Tim Montana, Alter Bridge, and Filter Live in Tampa

Tim Montana Live from Tampa, FL
Some tours arrive with a lot of hype and not enough follow-through but the What Lies Within Tour was not one of those. When Alter Bridge brought their farewell to the North American leg of the road straight into Tampa’s Hard Rock Event Center on May 24, 2026 — with Tim Montana and Filter riding shotgun — the result was the kind of night that reminds you why live music is irreplaceable.

Southern-fried rock grit, dark industrial fury, and hard rock grandeur all collided under one roof. This was the final U.S. stop of the tour, and the Hard Rock delivered that closing-night electricity. The crowd showed up ready, and all three bands showed up locked in. From the first riff to the last note, the evening was a relentless, genre-hopping showcase that covered every emotional corner of the rock spectrum.

Tim Montana: The Real Deal From the Real West

The moment Tim and his band stepped onto that stage, the Hard Rock Event Center had a different temperature. Raw, unapologetic, and radiating the kind of blue-collar rock ‘n’ roll that feels lived-in rather than performed. Tim Montana is exactly the kind of opener who makes the other bands’ jobs harder — because you don’t want him to stop. Also, it was just announced that he will release the new album, Entire State of Tim Montana, on July 31. It features 16 tracks with guest appearances by Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons.

Hailing from the wide-open spaces of Montana, Tim carries his roots everywhere he goes. But it’s not as a gimmick, but as a genuine throughline running through every song and every story he shares between them. His is a story of near-misses and perseverance: signing his first major record deal at 38, spending nearly two decades chasing something most people would have walked away from long before, and getting his CDL license to drive over 11,000 miles on tour. Before any music was played, he made a statement to remember the reason we have and celebrate Memorial Day. Tim took a moment to dedicate the show to his friend who passed away serving in the United States military. When he talks to a crowd, it doesn’t feel rehearsed. It feels like a guy who’s earned every word.

The set kicked off with “Beautiful Hate,” which did exactly what a great opener should. The heavy guitar riffs and snarling chorus announced his larger-than-life stage presence and sound without asking permission. “Get You Some” and “Break Me Down” kept the momentum surging, the latter being the track that first cracked the Top 30 for Montana and remains a crowd favorite. The chemistry between Tim and his band translated effortlessly — tight where it needed to be, loose where it counted, and having a damn good time doing it.

A big highlight was “Watch Me Drown,” which is a newer track Montana wrote on the banks of the Big Hole River. The song was written alongside his Native American friends First Crazy Dog and WolfBear of the Crow Tribe. It’s a song that carries real emotional weight, and it landed accordingly. “Kinda Like It” — a collaboration with none other than Jerry Cantrell — kept the energy high, while their cover of ZZ Top’s “Brown Sugar” brought an extra layer of swagger to the room. Worth mentioning: that studio recording features both Billy Gibbons and Slash, which is the kind of guest list that doesn’t need explaining!

Montana closed it all out with “Devil You Know” from his 2025 album Savage. It’s the song that finally put him on the charts and, by his own storytelling, the hinge his whole career swings on. Hearing it live, you understand why. It’s loud, dirty, unapologetically rock ‘n’ roll, and packed with the emotional gravity of someone who almost didn’t make it to this stage at all. He left the crowd wanting more, and hopefully will do a headlining tour of his own in the future. The good news? Even though this leg of the tour came to end, he just announced more tour dates with Alter Bridge this fall!

Tim Montana Setlist – Tampa, FL (May 24, 2026)

  1. “Beautiful Hate”
  2. “Get You Some”
  3. “Break Me Down”
  4. “Brown Sugar” (ZZ Top cover)
  5. “Watch Me Drown”
  6. “Kinda Like It”
  7. “Devil You Know”

Stream Tim’s cover of the ZZ Top song “Brown Sugar” featuring Billy and Slash right now, and check out his new album “Entire State” is dropping on July 31st.

Connect with Tim Montana: Website | Instagram | Facebook

 

 

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Filter: Three Decades of Edge, Still Razor Sharp

After Tim Montana’s loud sendoff, the lights dropped and the room transformed into something darker and more claustrophobic — and that was entirely by design. Filter operates in shadows and strobes, and the Hard Rock became their natural habitat the second Richard Patrick stepped to the mic. While at times it was difficult to see anyone on stage through the smoke and minimal lighting, it added to the aura.

Patrick — who for those keeping score, is a former touring guitarist for Nine Inch Nails and a founding member of Army of Anyone — and his band Filter have never been content with standing still. Over eight studio albums and more than thirty years in the game, they’ve pushed, pulled, and occasionally dismantled their own sound in search of something new. Their latest offering, The Algorithm: Ultra Edition, expands on their 2023 release with remixed tracks, new material, and a collection of covers that push their restless sonic identity even further. And if that wasn’t enough, Patrick has confirmed the band is currently wrapping up their ninth studio album, The Antidote.

The set opened with “You Walk Away” from their 2002 record The Amalgamut, instantly establishing that brooding industrial groove the band does better than almost anyone. Patrick rarely drifted far from center stage, letting the music carry the room — and carry it did. “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do” detonated the crowd with late-90s nostalgia and pure kinetic energy, while “Take a Picture” offered one of the night’s most unexpected singalong moments. The newer material — “Obliteration,” “All the Good,” and “The Drowning” — fit seamlessly alongside the catalog deep cuts, proving the band hasn’t lost a step.

The timing of this tour also carries a bit of significance: Filter recently marked the 30th anniversary of “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” the ferocious debut single from their 1995 breakthrough album Short Bus. Hearing it live, three decades later, it still hits with the same unrelenting force. Patrick closed the set with it, and the Hard Rock responded accordingly — one last deafening collective roar before Alter Bridge took the stage.

Alter Bridge, Tim Montana, Filter and Crew
Photo Cred: Bobby Miller

Filter Setlist – Tampa, FL (May 24, 2026)

  1. “You Walk Away”
  2. “The Drowning”
  3. “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do”
  4. “Obliteration”
  5. “Jurassitol”
  6. “Take A Picture”
  7. “All the Good”
  8. “Welcome to the Fold”
  9. “Hey Man Nice Shot”

Connect with Filter: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Alter Bridge: A Masterclass in Modern Hard Rock

Alter Bridge band formed in Orlando in 2004 — rising from the pause of Creed, with guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips teaming up with powerhouse vocalist Myles Kennedy. Two decades and eight studio albums later, they’ve long since stepped out of any predecessor’s shadow and built something entirely their own. And on May 24, playing the final US date of the What Lies Within Tour, they showed exactly why.

The band took the stage to a Hard Rock Event Center that was already buzzing, and they wasted absolutely zero time. Opening with “Silent Divide” from their January 2026 self-titled release on Napalm Records, they hit immediately at full force. Kennedy’s vocals cut right through the dense wall of sound Tremonti constructs — soaring, precise, emotionally loaded in a way that recordings genuinely can’t replicate. From the very first song, the room felt electric.

The setlist moved confidently across eras, pulling from all studio records and covering every mood in the band’s catalog. “Addicted to Pain” and “Cry of Achilles” hit with the kind of riff-driven intensity that rattles a room from the inside out, while “Open Your Eyes” and “Broken Wings” sent waves of nostalgia crashing through the crowd. You could see it happening in real time — thousands of people mouthing every word, arms up, completely locked in. These songs have been embedded in people’s lives for twenty years, and the emotional weight they still carry was unmistakable.

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One of the more unique moments of the main set came when Tremonti stepped to the front to sing “Burn It Down”. Tremonti was just reminding everyone that this band has two elite weapons at the microphone and guitar, not one. It’s the kind of moment that draws genuine surprise from audiences who’ve never witnessed it before. After following that up with the powerful “Open Your Eyes” and “Broken Wings,” Kennedy pulled the room to a near-complete hush for the acoustic intimacy of “Watch Over You.” He thanked the crowd for coming out to see Alter Bridge, especially with the Canadien rock band band Triumph playing across the street at the amphitheater. The acoustic start with Myles solo on the song led to a beautiful contrast with the full band coming in for the second half turning into a big crowd singalong.

“Metalingus” off of the “One Day Remains” album, delivered one of the night’s biggest crowd reactions. Its heavy and iconic opening riff triggered the kind of full-room singalong that makes hard rock shows feel communal in a way few other genres can manage. By the time the main set closed, the Hard Rock was absolutely not ready to let these guys walk off stage.

Of course, they came back with the powerful song “Blackbird.” There are songs that people love and songs that people need — and for a significant portion of the Alter Bridge fanbase, “Blackbird” falls squarely in the second category. The moment those opening notes rang out, the crowd response was immediate and overwhelming. When the chorus arrived, the entire venue sang it back — not politely, but ferociously, with the kind of collective passion that blurs the line between audience and performer. Watching Kennedy and Tremonti trade guitar melodies during that song, while thousands of voices provided the backdrop, was one of those rare concert moments you file away permanently.

And then, in true Alter Bridge fashion, they refused to end on a lullaby. The opening riff of “Isolation” hit like a sledgehammer. After the emotional weight of “Blackbird,” the whiplash was perfect — the Hard Rock erupted, Phillips’ drumming thundered through the venue, and Kennedy sounded absolutely ferocious on the back half of the night’s closing statement. It was the right closer: powerful, cathartic, and loud! Alter Bridge performed like they were in a sold out stadium with 30,000 fans rather than the intimate Hard Rock Event Center.

Alter Bridge Setlist – Tampa, FL (May 24, 2026)

  1. “Silent Divide”
  2. “Addicted to Pain”
  3. “Cry of Achilles”
  4. “Fortress”
  5. “Playing Aces”
  6. “Burn It Down” (Mark Tremonti on lead vocals)
  7. “Open Your Eyes”
  8. “Broken Wings”
  9. “Watch Over You”
  10. “Ghost of Days Gone By”
  11. “Tested and Able”
  12. “Rise Today”
  13. “Metalingus”
  14. “Blackbird”
  15. “Isolation”

Order the new self-titled album: lnk.to/AB-AlterBridge

Final Verdict: A Stacked Line Up

The What Lies Within Tour saved its best stop for last. Tampa got a closing night with all the extra energy that comes with it, and three bands who each arrived with something distinct to say. Tim Montana delivered a set that was honest, hard-hitting, and built on a backstory worth telling. Filter reminded everyone in that room why they were one of the defining heavy acts of the 90s — and why they still matter in 2026. And Alter Bridge closed the book on the North American leg with a performance that balanced raw power and genuine emotion in a way few bands alive can pull off. If this tour comes to your city — in any configuration — don’t hesitate. New Tour Dates for Alter Bridge and Tim Montana were just released!

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