Myles Kennedy big hit on his return

Raising his mike stand like it was Thor’s hammer, Spokane singer Myles Kennedy stood triumphantly on the Big Easy stage as costumed concert-goers screamed wildly.

Kennedy’s return to Spokane since forming Alter Bridge with former members of Creed was indeed a high-energy Halloween homecoming.

It seemed Kennedy could do no wrong in the crowd’s eyes as his soaring and agile tenor voice swept over guitarist Mark Tremonti’s surefire, pop-sensibly anthemic melodies.

Taking the stage at 10 p.m. following three opening acts – Submersed, standout Crossfade, and locals Mylestone – Alter Bridge played nearly its entire debut album, “One Day Remains,” in a one-hour set plus a three-song encore.

And the audience sang along to virtually every tune except the set’s lone change-up pitch, a blazin’ cover of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star.”

The rest of the songs AB played – just like on “One Day Remains” – ranged from towering arena-rock pillars to sparkling metallic grinders. The giant-rock melodies of songs like the lead-off single “Open Your Eyes” are frankly too reminiscent of Creed to really call Alter Bridge a new band, but the more rockin’ metal tracks, like the title cut and “Find The Real,” recall Alice In Chains so much that they are suspect.

While Van Halen with Sammy Hagar never tried to convince anyone that it was a different band, Alter Bridge is having a hard time shaking the comparisons to Creed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on your taste. After all, somebody bought the 30 million albums that made Creed a success and an immovable fixture on pop radio during its run. And anyone looking for a Creed replacement can easily fall in with Alter Bridge, which essentially is the same band with an even better singer.

Whether fans of Creed or Kennedy, the crowd at Big Easy didn’t mind the similarities to Tremonti and Co.’s old outfit. But having Kennedy at the front definitely helps ease the transition.

Dressed in all black, right down to the tight leather jacket, Kennedy has the rock-star look down. But what’s missing – and it’s a welcome omission – is the self-absorbed attitude. There is absolutely zero pretension or arrogance in Kennedy’s demeanor. He graciously played to the crowd, slapping high-fives with “guys I haven’t seen since high school.”

And he was quick to instill some hometown pride. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you this isn’t a great city,” he yelled out to the audience.

While Kennedy is a fine showman, the mike-stand waving bit was a little overdone. Perhaps he kept running back to his mike-stand prop because he is still not quite used to performing without his guitar on his shoulder for an entire show. With Mayfield Four (Kennedy’s previous band based out of Spokane) Kennedy played lead guitar. With Alter Bridge, he played rhythm guitar on a couple of tracks and that’s when he seemed most in his skin.

That may be because the audience jumped into hysterics whenever he slipped into guitar mode, as he collected more cheers for his rhythm work than even Tremonti’s at-times grandiose solos.

At one point, while the audience seemed to be focusing on Kennedy, an irritated Tremonti gestured to the front of the stage, in a “look at me solo” sort of way. Kennedy may have picked on this as well, as he took time between songs to stroke Tremonti’s ego, calling for applause for Tremonti for writing such great songs for him to sing.

To his credit, Tremonti checked his ego and returned the favor.

“This is your night, Myles,” he said to Kennedy.

If they are getting a national response that is similar to what they got at Big Easy on Sunday, then Kennedy, along with the rest of Alter Bridge, will be off to a good start.