After a day of trains to get to Nottingham, show day dawned warm and sunny.

One Alter Bridge show of the tour was never going to be enough for me so I had travelled south to catch the final show of the current What Lies Within tour at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.

Yes, I did the whole VIP Meet and Greet Soundcheck experience again. Life’s too short not to.

So, skipping forward a few hours and many “AB family” reunions later, at 5.45pm the VIPS were granted their early entry to the arena and a rail spot for the night (between Myles and Brian) was duly secured.  Happy days!

I was excited to see Sevendust open the show. They had been so good in Glasgow at the start of the week.  At 6.55pm their Carpenters’ intro played and the boys from Atlanta, GA, stepped out on stage suitably dressed for the evening. With the exception of drummer Morgan Rose, they were all wearing Alter Bridge tees. Brilliant nod of thanks to their tour hosts and friends.

Sevendust opened their final support slot of the tour with Black. The Nottingham fans were quick to show their love for these guys.

Black- Sevendust (set opener) @, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 05/03/26

Sticking to the formula, this was followed by the mighty Denial.

Is This the Real You is a new song from Sevendust’s forthcoming album and they were joined for it by their friend and manager Mr Tim Tournier on guitar. Tim was a very popular addition to the line up among the Alter Bridge fans. (For those who don’t know, Tim is Alter Bridge’s manager and Myles’ manager and he also plays bass for Myles’ solo project too.)

Is This the Real You – Sevendust @ Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 05/03/26

My favourite song of their all too short set was Crucified. Awesome song.

By the time Sevendust rounded their set out with Face to Face, the energy levels in the room were sky high.

Awesome but way too short set.

At 7.45pm the lights dimmed and Daughtry stepped out for their hour-long – too long- set. Sorry, here I am going to apply my Thumper Principle. I know we were standing in an ice hockey arena, but these guys leave me cold. Same as in Glasgow a few nights earlier, the energy levels plummeted… oh, if only Sevendust had been afforded the hour-long slot…

Moving swiftly on!

At 9.10pm the lights dimmed and it was finally time for Nottingham to welcome Alter Bridge to the stage for the final show of the tour.

As before Alter Bridge kicked things off with Silent Divide from their current self-titled album (awesome album) and swiftly followed on with the anthemic Addicted Pain before rounding out the opening trio with the soaring splendour of Cry of Achilles that also earned guitar tech, Dave, his first cheers of the night.

Cry of Achilles – Alter Bridge @ Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 05/03/26

It was great to see the guys enjoying the “end of term” party as much as the fans and all of them seemed just that little bit more relaxed than earlier in the week.

Having benefited from the soundcheck insight a few hours earlier, it was no surprise when a couple of songs later, Alter Bridge played Fortress. The title track from their 2013 album sounded fresh and epic and was definitely one of the high points in the set for me personally.

Something that is always refreshing when watching Alter Bridge play is that there are no egos on that stage, That shone through perfectly when Myles commented that he was going to step back and play some guitar and let Mark Tremonti take the vocal spotlight on the stunning Burn it Down from their debut album One Day Remains.

A couple of songs deeper in the set, Tested and Able from the current album saw Myles and Mark sharing the vocal chores.

I just love the chemistry that shared among all four members of the band. It is definitely something that every fan in the room feeds from.

One of my personal favourites followed a couple of songs later- the beautiful Ghost of Days Gone by from AB III. I love this song and was so pleased to hear it back in the set for the night.

Ghost of Days Gone By – Alter Bridge @ Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 05/03/26

The acoustic interlude in the set followed. Always a poignant and emotional moment of the night. Myles treated us to a snatch of the uber emotional Wonderful Life before segueing seamlessly into Watch Over You. Simply beautiful. Barely a dry eye in the room.

Wonderful Life (snippet) & Watch Over You – Alter Bridge @ Motorpoint Arena Nottingham 05/03/26

This show was flying by way too fast.

Silver Tongue from Pawns & Kings followed before it was time for the mighty Metalingus. Scott Phillips drum solo kick started the final song of the main body of the set. When it reached the appropriate moment in this iconic song, Myles barely had to signal to the fans to crouch down. Everyone was already on the way down. He declared Nottingham to be the tour winners as the majority of the fans standing in the arena had done as they were asked. And boy did he hold us down there! My knees were still feeling it from Monday night’s “Metalingus Mosh” in Glasgow! Awesomeness!

Some fans who hadn’t already caught a show during the current tour may have been starting to fret at little by this point. Where was Blackbird? Fear not! After a few brief moments off stage, the boys returned for a two-song encore that opened with the much-loved Blackbird. Such an incredible song and it’s a joy to see Myles and Mark lost in the sonic landscape of it during their respective solos. Another emotional moment with several tear-streaked faces around me in the crowd.

Before the final song of the night and of the tour, Myles paused to thank everyone – support bands, crew etc and his guitar tech, Dave. Cue an unprompted chant of “Raise for Dave” that the whole room picked up on. Seeing Myles’s losing it laughing at that was priceless. (Tim, take note, Give the guy a raise.)

Isolation had the honour of being the final song of the night but the shenanigans weren’t over. As the song drew to a close, Scott Phillips personal “isolation” came to a crashing end as he playfully shoved over the Perspex screens he had been trapped behind for weeks. Flip was finally free!

Awesome spontaneous moment to end an amazing show.

Thank you to the band and everyone involved. Special thanks to Mike for taking care of everyone too.

Safe journey home, folks. Til next time.