One of the biggest music festivals all year long, iHeartRadio’s ALTer EGO Festival featured a jam-packed night of music with some of the biggest and most eclectic names in the industry. Held at a new location – the Honda Center in Anaheim – more than 18,000 wild fans packed in the sold-out venue and did not stop until the very last note died out.
You’d swear The Black Keys were from deep down in the South with their rich, blues sound, but the duo consisting of Dan Auerbach on lead guitar and vocals, and drummer Patrick Carney hails from Ohio, They kicked off their set with “I Got Mine,” then played “Gold on the Ceiling” with a snarled attitude as Auerbach used a slide on this guitar.
For “Lo/Hi,” Auerbach gave me Santana vibes with his playing, featuring a particularly nasty solo. Touring bassist Zach Gabbard kicked off the opening notes of “Tighten Up” as Auerbach whistled the familiar intro. Auerbach was dressed in an unbuttoned red shirt with “Garden Grove” on the back, and introduced “Beautiful People” as “the first single off the new record. This is the first time we’ve ever played it.”
“Wild Child” featured some of the best drumming by Carney, who can make the most difficult drumming look easy and relaxed. They closed their set with “Lonely Boy,” capped by Carney’s steady beat on his glittery rainbow-ringed set. Auerbach hyped the crowd before going into his final solo and the rest of the band ended in a fiery finish.
The second act of the night, Yellowcard opened with “Way Away,” the opening track off of their classic “Ocean Avenue” album. They played an energized rendition of “Lights and Sound” highlighted by Sean Mackin’s violin and capped by a high note that lead singer and guitarist Ryan Key held for an impressive six seconds, bringing the band to a halt before finishing off the song.
Key discussed their latest single, “Childhood Eyes,” before playing it. “It’s been a long, long time since we heard ourselves on the radio,” he announced. “Last year, we got to hear this next song on the radio because ALT 98.7 believed in us returning to make music again, and so did you guys.” They played the emotional ballad “Only One,” which had thousands singing along, before closing with the title track from “Ocean Avenue.”
lovelytheband took the Honda stage, not very far from their hometown of Los Angeles. Lead singer Mitch Collins looked like he was evoking the spirit of Scarface, complete in an all-white suit and button-down red shirt. They opened with a brilliant performance of “These Are My Friends,” which was one of the highlights of the night for me. The follow-up, “Make You Feel Pretty,” had a sound and synthesizer that brought a feel of The Airborne Toxic Event.
They played “Nice to Know You,” a funky, soulful song that sounds like a clash between Fitz and the Tantrums and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” They played “Sail Away” as Collins forwent the guitar and strutted back and forth across the stage. They finished off a fun set with the triple platinum-selling “Broken” as the crowd joined them in singing.
Woody from the self-titled ALT 98.7 morning show “The Woody Show” was joined by former Linkin Park front-man, Mike Shinoda to a wildly raucous ovation to introduce friends, Sum 41. He announced that this might be the last chance anyone ever gets to see the Canadian pop punk group as 2024 would be their final tour before calling it a day. Lead singer Deryck Whibley’s opening remarks were, “Let’s get fucking crazy,” as the band launched into “The Hell Song” while confetti rained down.
Guitarist Dave Baksh – better known as Brown Sound – walked over to the left side of the stage, ripping a righteous solo. Whibley said, “Fuck these seats. This song’s a jumping song anyway,” as they kicked into “In Too Deep,” bringing people to their feet. Brown Sound hopped on a riser as he crushed one of my favorite solos of the night.
“We want to thank ALT 98.7 for being the first place to play this fucking song,” Whibley stated. “And now it’s in the top 10,” and the band led into their latest single, “Landmines,” off of their upcoming and final double album, “Heaven :x: Hell.” They played their platinum song, “Fat Lip,” a song that will forever be a part of pop culture and closed their fantastic set with “Still Waiting.”
In order to bring out a band as big as The 1975, you needed some star power. Luke Hemmings from 5 Seconds of Summer received one of the loudest ovations all night as he introduced England’s The 1975. Lead singer Matty Healy graced the stage, looking perpetually cooler than you or I, in a black suit, aviator shades and smoking a cigarette.
They opened with “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know),” featuring a blazing sax solo. Healy strapped on his cherry-red Gibson for “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You).” For “Robbers,” he shed his guitar and jacket and provided some of the loveliest vocals of their set, as he seemed to be baring all and singing his heart out, garnering huge cheers.
They played the mega radio hit “Somebody Else,” earning the biggest reaction of their set. They finished with the beautifully moody “About You” while Healthy lit up another smoke, taking bows, and connecting with the audience before walking off as the rest of the band finished the song’s closing notes.
Shinedown’s Brent Smith joined the ALT 98.7 team of Booker and Stryker to bring on Bush. As the band launched into “Everything Zen,” unfortunately it was immediately apparent that there were technical issues, but the band persisted and soldiered on as best as they could. Bush’s set was a great throwback to ‘90s alternative, focusing mainly on their monster hit album, “Sixteen Stone.”
They played “Machinehead” and front-man Gavin Rossdale played the beautiful “Glycerine” solo. They finished with “Comedown” and were joined by Alice in Chains guitarist and founding member, Jerry Cantrell as a special highlight of their set.
The Last Dinner Party flew all the way from London to Anaheim just to play this show, a pretty impressive feat. The youngest band of the night, not just in age but their band having just formed in 2021, they seem destined for stardom.
They opened with “The Feminine Urge” before going into “Sinner.” Lead vocalist Abigail Morris theatrically graced around the stage, at one point on her knees bending backward without missing a note. “My Lady of Mercy” showcased both Morris’ operatic vocals, as well as guitarist Lizzie Mayland’s playing.
Måneskin lead singer Damiano David is no stranger to ALTer EGO as they played here in 2022. He returned to introduce the larger-than-life 30 Seconds to Mars. Drummer Shannon Leto started “Walk on Water” as a half dozen choir singers draped in blue robes flanked either side of the stage. Lead singer Jared Leto is known for his grandiose entrances, and he did not disappoint tonight.
He walked through the crowd, then finished the song onstage, resembling a futuristic superhot superhero in a sequined charcoal top and silver cape. The choir really elevated “Kings and Queens” to that of a near-spiritual experience, really transforming the song.
The finale saw Jared literally drop to his knees as he finished the final chorus to a raucous reaction from the crowd.
“I’ve got a confession to make,” Jared stated following the song’s conclusion. “I have been sick as a fucking dog all week. Everyone told me to cancel and I said, ‘There’s no fucking way I’m going to miss out on this show.’” They played an intimate version of “Seasons” before being joined by Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance to play the rest of the set, including “Attack” and “Stuck.” They stopped their final song of the night, “The Kill,” so Jared could invite several members of the audience onstage to finish singing along with him.
ALTer EGO was originally to be headlined by Paramore. However, on January 5th, the band announced that they had to cancel their performance. Fortunately for fans, iHeartRadio was able to land Fall Out Boy to close out an epic night.
After “Pink Seashell” played over the speakers – a track off the band’s latest album, which is actually just a monologue from actor Ethan Hawke from the movie “Reality Bites” over a beautiful instrumental – the band started things off with “Love From the Other Side,” before dropping the massively-popular “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” Lead singer and guitarist Patrick Stump led with, “Am I…” letting the crowd roar back with, “more than you bargained for yet? I’ve been dying to tell you!”
They played a huge performance of “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race” as flames shot up behind them. The flames shot up even higher, brighter, and more intense as the band roared through the fun sing-along, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up).” The band from Illinois played “Dance Dance” and when I tell you that you never heard 18,000 people scream louder than they did as Mike Shinoda himself came on stage and sang along with Stump to the song’s bridge and final chorus.
Sparks shot up behind the band as they blazed through a really great performance of “Thnks fr th Mmrs.” Stump sat down on piano for the title track of their latest album, “So Much (for) Stardust,” which bassist Pete Wentz described as “the weirdest fucking song on the record.” After five hours of nonstop music, Fall Out Boy closed out a truly memorable night with “Centuries” to a packed arena of singing and adoring fans.
