokane was like one big family. Mammoth played most of the tunes from their first album and they just announced the release of their second album and they played their single, "The End of The World, great song by the way. When Mammoth played the song, "Distance" which was dedicated to his late father Eddie Van Halen, I couldn't help but get a little choked up. The song is about loss which most if us can relate to. The song was written before Eddie's passing and Wolf played it for Eddie himself and it has been said he got choked up. Wolf and his band are doing great Eddie would be a proud papa.

I was fortunate enough to run into Mammoth's band on my way out of the casino Sunday night as they were heading out of town by 12:30 Sunday night after the show and onward to Aneheim, CA for their show Monday night. I got a photo and a few other shy fans got the opportunity for a photo after my intervention as they walked through the casino. I think they maybe trying to stay incognito? By this time the casino had emptied and it was much easier not to be noticed except for a keen eye like mine lol.

MAMMOTH WVH's touring lineup features Wolfgang on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Sidoris (SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS) on guitar, Jon Jourdan on guitar and vocals, Garrett Whitlock (TREMONTI) on drums, and Ronnie Ficarro on bass. MammothWVH Set List: 1. Mammoth, 2. Mr. Ed, 3. Epiphany, 4. Stone, 5. Distance, 6. Another Celebration of The End of The World, 7. You're To Blame, 8. Don't Back Down. Alter Bridge Sunday Night Set List:

Myles Saturday Night Set List

Alter Bridge changed up their set list a little on Sunday night and played the song "Coeur d'Alene" a tune about living in the Northwest. The band had not done the song in a long time and Myles joked he hoped he wouldn't mess it up. Myles gave a shout out to GA a local radio host for helping him get his start and making his dreams possible.

Both Saturday and Sunday night Myles pulled out a guitar that had never been played until the first Spokane show. Myles continued to play "Beautiful Life" and "Watch Over You" then he signed the guitar joking that it would de-value the guitar by $100 then the rest of the band put their John Henry on the instrument while on stage Sunday night.

The guitar is currently up for auction on the Alter Bridge website until the end of today Monday March 27, 2023. All proceeds of the auction go to the "Future Song Foundation" a foundation Myles created to help under privileged kids afford musical instruments and get passionate about music as music helped shape Myles life. You better hurry you could own piece of music history.

Myles and Mark Tremonti take the stage to do an acoustic version of "In Loving Memory" a song Mark had written after the passing of his mother. The song has great meaning to me as I sang and dedicated it to my brother after his passing in 2017. With "In Loving Memory" by Alter Bridge & "Distance" by MammothWVH it was like having your loved ones there at the concert with you.

Tonight March 27th the tour heads to CA to The House of Blues in Aneheim, the Alter Bridge & MammothWVH tour will then go onto Tempe, AZ, Reno, NV and wrap up on April Fools Day in Highland, CA. Alter Bridge will have about a month off from touring before the tour continues in May. Check the schedule to see if they will be coming to your city you really don't want to miss out this is a must see concert you will be glad you went.

Members of Alter Bridge include Myles Kennedy/vocal/guitar, Mark Tremonti/vocals/lead guitars Brian Marshall/bass, & Scott Phillips/drums. Remember you can't download a live concert experience so grab your stubs, make your own memories and live the dream. Full set lists below.