Alter Bridge Bring The Noise With Their Epic "What Lies Within Tour", At The AO Arena
- Michael Bond
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
AO Arena Manchester - 26th February 2026
WORDS / IMAGES MICHAEL BOND
A bitter wind cuts across Victoria Station, but inside Manchester’s AO Arena the atmosphere is anything but cold, with an ever-growing hum of anticipation spreading across the venue. Tonight’s lineup reads like a love letter to 21st-century American hard rock, with Sevendust, Daughtry and, Alter Bridge sitting at this evening’s summit.
By the time the house lights drop, the 20,000-strong crowd are ready to go. Sevendust approach the stage like men on a mission and from the first down-tuned riff, their set feels muscular and urgent, with a sound that’s thick enough to lean on. Lajon Witherspoon commands the vast room with preacher-like intensity, urging the crowd to get involved early.
There is something timeless about Sevendust’s blend of groove metal and melodic lift. The riffs land with force, while the choruses elevate the performance out of the heaviness, as Witherspoon’s voice soars above the grind. Landing soulfully yet serrated, while Morgan Rose drives everything forward with tireless energy.
In an arena this size, subtlety can sometimes be lost, but Sevendust clearly understand this. Pulling back just enough to let refrains breathe, before slamming back in with renewed ferocity. By the end of their set, they have achieved the essential goal of any great support act, converting the uninitiated and leaving the faithful wanting more.
After Sevendust brought the grit, Daughtry bring an altogether more uplifting sound. As Chris Daughtry steps into the spotlight, the atmosphere shifts. The lighting cools to deep blues and purples, and the tone becomes expansive and cinematic.
Daughtry’s voice is the anchor to the whole set, rich, resonant, and controlled, while carrying an emotional clarity. The crowd quickly pick up on this as they begin to sing back choruses, turning the arena into a vast, echoing choir. Even those here primarily for the headliners begin to find themselves swept up in the vocals and hooks.
The band balance polish with punch. Shifting from shimmering guitars before transitioning into heavier more driving sections, ensuring they never feel lightweight in this arena setting. A power ballad prompts a galaxy of phone torches across the arena’s tiers, while offering a moment of vulnerability. This is short lived though, as the more driving numbers reignite the crowd on the floor.
There is an easy rapport between Daughtry and the Manchester audience. His gratitude feels genuine and his smile constant. By the time the band leave the stage, the crowd are warmed both physically and emotionally, primed and ready for something grander still.
As Alter Bridge finally emerge onto the stage, the reaction borders on thunderous. With the opening bars of “Silent Divide” slicing through the darkness, the arena is suddenly unified. From the outset, the band sound colossal, with every instrument brimming with power and each member ready to shake the foundations.
What immediately strikes me, is how effortlessly the band balance muscle and melody. “Addicted to Pain” and “Metalingus” land like waves crashing against rocks, with their riffs triggering mass movement across the floor, as the pit pulses and the upper tiers bounce. Yet amid the chaos, Myles Kennedy’s voice remains pristine, climbing into those stratospheric notes he is known for, with astonishing clarity.
Mark Tremonti stalks the stage with a quiet intensity, playing both ferociously and with a level of preciseness that is mind blowing. His solos are delivered not as flashy interludes but as narrative arcs, each note deliberate, each bend heavy with feeling. The chemistry between Tremonti and Kennedy is magnetic, especially when they lock into harmonised vocals that soar above the rhythm section’s granite foundation.
The newer material, including “Silent Divide” and “Silver Tongue”, sits seamlessly alongside their more established anthems. As the set progresses, there is no dip in energy; if anything, the new material injects a sharp immediacy into the set. Meanwhile, songs like “Cry of Achilles” and “Fortress” showcase the band’s progressive leanings, as sprawling arrangements unfold with precision and confidence.
There are some more vulnerable moments in the evenings set too. As “Broken Wings” helps transform the arena into something approaching communal therapy, as thousands of voices sing together in unison. During “Watch Over You”, the emotional weight across the crowd is palpable. As strangers sway together; eyes closed, bathing in the song’s lyrics.
Alter Bridge understand pacing instinctively, knowing when to let a chorus breathe and when to drive a riff hard into your gut. “Rise Today” becomes a rallying cry for the evening, as “Isolation” closes the main set in a surge of tightly wound aggression, a final blast of adrenaline before the band leave the stage.
As the band re-emerge, the encore is both inevitable and unforgettable. “Blackbird” unfolds with hushed tones, as Kennedy’s vocals carry an almost sacred stillness across the vast room. Then the song builds with Tremonti’s solo igniting the entire space. “Isolation” brings the night to a crashing close, with driving rhythm shredding guitars and pristine vocals. By the time the band take their bows, arms around one another, the sense of shared experience is overwhelming.
On a winter evening in Manchester, inside the vast concrete bowl of the AO Arena, Alter Bridge have built something monumental tonight, a cathedral of distortion and melody, with 20,000 people singing at its altar.
SET LIST
1. Silent Divide
2. Addicted to Pain
3. Cry of Achilles
4. Playing Aces
5. Fortress
6. Burn It Down
7. Open Your Eyes
8. Tested and Able
9. Broken Wings
10. Watch Over You
11. Silver Tongue
12. Rise Today
13. Metalingus
ENCORE
14. Blackbird
15. Isolation
FOLLOW ALTER STATE
Comments