It was everything you could possibly want out of an Alice in Chains show in 2006. Hearing these songs live was something I never thought I’d ever experience again, and reminded me how much I love this band.
Singer William Duvall handled Layne’s parts, but never for a moment did I feel that anybody regarded him as a replacement for Layne. That, of course, could never happen. Instead, the whole show was a celebratory, healthy homage to Alice’s music and a tribute to Layne’s role in it. I for one was thinking about Layne the whole time. While Layne may be gone, the music is still very much alive.
Duvall’s vocals were noticably low in the mix, which I found to be a great decision. With the lead singer pulled back, it created a sort of “open mic night” feel in the entire room, almost begging each and every one of us to sing Layne’s parts on our own. It was very interactive in that regard. I almost felt like I was at Alice in Chains Karaoke Night, with the best AiC cover band in the world on stage.
The set was sick. To the best of our recollection:
Whale & Wasp (PA piped in)
Again
Bleed the Freak
Grind
It Ain’t Like That
Junkhead
Nutshell (a plugged version)
Them Bones
Damn That River
Rain When I DieThen there was a break where the lights went down and they rolled miscellaneous video footage of Layne accompanied by recorded audio clips of some of the more obscure songs, like Rotten Apple and Confusion.
In the darkness, the crew was throwing down an area rug and setting the band up for an unplugged set:
Don’t Follow
Brother
Killer Is Me
No Excuses
Got Me Wrong
Down In A HoleMore darkness, more Layne video footage, as the band prepared to plug in for the rest of the night. Now replugged:
Sludge Factory
We Die Young
Angry Chair
Man in the BoxLights down. Encore:
Rooster
Would?
QuickTime video clips!
- >> Clip 1
- >> Clip 2
- >> Clip 3
- >> Clip 4
- >> Clip 5
- >> Clip 6
- >> Clip 7
- >> Clip 8
- >> Clip 9
- >> Clip 10
(I can tell from the tempo that clips 5-8 are Rooster; Clip 9 is Would?)
Nice! Did you end up losing your voice the next day? You were singing at the top of your lungs! Fun night!
-m
looks like a great show. excellent post, by the way; the photo’s are righteous!
i recognize the singer as part of cantrell’s desolation trip tour band. on that tour, his backup band was in fact another band, that did its own opening set with that guy now in AIC on lead vocals and guitar (or it was someone that looked like him, anyway). i liked their material, but damn if they didn’t create quite a sludge factory out of the cantrell solo material. still one of the best live performances i’ve ever seen.
i can’t help thinking while looking at those photos how interesting it would be to see them on a smaller stage — the roxy for example would be quite a vibe. not that it doesn’t look hella vibey at the wiltern while they’re up…
v
These guys rocked! Great tune selection, great sound, great bar service at the Wiltern! The harmony vocals between the new dude and Jerry were pitch perfect all night. The 4 top highlights for me were Don’t Follow, Down in a Hole, Sludge Factory and Rooster.
If you missed them on this stop, or thought you didn’t want to go becasue of Layne being in the Great Gig in the Sky, don’t make the same mistake their next time around!
Also, the new dude played solid 2nd guitar all night that really brought the 2 guitar part songs together live. This allowed Cantrell to be the master of the chirpy-crunch-sonic-ulti-bend-wah-wah tweaks that are so central to the AIC sound.
Rock On!