Alice in Chains, Birmingham Academy, November 13th
Alice in Chains played Birmingham Academy on November 13th
Monday, 16, Nov 2009 11:01
After releasing possibly the album of the year - the sublime Black Gives Way to Blue - Alice in Chains are enjoying a much deserved resurgence.
The Seattle grungers have battled back since the loss of enigmatic frontman Layne Staley in 2002 and seem to have found a solution to the age-old problem of how you replace an irreplaceable singer. You don't.
Yes, former Comes with a Fall frontman William DuVall has been drafted in, but rather than stepping directly into Staley's sizeable shoes, he works in tandem with guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Of course, Cantrell has always played a central role in the band thanks to his songwriting and vocal harmonies, but he is the focal point of the show for long spells in the reformed Alice in Chains, with DuVall flitting between full-on frontman, rhythm guitarist and harmony vocalist.
But, the big question is does it all work live? The answer is a resounding yes.
Cantrell commands the stage from the second he steps onto it, leaving the Birmingham crowd in awe right from the word go. DuVall is also superb, with his voice harsh and abrasive one minute and hypnotic the next.
The set - which clocks in at the best part of two hours - is littered with Staley-era classics and new material. The early distortion-coated blast of Them Bones and Dam That River immediately show why Alice in Chains have sold more than 17 million albums and are so revered by all kinds of up-and-coming rockers, while the likes of Your Decision and Check My Brain serve as a reminder that this is no nostalgia tour.
A collection of technical hitches are turned into opportunities for some crowd interaction amid the skull-crushing onslaught of riffs, before normal service is soon resumed and Cantrell steps back into his position as the king of the distorted doom riff.
Just as you think he can bludgeon a crowd no more with ear-shattering lick after lick, he whips out the acoustic and bursts into a stripped-back mini-set which is lit-up by the fantastic Heaven Beside You and the heartfelt Black Gives Way to Blue.
With the acoustic safely packed away for the night, the gig steps up a notch with Man in the Box just about tearing the roof off the venue amid an explosion of energy and flailing limbs in the crowd, before Rooster closes a show which proves that not only were Alice in Chains a great band in their 90s peak, they're still every bit as fantastic today.
Richard Chamberlain