New Alice in Chains singer-guitarist William DuVall (left) and founding guitarist Jerry Cantrell trade riffs at Alice in Chains’ sold-out Fillmore show on Friday. Photo by Mateo Leyba.
When a band loses its lead singer, all too often, it either disbands or flails along, trying to reinvent itself or hold on to its glory years. Rare is the band like Van Halen that succeeds — though Van Halen did so by totally changing its sound, somewhat to its detriment.
, on the other hand, is back with a vengeance, and has managed to hold onto the familiar sound that brought them to glory, even after the death of original lead singer Layne Staley. This is in no small part to guitarist Jerry Cantrell, whose harmony vocals were always an integral part of the Alice in Chains sound. In fact, at some shows, Cantrell sang lead for the out-of-it Staley.
Friday night at , Alice in Chains played to a sold-out house, with people scalping tickets at twice the face value outside the venue. It’s a testimony to how much fans believe in the band, and new singer/guitarist William DuVall, who at times Friday night sounded eerily like Staley.
Stepping out onto a stage draped with a curtain that had an image of a beating heart projected on it, the band kicked off with a strong “All Secrets Known,” from their latest CD, “Black Gives Way to Blue.” Cantrell roamed the stage between the right, center, and left microphones all night, while DuVall at times strapped on a Les Paul and sang harmonies with Cantrell’s lead vocals.
Some of the best moments of the night were on the new material. The single “Your Decision” featured a beautiful lyrical guitar solo from Cantrell and solid harmonies, while “Check My Brain” mixed a driving dark metal riff on the verse with an almost pop-balanced anthemic chorus that danced together on a brilliant edge between the two. “Lesson Learned” had Cantrell taking the lead vocal on a short burst of punk metal energy.
Of course, the real question is how the older material would stand. An early “Them Bones” showed promise, while DuVall really stepped up on “Got Me Wrong” and “We Die Young,” the latter of which had AIC at their dark metal best.
The band concluded with two of its most popular songs, the end-of-the-world doom of “Angry Chair” that showcased the fierce driving rhythm section of bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney, and the career defining “Man in the Box.” While DuVall doesn’t quite match the timbre of Staley’s growl, he came close, and a casual listen with eyes closed would feel like prime 90s-era Alice in Chains.
The two-song encore again tipped to the old, starting with “Would?” The dark harmonies seared in a fire of alternative glory, and fans up front could be seen crowd surfing. They ended with the mellower, darkly melodic masterpiece “Rooster,” which DuVall didn’t quite nail, but certainly didn’t butcher.
Given that Staley was basically MIA from 1996 on due to his addictions and Cantrell was the songwriting force of AIC, the band’s future looks bright.
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Candace Horgan is a Denver freelance writer/photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing and shooting, she plays guitar and violin in Denver band the defCATS.
Mateo Leyba is a photographer for The Denver Post and a regular contributor to Reverb.
