alice in chains uk tour

 

On 9 November, Alice in Chains kicked off their return to the UK with a concert at Londons Alexandra Palace. This was a no nonsense, all out rock show and although only a handful of songs were played from the latest two albums, the setlist was full of favourite classics making it a night for the fans.

Every member of the band was on top form, with Jerry Cantrell's guitar work flawless as usual, getting the crowd jumping and head banging alike. A special mention needs to be added to vocalist William DuVall, who's performance of the classic Chain's tracks just went to show that he has now made the music his own and delivered a first class performance...

 

Earlier in the evening were two bands playing in support of the main event, the first of which appeared to be nothing more gripping than a bunch of middle of the road wannabe rockstars.Following the uninspiring opening to the night the crowd were then graced with the presence of Papa Emeritus II and his nameless ghouls, collectively known as the band Ghost. The Swedish band, with all their theatrics turned out to be an added highlight of the evening, putting on a great show with a fantastic atmosphere.

download festival / isle of wight 2013

The rainy season festival season in the UK gets underway for real this weekend with two of the big hitters being held over the weekend, the Download Festival at Donnington Park and the Isle Of Wight Festival at Newport.

As the UK's College's and University's wind up after the end of year exams many of the besieged students will be making their annual escape to one of the venues in the hope it will be a carefree and uplifting experience as all good festivals should be. Despite the usual madness of testing the UK's weather patterns to remain sunny in June for more than an hour the roads and railways will be the usual clogged exodus of waterproofed and booted fans facing their test of faith in both events. One lot heading to the north midlands Donnington Park the other heading south to the Isle of Wight.

So what's on offer this year? While Donnington is staging more bands than you could possibly see over a weekend the Saturday night looks set for a power overload with rock monsters Alice In Chains, Motorhead, Queens Of The Stone Age and Iron Maiden. This lineup may register on the Richter scale sometime during the evening so all those in Leicestershire and surrounds would do well to find bunkers.

Down at the Isle Of Wight the headline show on Saturday is sedate by comparison with the Killers headlining Saturday and on Sunday, Bon Jovi. Although you suspect the main focus of the weekend will be on Friday night with The Stone Roses who have had huge gigs in the UK recently and greeted with much excitement by press and fans.
The odd thing with the Isle Of Wight this year seems to be the resurfacing of some old bands not seen for years. How they'll fare with an audience of some generations difference could go either way. Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats? Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel? Ian Hunter?.. man, these are bands most fans grandparents will know never mind their parents.

But it's all up for grabs once more.. there will be some bands that shouldn't have bothered and some who will sweep all before them.
We'll bring some updates as the weekend unfolds. Our moneys on the Download Festival being the storm bringer.

alice in chains

Grunge band Alice in Chains are due to release their new album at the end of this month, the second with (new) vocalist William DuVall. The album title, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, is according to guitarist Jerry Cantrell about politics and religion which he has stated are " two things you never want to get into a conversation or argument about".

The band are already touring and doing gigs with the new material, which is receiving positive reviews but sounds like exactly what you expect, and want to hear from Alice in Chains.

Here is Alice in Chains performing Hollow, the first single off the new album at the Jimmy Kimmel Live show last month. Note the LSMS reference on the bass drum, is most likely in recognition to original vocalist Layne Staley who died in April 2002 and original bassist Mike Starr who died in March 2011.

layne staley

Layne Staley, best know as the singer from Alice in Chains, was well known for his distinctive voice during the grunge era in the 1990's. Layne, who struggled with drug addiction through most of his career eventually leading to his death, was known as a talented lyricist and is credited with writing lyrics for about half of all the Alice in Chains songs before the release of 2009's Black Gives Way To Blue.

Although he was most famous for being in Alice in Chains, Layne was also a member of the bands Mad Season and Class 99.  Here is one of Layne's most memorable performances on the Mad Season song Wake Up.