Alter Bridge and Sevendust @ The Signal in Chattanooga

Hard rock isn't back, we finally noticed that it never left

This style of music was never for critics. For nearly 30 years, the tastemakers and arbiters of good taste have sneered at anyone who would dare to non-ironically enjoy hard rock or nu-metal. And for 30 years, critics have lost that battle. 

Standing in the back of The Signal’s new location, I saw the utter defeat of indie rock journalists in the makeup of the crowd. It would have been one thing to see a crowd of people over 50; people who grew up on hair metal and transitioned into an unabashed love of groups like Creed, Bush and Nickelback. Though those people dotted the crowd, most of the people in the concrete-floored ballroom looked like me — dancing on either edge of 30 — the children of who you would expect to actually see at this show.

All this points to one undeniable fact, nu-metal (and all its adjacent genres) is back. And it’s not because Sevendust is playing in Chattanooga. It’s because Sevendust is playing Chattanooga one day after appearing at Sick New World, a festival dedicated to the unironic, passionate love of this music. 

If Sevendust had any jetlag after arriving in Atlanta this morning, then driving two-and-a-half hours up to Chattanooga, it didn’t show. When I walked in during the opening song, “Face to Face'' it was loud enough that I had to play charades to grab my ticket from will call. And while loudness isn’t indicative of quality it is indicative of enthusiasm. 

The crowd fed of that enthusiasm and came back for seconds. The return trip was where Sevendust made their hay. 

Sevendust, as a band, has been around for 29 years. With the exception of a three-year exit from lead guitarist Clint Lowery, and Lowery replacing the original guitarist only a year after the band formed, they have remained the same group. 

So much of being interested in music hinges on finding the new thing. It’s uncommon for an artist to stay in the spotlight past their fourth or fifth album, even if the band continues to put out new material. Tonight’s show proved that obsession with freshness to be a mistake.

It turns out that when you’ve been a band for nearly thirty years, you get pretty damn good at performing. In short, Sevendust was extremely tight. Every band member flaunted their excellence at one point or another, and the spotlight managed to stay on the right member throughout the night. 

This self-knowledge exploded through in the setlist, which included their new single, but heavily leaned on older material, with 80% of the setlist coming from their first four albums. They leaned especially hard on my favorite album Animosity, which contributed three songs to their ten song setlist.

Their focus on the classics had an unexpected benefit, it fixed the problems with the songs. While Animosity is among my favorite nu-metal albums, it commits a grave sin in the mixing and mastering by burying lead singer Lajon Witherspoon’s singular voice. In a live setting, they get the best of both worlds by centering Witherspoon (who is, for my money, the best singer in the genre) while refusing to compromise the hefty, rhythm driven sound that made them stand out from their early peers.

It’s been said, by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback no less, that you never want Sevendust to open for you. That’s high praise coming from Kroeger, who, regardless of your opinion of Nickelback, puts on one hell of a show. Having finally seen Sevendust live, I see where he was coming from. 

For the first few songs of Alter Bridge’s set, I was concerned that Kroeger’s statements would bear fruit. After the roaring, punchy, bass-driven set of Sevendust. The comparatively low key, melody-leaning sound of Alter Bridge struggled to captivate the audience. They were further undercut by the departure of 20% of the crowd, who clearly attended for Sevendust.

But when you’ve been a band for 20 years, and a professional musician for more than 30, you know how to save a gig. 

In a moment where the right move appeared to be “go harder” Alter Bridge took it soft. Knowing that they aren’t designed to be as heavy as Sevendust, they deployed back to back acoustic performances of “Watch Over You” and “In Loving Memory.” The slower, softer songs highlighted the special qualities of Kennedy’s soaring voice, which along with Tremonti’s guitar work, has always been one of the band’s most compelling elements.

With the crowd won over, and our memories of Sevendust’s set growing ever farther away, they pulled the rug out from under us in the best way possible. After “In Loving Memory” they shot into a furious rendition of “Blackbird.” At this moment, everything swung their way. 

The crowd sparked to life as Kennedy reached out the microphone for us to participate. We absolutely nailed it. The ear to ear grin on Kennedy’s face was all the affirmation we needed. From that moment on there was no doubt that Alter Bridge was the highlight of the evening. And they closed out in killer fashion with their first album’s standout track “Metalingus” before coming back for a two song encore.

For many of us, this was the music of our parents. For me, it was what dad and his friends played in the car, what I heard at car shows, what blared over the loudspeakers at drag races.

Tonight it was more than a nostalgia trip. Tonight proved that this music has legs, long ones. Regardless of what we were told to think by music magazines, these bands are still here, and they’re putting on some of the best performances of their life. They’re right in the pocket of being experienced enough to be excellent, and young enough to keep doing it. If there’s even an atom of you that says “I wonder what that hard rock band I loved as a kid is getting up to” look them up. If they’re touring, go to the show you can. I promise you won’t regret it.