Alice In Chains / Little Fish

Since Alice In Chains returned after a ten year absence their shows have done nothing but sell out. Their first appearance at the Sonisphere festival earlier this year was amongst my top 5 of this year, and tonight hopefully will result in a new entry to the countdown.

Little Fish are the only support tonight, but who needs more when you're left reeling (no pun intended) from this band? With a White Stripes style set up, i.e. drummer, guitarist and no bassist, this duo (who are joined by a keyboardist for this show) play twice as hard so if listening to them with your eyes closed you would imagine a band with twice as many members. Juju's vocals struck me straight away; pitch perfect and monstrously loud notes coming from such a wee lass. The guitar playing is simple but she thrashes about like a fish caught out of water.

Drummer Nez is just as hard on the kit, pounding it like the sound of the skins must fill an arena, but played with precision and dexterity. These two met after an argument about drummers in a chippy in Oxford , and sometimes the force of that heated discussion feels like it is being played out again on stage, but with smiles all round. Definitely one to catch (sorry!).

Now for Alice In Chains. There is a delay getting them on stage, and Rock City is a little cramped to be hanging around un-rocking at any time. Finally they do appear, and it's straight into 'Rain When I Die' from the excellent 'Dirt'. And here's me thinking this tour would be all about the new album 'Black Gives Way To Blue'.

It's a fantastic mix of old tracks and new, though listening to the crowd they are familiar with the new album that has been out for two months now, and it has slotted in with the older albums very nicely indeed. 'Check My Brain' has the old dual vocal sneers over dark guitar riffs from Jerry Cantrell and new (well, more established now) singer William DuVall, doing the hard task of filling in since the tragic death of Layne Staley. The rest of the line up is as was; Cantrell seamlessly commands the axe, going from dirty heavy riffs to acoustic picking via glorious rock solos, as well as providing that unique snarling voice. Sean Kinney is pounding away on the drums whilst Mike Inez has the baselines punching out effortlessly (Inez replaced original bassist Mike Starr in 1993).

New vocalist DuVall is a welcome addition to the band. Instead of trying to replace Staley the band have introduced DuVall as an accompanying man to Cantrell, harmonizing vocalist, part time front man and rthymn guitarist, all of the tasks he performs hypnotically. Not only can he share vocals with Cantrell (no easy matter with the guy's voice as unique as it is) he can pull off all the notes of the old AIC tracks with ease, and is also a dab hand at rhythm guitar, providing an extra layer to the sound of the new Alice In Chains. His stage swagger, afro and flares remind me of Jimi Hendrix but only vaguely; this man is a rock star all of his own making. The crowd have accepted him straight away, no questions asked.

The band are smiling at each other and the crowd throughout the show, and the atmosphere is generally uplifting. Part way through the set they swap electric for acoustic, sitting on chairs just like at their extraordinary MTV Unplugged show in the nineties, and perform stripped down numbers, like my favourite 'No Excuses', and the heartfelt 'Black Gives Way To Blue', honouring the memory of Layne by dedicating it to him.

Stand outs tracks are hard to choose from, as the crowd reacts the same to all the grunge master’s songs. Personally the encore does it for me (I thought the gig was over when the house lights went on after 'Angry Chair', and left the barrier at the front to get to the back before the rush, just acting a little prematurely as it happens!). 'Man In The Box', 'Nutshell', 'Would?' and 'Rooster' make the perfect ending to a kind of intimate show for the Seattle stars. Let's hope they liked this tour of the UK enough to do another on I the not too distant future, with DuVall along for the ride too.

Rain When I Die
Them Bones
Dam That River
Again
Lesson Learned
Check My Brain
Love Hate Love
It Ain't Like That
A Looking In View
Your Decision
No Excuses
Black Gives Way To Blue
Last Of My Kind
We Die Young
Acid Bubble
Angry Chair
Man in the Box

Nutshell
Would?
Rooster

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.