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Never underestimate the power of a singalong song. Rock quartet Alter Bridgeâs concerts are full of the heavy riffs, power chords and intricate musicianship you would expect from one of Americaâs premiere hard rock quartets. But the band has come to appreciate the power of a song it can sing with the audience. Â
Alter Bridgeâs Nov. 9Â show in Luxembourg started with a pummeling, four-song introduction: âSilver Tongueâ from the bandâs new album, Pawns & Kings, âAddicted to Painâ from 2013âs Fortress, âBefore Tomorrow Comesâ from 2007âs Blackbird and another new track, âThis is War.â Â
âYou hit them hard for four songs,â guitarist Mark Tremonti tells Billboardâs Behind the Setlist podcast. âAnd then, if they need to take a breath, youâve got to have some dynamics.â In Luxembourg, and at other stops on the bandâs European tour, that moment was the song âBroken Wings,â from the bandâs 2004 debut One Day Remains. Â
âFans always sing along to âBroken Wingsâ,â says Tremonti, who co-founded Alter Bridge in 2004 after the breakup of band that first took him to stardom, Creed. âI think [a sing-along is] the most powerful thing in a set. You could play heavy, complex songs, but if a fan doesnât sing along to it or get into it, itâs not going to have as much impact. âBroken Wingsâ is an easy song to play but as a huge impact because people are so familiar with it [that] they sing along to.âÂ
Bandmate and Alter Bridge co-founder Myles Kennedy agrees. âThereâs something to be said about hearing those choruses sang back to you,â says Kennedy, also known for his work with Guns Nâ Roses guitarist Slash. âAnd itâs powerful. It really feels like thereâs a connection.âÂ
The end of a concert is a good time for a singalong, too. Says Tremonto Recently, the bandâs encores have featured âSlip to the Void,â the lead-off track from 2010 and âOpen Your Eyesâ from One Day Remains. âSometimes when you play heavier songs, thereâs kind of a border between you and your fans,â says Tremonti. âThereâs you doing the songs and thereâs the fans listening. But when you play these singalong songs, youâre all kind of one in the room. I think thatâs the way you want to leave the concert: you want to get that that personal touch back. And when we play âOpen Your Eyes,â thereâs the bridge section that really breaks down. Myles would pause as long as he wants to get the crowd to anticipate whatâs coming, and then they all sing along and itâs a âweâre all one nowâ kind of a thing before the concert is over. I think thatâs important.âÂ
Alter Bridgeâs European tour wraps up at Londonâs O2 Arena on Dec. 12. A U.S. tour begins on Jan. 25 in Orlando, Fla., and continues to Upland, Calif., on April 1. Â
Listen to the entire interview with Tremonti and Kennedy at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeart, Amazon Music, Audible, Google Podcasts or the embedded player below.
Adele made her long-awaited Las Vegas residency debut over the weekend, and Katie & Keith â the co-hosts of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast â were lucky enough to be in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace for Fridayâs night 1 of Weekends With Adele.
On the latest episode of the podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith talk all about our experience inside the intimate concert and discuss the purposeful production choices and sweeping vocal performances that made the residency more than worth the wait.
But wait, thereâs more! The Pop Shop duo then flew back to Los Angeles to attend Elton Johnâs second-to-last U.S. tour stop at Dodger Stadium, and the new podcast takes listeners inside that monumental concert as well.
Listen below:
Also on the show, weâve got chart news on how Taylor Swift reigns supreme on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 yet again with Midnights and âAnti-Hero,â respectively, how David Guetta and Bebe Rexha hit the top 10 on the Hot 100 with âIâm Good (Blue),â how Louis Tomlinson scores his highest-charting album yet on the Billboard 200 with the top five debut of Faith in the Future, and how Bruce Springsteen and Nas rack up new top 10 albums on the chart.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboardâs weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboardâs executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboardâs senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
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Billboard News stepped into Diddyâs home and sat down with the legendary artist to discuss his single âGotta Move Onâ with Bryson Tiller reaching No. 1 on Billboardâs Adult R&B Airplay chart. Plus, Taylor Swiftâs âAnti-Heroâ tops the Hot 100 once again.
The Pitch Perfect spin-off series Bumper in Berlin is just days away from its Peacock premiere on Wednesday (Nov. 23), and to celebrate, the cast of the comedy musical show joined Billboard for an exclusive photo shoot.
Adam Devine (Bumper himself) along with co-stars Sarah Hyland, Jameela Jamil and Lera Abova and executive producer Elizabeth Banks all posed for sleek individual photos and sweet group snaps.
In the upcoming series, which will be unveiled on NBCâs streaming service just in time to binge-watch on Thanksgiving, Devine reprises his role as Bumper Allen, the former leader of the Treblemakers. He gets a call from Pieter from Pitch Perfect 2âs Das Sound Machine (played again by Flula Borg) inviting him to come to Germany to launch his music career after a video of his went viral on the Internet. Devine then reunites with his Modern Family co-star Hyland, who plays his assistant. Abova plays Pieterâs sister, a DJ named Lina, while Jamil is the extravagant German pop star Giselle.
âWe wanted to honor The Barden Bellas and the Pitch Perfect world, while expanding into a fresh and brilliantly weird character journey,â Banks previously shared of the series in a press statement. âThis story is about second chances, friendship, and the idea that your dreams can come true in unexpected ways â anywhere in the world, at any point in your life.â
Check out our full gallery of Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin exclusive cast photos below, and stay tuned for our full Billboard News interview with the group going live on Billboard.com and Billboardâs YouTube channel soon.
Adele made her triumphant debut in Las Vegas over the weekend, performing the first two shows of her Weekends With Adele residency at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace on Friday and Saturday nights. Billboard was inside for night 1 on Friday (read our full review here), so we thought it was only fair to bring you inside too with photos from the concert.
In the pictures below, Adele stuns in her weekend 1 look: a black-velvet off-the-shoulder gown with a drop-waist sash designed by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli Haute Couture. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the superstarâs stylist, Jamie Mizrahi, revealed that sheâll wear a different black gown every weekend of the residency, which goes through March. âWeâre open to embellishment and accents of color, but everything will be a black gown to the floor â except special shows, like New Yearâs Eve,â Mizrahi told WSJ. (Adele just added a pair of New Yearâs Eve weekend shows to her lineup on Sunday.)
The photos capture a few of the biggest moments from the concert, including the jaw-dropping production for âSet Fire to the Rain,â which features rain pouring down across the stage as a white grand piano becomes engulfed in flames. You can also see some of the emotional showâs comic relief, like when Adele fires autographed T-shirts into the crowd â complete with a handwritten note and a $50 bill â from her stadium-worthy T-shirt gun. And you can also see Adele sauntering through the crowd, as she asks fans for their favorite moments from their childhood and then performs her nostalgic 25 single âWhen We Were Young.â
Check out all the photos below, and for more from Weekends With Adele, find her best one-liners and banter from night 1 here.
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