Alice In Chains without Layne Staley? Why not? In the world of Rock you’ve seen worse, even Queen without Freddie Mercury and Van Halen without David Lee Roth. Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Deep Purple, to mention a few, have all had some loved and hated singer changeovers (feel free to add other examples via the user comments entry at the bottom of this page).
To let William DuVall (from Jerry Cantrell’s tour band and Come With The Fall) front Alice In Chains 2006 is a great choice. DuVall approaches the task with humbleness, and he enters the stage with no big or disturbing ego. DuVall has an appearance that is not too difficult to like.
In addition to this, not at least, DuVall has the right voice for the job. He sings in a style that both sounds like his own, plus it fits the classic and special Alice In Chains sound quite right. On top of that, not to forget, he (after all) takes part in making old and new fans of the band get one more chance to hear the old songs performed live.
Anyway, Stanley or not Stanley, don’t forget Jerry Cantrell still plays in the band. Jerry Cantrell … this guy has been, after all, the band’s main composer! If Stanley holds a legend status when in his grave, God bless his soul, Cantrell definitely deserves the status as a living (grunge) legend. Anyway, along with Cantrell, good, old Sean Kinney plays the drums, and little Mike Inez (of Ozzy fame as well as Alice) plays the bass brilliantly and with an ever-present smile on his face. All these guys succeed in warming one’s heart.
The first half of their set held killer songs like “Dam That River” and “Rain When I Die” from the masterpiece album Dirt. Still, it was the second half of their performance that really reminded the sold out hall what a phenomenal bank of songs Alice In Chains holds.
“Down In A Hole” and “No Excuses” (both with DuVall joining on guitar) were absolute highlights. The great dual guitar sound was nothing but touching, and as “We Die Young” and “Them Bones” ended the main set, you could do nothing but wish for this band to keep on doing what they are doing for many years to come.
The set never got close to 90 minutes, a bit surprising since fans could have rightly expected a few more song from a band that’s been gone for this long. The audience would definitely have enjoyed hearing “Angry Chair” and a moment or two more from either Jar Of Flies (1993) or Alice In Chains’ self-titled 1995 album. For example “Don’t Follow” from Jar should have been awakened back to life. Anyway, the encores “Would?” and “Man In The Box” put an excellent end to an unforgettable evening.
Setlist
Sludge Factory
Dam That River
Rain When I Die
Godsmack
Love, Hate, Love
Again
Junkhead
Down In A Hole
No Excuses
We Die Young
Them Bones
Rooster
Would?
Man In The Box
Alice In Chains brought two support bands with them: Blood Simple and Stone Sour. The latter, Stone Sour, includes, as quite a few know, Corey Taylor from Slipknot on vocals (brilliant vocals, by the way). Both bands did a great job.
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