Alter Bridge's Show Me A Leader 'takes pulse' of society

Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy
Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy (Image credit: Getty)

Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy says their new single Show Me A Leader “takes the pulse” of modern politics.

The frontman says the song, lifted from upcoming album The Last Hero, stems from the disillusionment of people with their governments. He says that he came up with the first line while listening to a political TV show in bed at bandmate Mark Tremonti’s house.

Kennedy says: “The lyric was written pretty quickly. I was lying in bed staying at Mark’s house and heard the TV in the other room. There was a bunch of political business on TV and the line, ‘Well, they’re selling another messiah here tonight’ came into my head.

“It reflects the frustraion that people are feeling with the current state of things, leadership, a certain disillusionment. It definitely takes the pulse of where a lot of us are standing right now.”

Tremonti adds: “Throughout Show Me A Leader, Myles ran with that line lyrically and philosophically. It’s good for this time, this climate in the world right now, with all the chaos going on and all the circus that is politics.”

It was announced last month that Alter Bridge will tour Europe with Volbeat and Gojira in November and December this year. They have a number of remaining US shows over the coming months in the meantime.

The Last Hero artwork

The Last Hero artwork

Alter Bridge The Last Hero tracklist

  1. Show Me a Leader
  2. The Writing on the Wall
  3. The Other Side
  4. My Champion
  5. Poison in Your Veins
  6. Cradle to the Grave
  7. Losing Patience
  8. This Side of Fate
  9. You Will Be Remembered
  10. Crows on a Wire
  11. Twilight
  12. Island of Fools
  13. The Last Hero”

Alter Bridge remaining tour dates 2016

Aug 17: Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheater, NM
Aug 19: Concord Pavilion, CA
Aug 21: Auburn White River Amphitheatre, WA
Sep 22: Destin Club LA, FL
Sep 24: Houston Open Air, TX
Sep 25: San Antonio Aztec Theater, TX
Sep 28: Minneapolis Skyway Theatre, MN
Sep 29: Lincoln Bourbon Theatre, NE
Oct 01: Janesville Sonic Boom, WI
Oct 02: Louisville Louder Than Life, KY
Oct 04: Charlotte Fillmore, NC
Oct 05: Nashville War Memorial Auditorium, TN
Oct 08: Tulsa State Fair, OK

Alter Bridge European tour 2016

With special guest TBC, Like A Storm
Nov 04: Bilbao Santana 27, Spain
Nov 05: Barcelona Razzmatazz, Spain
Nov 08: Paris Zenith, France
Nov 09: Brussels AB, Belgium
Nov 10: Amsterdam MHM, Netherlands
Nov 13: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany
Nov 14: Vienna Gasometer, Austria
Nov 16: Katowice Spodek, Poland
Nov 20: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway
Nov 21: Copenhagen Vega Main Hall, Denmark

With Volbeat, Gojira, Like A Storm
Nov 23: Manchester Arena, UK
Nov 24: London O2 Arena, UK
Nov 26: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK
Nov 27: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK
Nov 28: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
Dec 01: Glasgow Hydro, UK
Dec 02: Leeds First Direct Arena, UK

With Gojira, Like A Storm
Dec 04: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany
Dec 05: Cologne Palladium, Germany
Dec 06: Hamburg Mehri Theater, Germany
Dec 09: Bolognia Unipol Arena, Italy
Dec 10: Munich Zenith, Germany
Dec 11: Basel Jakobshalle, Switzerland

The Top 10 Best Alter Bridge Songs

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.