Alice in Fuc?!ng Chains !!!

As you can guess by the title, the Alice in Chains concert at the Metropolis last week was amazing!

For me, it all started a few hours before AiC hit the stage, as I had the chance to meet with the band before the concert. I was quite excited at the idea of chatting with Cantrell - even though AiC might be 'heavier' than what is coming out of me creatively, I always found that he was the best guitar players of the past 20 years. His play is, in my opinion, extremely tasteful - never too much, great riffs, and solos in which each note means something special, which is why he is definite influence for me...

Most of all, I definitely wanted to speak with their new singer, William Duvall. This guy clearly fills the void left by the death of Layne Staley. He also knows how lucky he is to have had the chance to front a legendary band - his other band, Comes With The Fall, is really good, but no thanks to the current state of the music industry, never had the chance to make a definite impression. However, Cantrell noticed, and these guys became part of his backing band for a solo tour. Afterwards, Duvall was offered the chance to play with AiC, and from then, the music took over. Thus, knowing this, I just took a chance, and offered William a copy of Plum Shark's last record! I just told him that it would be appreciated if he would just give it a listen, and give me a few comments...

To top it all, Sean Kinney, the drummer, couldn't stop joking (as usual) while Mike Inez, the bassist, was the most friendly and definitely interested in meeting people. Of course, I also had the chance to sign a few items...

As you can see, when it came time for pictures, I definitely wanted to play along and be the rock star! :P

After that, I just waited for the guys to hit the stage. After a quite forgettable opening band (mmm... can you call a drummer and a guitar player a band ?!?), it was clear that the crowd was pumped for AiC. Actually, this was the first time I witnessed such an ambiance at the Metropolis - it was packed (had been sold out for months), and people were definitely there as fans. The extremely friendly weather of the day (sunny and 15 degrees) might have also helped mind you!

Even though you could think of Cantrell making a rock star entrance, the guys just arrived on stage with the lights on, and the PA music still playing - quite casual, which was surprising. Then, they just launched into 'All Secrets Known', the first song from their new album. From then on, you knew that the evening would be great.

Technically, the sound was really good, as you could hear every nuance of the vocal harmonies, even though Cantrell's crushing tone was in your face all along. The lights were kind of surprising - the stage was always bright and clear, as you can see in this picture.

They played hits, classics, rarities. I particularly liked 'We Die Young', 'Nutshell' and 'Again'. The new songs were also really good, and I've rarely seen a crowd that much into a band's new material. Clearly, this was one to remember, and for me ranks with last years NiN and Neil Young's concerts as some of the great rock and roll moments I've had a chance to live.


Let's go with a few videos, to illustrate my point. Even for a cell/camera, the quality of the sound is impressive. By the way, these were taken by a guy I chatted with before the show - he headed for the first row of the balcony while I went on the floor... Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!