Alice In Chains Concert Review

Alice In Chains

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN

Alice In Chains ended their most recent American tour in St. Paul tonight and were greeted with huge applause from the near-sellout crowd. Many were hungry to see the band since last year’s show at First Avenue in Minneapolis instantly sold out. I was excited to see the reformed lineup of Alice In Chains since I witnessed Layne Staley’s final performance when they opened for Kiss in Kansas City in 1996. There were people skeptical about new singer William DuVall, but it’s hard to imagine that anyone could not be impressed by tonight’s performance. “All Secrets Known”, the lead-off track from Black Gives Way To Blue opened the show, and the band quickly followed this with “It Ain’t Like That” and “Again”. Their most two recent singles, “Check My Brain” and “Your Decision”, were mind-blowing live, and were book-ended by a trio of songs from Dirt (“Them Bones”, “Dam That River”, and “Rain When I Die”. The melancholy ballad “Got Me Wrong” slowed the pace of the show, but “We Die Young” and “Last Of My Kind” quickly brought the audience back to life. “Nutshell” was a surprise acoustic selection, which was followed by “Sickman” and two more songs from Black Gives Way To Blue, “Lesson Learned” and “Acid Bubble”. The hits then rolled as “No Excuses”, “Angry Chair”, and “Man In The Box” closed out the set. “Love, Hate, Love” was an interesting choice to start the encore, and the crowd was satisfied with “Would?” and “Rooster” as the finale. Singer William DuVall shouldn’t have to convince anyone that he’s not the right man for the job of replacing Layne Staley. He looks entirely comfortable with the band and has a commanding voice and stage presence. It’s easy to forget how important guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s singing is to the sound of Alice In Chains, so it’s a nice reminder to see him taking over lead vocals on some songs and singing harmonies on many others. Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Alice In Chain’s live show is that they refuse to use technology as a crutch. There’s no background vocal tapes, no recorded effects, just a pure live performance. William DuVall beefs up the band’s sound at times by playing second guitar when warranted. The show lasted nearly two hours, and with a diverse song selection tonight everyone should have walked away pleased. It was nice that they forewent some of the hits (noteably “Grind”, “I Stay Away”, and “Heaven Beside You”) to play deep cuts like “Nutshell” and “Love, Hate, Love”. The big slice of the new album was also welcome, although I would have like to have heard “A Looking In View” and “Black Gives Way To Blue” and for that matter, “Down In A Hole”. I’m nitpicking at this point because this was simply an amazing show to behold. I dare say that Alice In Chains is sounding better than ever, and tonight’s show further established their relevance after a long absence.

Click picture to see more photos of Alice In Chains (8).

UPDATE: I thought I'd add some cool, old Alice In Chains tour memorabilia. First is a ticket stub from Alice In Chain's final performance with Layne Staley when they opened for Kiss in Kansas City in 1996. I had the ticket signed by Jerry Cantrell before a solo performance at Canes in San Diego in 2000 or 2001. Below that are advertisements from two Dirt-era shows (1992 or 1993) in Davenport, Iowa, both of which were unfortunately canceled. How cool would that show with Masters Of Reality and Circus Of Power have been?