Alterbridge - Vision Group Archives

KAWA
IT’S
SUNDAY
VISION,
IT’S
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Sunday May 30, 2010
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Rock n’ Roll review
MILDRED APENYO
A
LTERBRIDGE is my all-time favourite
band and no music outfit or compilation can evoke the kind of obsession
that I’ve cultivated for these Floridians. Never
has anything so incredible emerged from the
sad occurrence that is the splitting of a great
band, but when Creed fell apart in 2004 citing differences with lead singer Scott Stapp,
Myles Kennedy from Mayfield Four took over
and this alternative metal band was born.
Alterbridge kicks the collective backsides of
all rock musicians and this bold declaration
is nothing a single listen to their discography
won’t justify. With only two albums, One Day
Remains (2004) and BlackBird (2007), they’ve
created a fanbase so vast and diverse that if
one has no idea who they are, one ought to
be shamefacedly googling them this very
instant. Alternatively, one can atone for one’s
ignorance by dashing to a computer and typing www.alterbridge.com.
Done it? Good. Is that one hell of a welcome
or what!? Makes you want to run around the
room bellowing “UNFURL YOUR WINGS!”,
doesn’t it? I reloaded the page repeatedly for
a whole afternoon just to hear this badass
welcome clip.
If Rock is music with rocks in, they hurl the
biggest rocks. Myles’ voice is intense and
pitch perfect, and lead guitarist Mark Tremonti’s solos are so hair-raising that if my lie
wouldn’t be so lame, I’d swear that I haven’t
had to hot comb my wiry hair for two years
since I first listened to him. His awesome riffs
put me in mind of a city of exclamation marks
under attack especially in Find The Real, Buried
Alive and Come To Life. These make me alternate between freak fits of giggling, blushing
and tearing. I haven’t the slightest idea why
Mark was so mediocre in Creed, but the talent
he has unleashed makes me have fantasies of
a face-off between him and guitar-god Tom
Morello (Audioslave).
I’m generally fascinated by drummers, but
what Scott Philips does with his sticks is jarring enough to get me desperately searching
for an inhaler that I neither own nor usually
need. Woe unto the maidens of the earth if
his drums are ever to take on human form
because they’ll be heartbreakers with masculine grace and rippling muscles. Metalingus,
WWE superstar Edge’s theme song is one of
his masterpieces.
According to their website, they’re going to
tour Denmark, Switzerland, France, Italy and
Sweden. There’s obviously no mention of our
mostly musically tasteless
country, so those stations,
who want to be called the
main rock n’ roll circulators
should give us all a proper
musical education and
make sponsors take notice
of bands like Alterbridge.
Luke Rhinehart in The
Dice Man says: “Life is
islands of ecstasy in an
ocean of ennui; at best we
wander from one much
worn sandbar to the next.” For me and potentially you, Alterbridge’s music makes a perfect
board to cling to between islands; so before
consuming shameful amounts of ice-cream
and/or intoxicants when gripped by despair,
listen to this band.
In related news, Creed got together in 2009
for a new album titled Full Circle. I found this
out after watching Rain, a video in which a
very snazzy-looking Scott Stapp is performing with his former instrumental team like
he never left. This just pisses me off, because
Alterbridge is, in my opinion, 10 times the
band Creed will ever be and I’m glad to say
that Full Circle has been called mediocre in
all the reviews that I’ve read. Both bands will
co-exist, with Stapp and Myles working on
solo material.
If you have comments about Rock n’ Roll
mail them to Kawa@newvision.co.ug or sms
by typing rnr leave space followed by the
comment and send to 8338
MUK lost to Nazarene
Makerere University was ousted in one of the closest
games on the Zain Africa Challenge this season by
Africa Nazarene 750 — 730 points. Tonight, the battle
progresses to its second semi-final as Kenyan universities
Egerton and Jomo Kenyatta face off to meet Africa
Nazarene, in the finals next Sunday. Nigel Nassar leads
the It’s Kawa panel in deliberations about the game.
Kenneth Bagonza, Lameck Mbangaye and Simon Peter
Lanyero led Makerere University to the semifinals
Q
: How disheartening that loss made
Uganda! And to think it
would have been avoided
only kills me. If only Simon
Peter Lanyero was fast
enough to hit the buzzer!
If only Lameck Mbangaye
had added that “ing” onto
that author’s name! If only
Kenneth Bagonza had
not consistently flunked
the first questions! On the
whole our boys were splendid. But again they were
careless, don’t you think?
Edna: That 20-mark differ-
ence is painful but at least
we put up a great fight.
Nigel, forget the if-onlys and
celebrate the milestone.
We have never been in the
semis before. Do you see the
pattern here? Next year we’ll
go to the finals and bring the
trophy home. Someone send
me a photo of Simon Peter,
Lameck and Kenneth! They
made us proud.
Patricia: Proud our boys did
us but, like Nigel, I can’t help
but wish for the ‘if-onlys’.
They did great but if only
they had put more punch in
the game, especially Simon
Peter. On several occasions
he failed to hit the buzzer or
did so late. We lost because of
carelessness, delayed reaction
that is.
Elisabeth N: I almost wept.
Which is a surprise, since I
predicted a loss for us. Still,
it hurt. It was an interesting
game though.
Esther: I’m surprised by how
easily I want to forgive the
delayed action on the buzzer.
But, really it was a question of
the faster of the two. Certainly
we could have done better,
but let’s now congratulate our
guys for getting that far.
Liz A: I am just relieved I did
not let David take my kasalary, which I’d have handed
over if I had bet that Makerere
was taking this one. I was so
sure we were taking it until
that bespectacled guy got
the ninth answer Nazarene
needed in the Ultimate Challenge. Nevertheless, it was a
brave fight our boys put up.
Just like I feared when I saw
him onto the screen, that
boy Sammy Kitonyi gave us
a bloody nose during the
second round. But our boys
were also upbeat, who impressed you most and why?
Edna: Lameck, as usual,
impressed. He speaks so well
and his Alice-in-Wonderland
intro cannot get out of my
head. Big stage, big bright
lights and Lameck played his
role well. I still like Sammy
even after the bloody nose
though.
Patricia: Am I allowed to
be impressed by someone
non-Ugandan? That Kenyan
girl, I’m not big on names. She
was calm, never panicked for
a single moment, confidently
hitting the buzzer.
Elisabeth: Well played guys.
Esther: I agree. Sammy’s dark
angular face reminded me of
his previous exploits. I tip my
hat to Kenneth for pulling up
Makerere by the bootstraps
when it mattered. That third
round levelled things in time
for a fairly decent Ultimate
Challenge.
Liz A: I still have beef for him
but Sammy did very well. He
was the picture of confidence
and authority as he reeled off
one answer after another in
the second round.
Between Egerton and Jomo
Kenyatta, who do you think
will take tonight’s game?
Edna: I am rooting for Egerton.
Elisabeth: It will be a tight
game, I think. Almost like the
race between Nambooze
and Bakaluba, so it is hard
to tell who will win. Egerton,
maybe?
Esther: I’m rooting for Egerton, they seem to have a more
rounded team. But as usual,
anything can happen.
Liz A: At this point, I really
don’t care who takes it.
Like Edna predicted, the
finals will now be a Kenyan
affair. Isn’t this the time
we start predicting who
will finally walk away with
Zain’s $50,000 among other
grants? Why do you think
that team will win?
Patricia: May the quickest
brains win, after all the trophy
stays in Kenya either way.
Esther: They are all Kenyan
teams, and it’s like asking me
to choose between bogoya,
matooke and gonja – all are
bananas, all are enjoyable, all
have potential.