Columnist Spencer Patterson: Evolving Alter Bridge is filling in the gaps

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 9:55 a.m.

When I spoke with Alter Bridge drummer Scott Phillips in late August, his band was just hours away from kicking off rehearsals for its first tour.

The quartet had yet to determine how they intended to fill out a full live set, given their entire catalog stood at one 11-track album.

"We're gonna do the whole album, for sure, and we've got four other songs that we recorded but didn't use, so some of those might make it," Phillips said in a phone interview from his home in Orlando, Fla.

"And we've talked about doing some cover songs, maybe some ABBA," he added with a chuckle.

Alter Bridge plays the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay tonight. Doors open at 6:30 for the all-ages show, with Crossfade and Submersed scheduled to open the show. Tickets are $23.

However Phillips and his mates do construct tonight's song list, don't look for them to include anything by Creed, the mega-popular band that once featured three of Alter Bridge's four members.

Those songs are as dead as Creed, which officially disbanded in June, according to Phillips.

"We want this band to stand on its own merit," Phillips said. "We're obviously hoping that fans that enjoyed Creed will enjoy this as well, but we don't want to go out and advertise this as being Creed part two, which we don't feel like it is."

The Creed holdovers -- Phillips, guitarist Mark Tremonti and bassist Brian Marshall -- are joined by vocalist Myles Kennedy. The former Mayfield Four frontman steps in for Scott Stapp, who is pursuing a solo career.

In August, Alter Bridge released its debut CD, "One Day Remains." Though Creed comparisons continue to dog the new band, the disc features a somewhat heavier sound than Creed's typically radio-friendly output.

"Towards the end of Creed, the musicianship and even some of the musical creativity sort of fell by the wayside," Phillips said. "It got to be more about the song, and not doing anything that's gonna get in the way of the song."

This time around, Phillips said, the approach was quite different.

"We all stated at the very beginning, 'Everybody do whatever the hell it is you want to do,' " Phillips said. "This is our album and if it's commercially successful, that's awesome, But if it's not, then at least we got to do what we set out to do without any compromise."

Phillips said he learned another important lesson from the Creed experience: don't let business concerns overshadow the music.

"I think everybody kind of lost sight of the music, and business became more of a factor," Phillips said. "When that becomes the main focus, then I think you have to sit back and reevaluate the important things in life and what makes you keep doing the same songs over and over and over again for years on end."

Still, Phillips admits he will miss playing some of those old Creed hits, despite the excitement that comes from starting over.

"We're extremely proud of those songs, and there definitely will be some that'll be strange not playing," Phillips said. "But I'm looking forward to not just relying on the way we used to play old songs and the way the crowd would react to old songs.

"It's nice to go into the unexpected world and have new anticipations of how you're going to be received."

Music notes

Signed, sealed & delivered: Stevie Wonder will be honored with a Century Award at the "2004 Billboard Music Awards," scheduled to take place Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Previous Century Award winners: George Harrison, Buddy Guy, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Carlos Santana, Chet Atkins, James Taylor, Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, John Mellencamp, Annie Lennox and Sting.

Scheduled to perform at the event: Usher, Nelly, Evanescence, Green Day and Gwen Stefani.

Tickets are $50-$175 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 and at www.ticketmaster.com.

Scary stuff: Metal bands Lamb of God -- formerly known as Burn the Priest -- and Fear Factory co-headline a Halloween show Sunday night at the House of Blues.

Also on the bill: Children of Bodom and Throwdown. Tickets are $20 in advance, $22.50 at the door.

On the lighter side, local rock band the Higher anchors a Halloween show at Gameworks, just north of the MGM Grand on the Strip. Also slated to perform: Victorville, Calif., outfit Lorene Drive, San Diego's Lance's Hero and locals Rich Tradition.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8.

Quick hits

A look at a few of the other shows scheduled to hit Southern Nevada in the next week:

Death Cab For Cutie and Pretty Girls Make Graves, two indie-rock bands on always reliable label Matador Records, team for a Tuesday night show at the House of Blues. Doors open at 7. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 the day of the event.

Dance-punksters Q and Not U headline a promising bill at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Jillian's (450 Fremont Street) with support from experimental rock outfits Erase Errata and El Guapo. Tickets are $10.

Rapper Method Man performs at the House of Blues at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. The sometime Wu-Tang Clan member released his first solo album in six years, "Tical 0: The Prequel," in May.

Opening the 21-and-over show: Verbal Ase and JusSoul. Tickets are $25-$35.