Alice in Chains - House of Blues, Cleveland, OH - 09.16.09

Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 09.22.2009

Before releasing Black Gives Way To Blue Alice in Chains stopped in Cleveland. After more than a decade, how does their new music mix with some of the best grunge of the 90s?

A lot of Alice in Chains fans have been worried since the band got back together in 2006. The band had been on hiatus since the late 90's, and was considered done for good after frontman Layne Staley passed away from years of drug use in 2002. However, the remaining members of the band reunited for a benefit show in 2005, and, in 2006, returned for their first tour in nearly a decade. Many fans viewed the decision to tour as Alice in Chains, with a new singer filling in for Staley, as nothing short of blasphemy. For all of his addiction issues, Staley was also a strong frontman with a distinct voice. Despite concerns, their 2006 tour was a success, and they continued to tour throughout the next year and a half, playing both their own shows and touring with bands such as Velvet Revolver.

With a couple of years of touring under their belt, and new vocalist William DuVall fitting in well with the other band, they announced work on a new album in 2008. Their current tour in support of the soon-to-be-released Black Gives Way To Blue, came to Cleveland, and, as a long-time Alice in Chains fan, I wasn't about to miss that show. I had seen Alice in Chains both on their 2006 tour and earlier this year at Rock on the Range in Columbus, so I had already made my peace with DuVall as the lead singer. What I was excited about was hearing the new material and seeing how the band had grown over the past few years, since the last time I had seen them headlining. I was definitely not disappointed.

The band opened with a dark and heavy version of "Rain When I Die." It was obvious from the beginning that they were on top of their game. "Rain When I Die," like much of their catalog, isn't a straightforward song to play live. The strength of the song comes in part from the inherent hesitancy and slow pace that the studio version has. The band did a great job of keeping that same pace live.

They went right from there into "Again," off of their self-titled album, and then they announced the first new song of the night, "Check My Brain." The song fit very well, and sounds as good live as it does on the band's website. After that, they went back to a couple of songs from Dirt, "Them Bones" and "Dam That River." DuVall and Cantrell continued harmonizing on the vocals perfectly. I was ready for it after seeing them twice before with DuVall, but it was still amazing how much DuVall sounds like Layne, and how great of a frontman he is. He has the right attitude for a frontman, interacting with the crowd and keeping the energy level high. They kept the energy high with the second new song of the night, "A Looking In View." At 8+ minutes, it's one of the band's longest songs, but it still plays well live.

After the new song, DuVall let the crowd know that they were there to not only play new stuff but also celebrate their old music. "We Die Young" followed, with DuVall again sounding eerily like Staley. They followed with "Nutshell" and then went back to Facelift for "Love, Hate, Love." "Love, Hate, Love" was probably the best example of how the band did such a good job of making their start-stop songs work live. The cohesion that's necessary for that song to work live was very apparent.

They kept the songs heavy with a solid "Sludge Factory," before playing their third new song, "Acid Bubble." This was by far the most intriguing new song of the night, and it has me very interested in the new album. Much of the album was a heavy but slow-paced song, but there was a dramatic tempo-change mid-song. It didn't sound exactly like anything they've done before, but it obviously worked. "Angry Chair" was another odd-tempo song that had the crowd excited, and it was followed with a great segue into "Man in the Box." The main set closed with "Would?," another hit song from Dirt.

The band did a opened the encore with "Dirt" before doing two of their biggest hits, "No Excuses" and "Rooster." The encore was probably the only disappointing part of the night, mainly because "Rooster" isn't a very strong closing song. I know it's probably the band's most well-known song, but it's not a very high-energy song, and it just didn't end the evening on a strong note. If they had done the encore as "Rooster," "Dirt," and then "No Excuses" I think it would have worked much better. They kept the crowd excited, however, and the still sounded great.

If you're still hesitating giving the DuVall-led Alice in Chains a chance, please, take it from me and check them out. When I saw them in 2006, I went into the show with low expectations and I was blown away. The new songs that I've heard are great, and DuVall is a powerful frontman. He's able to take the dark and personal songs that the band wrote about addiction and relationships and turn them into his own. I'm expecting the band to pick up where they left off in the late 90's, and they have the talent to do it.

That's not to say that this show was perfect. One thing that Alice in Chains has done so well that sets them apart from other 90's bands was their ability to play acoustic music. When I saw them in 2006 they did a 6-song acoustic set that highlighted that aspect of the band. Unfortunately, they completely ignored their acoustic side with this show. Also, in 2006 they played a significantly longer set. This show wasn't necessarily short, but I figured with no opening band they would play at least as long of a show as they did a few years ago. I hope that the band doesn't continue to ignore their more acoustic stuff from Sap and Jar of Flies.

With all that said, I'm looking forward to their new album (Black Gives Way To Blue comes out later this month) and I'll definitely check them out again when I get the chance. 20 years after their start, Alice in Chains is still at the top of their game, and hopefully they'll be around for a long time to come.

The 411: Alice in Chains still brings a solid performance to back up their legendary catalog. The new songs fit well with their old stuff, and I have high expectations for their next album. They continue to show that they should be a major force in rock music today, and hopefully will be for a long time to come.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]