Artist : Alice In Chains
Support : Ghost
Venue : Alexandra Palace, London
Date : 09/11/13
Anyone who knows me knows how much of an Alice In Chains fan I am, will know just how much I have been looking forward to this night. But on this night where they kick off their tour at the almost sovereign like Alexandra Palace, it is a special occasion as this also marks their biggest UK headline show to date, as well as a very long-awaited return to the UK for a headline tour (bar an appearance at Download Festival this year).
But more importantly… if you are going to a venue with the word ‘palace’ in it, this is most definitely an occasion to dress a little smarter than the usual in my case. Although the last place I went to with that word in the title was Crystal Palace F.C., when I used to collect Premier League football stickers back in 1995/96. May I add the place was an absolute shithole.
But back to the point, this is the first time I have ever been to Alexandra Palace. So my first experience here was most definitely a slightly overwhelming one. The venue itself sits at the top of a hill, where you can get the most amazing scenery and view looking over North London. Inside it is just lavish! A great venue, with terrific interior furnishings, and more importantly… great musical acoustics in the main hall.
Before Alice In Chains however, is the ghoulishly (excuse the pun) awesome Ghost. Now I saw these at Download Festival this year and was pretty disappointed by their set, but part of me wondered whether that had to do with the fact they were playing during the daytime. Anyone who knows the visual appearance of Ghost, knows that the majority of the band are dressed like hooded druids, and lead singer Papa Emeritus II is of course enigmatic like the holiest of the holy. A ghostly face like a skeleton, dressed like a Roman Catholic Cardinal, and preaching to the masses of soon to be converts with their almost Satanic take on pop influenced metal / rock music.
Baring in mind there are more fans here for AIC tonight, there is a lot of curious attention paid on Ghost this evening, and it takes a good while for them to actually get what they are about. But once it finally clicks with the audience members who are not familiar with them, they are totally sold.
For me personally, I think they most definitely excel when indoors with some decent atmospheric lighting as well, as their previous show at Download Festival which I saw them at, it felt like something was missing.
But tonight, Ghost play a terrific set this evening including such classics as ‘Con Clavi Con Dio’, ‘Ritual’, and ‘Stand By Him’, as well as more recent material like ‘Year zero’ and ‘Mostrance Clock’.
There is also the debut of new material as well in the vein of ‘If You Have Ghosts’, which is a cover song by Roky Erickson, which can be found on the new cover song EP ‘If You Have Ghost’. Overall, they play a terrific set which was warmly received by tonights crowd, even if it took a little while for it to finally ‘click’ with new converts. Personally I very much enjoyed and preferred their indoors, but more importantly they were brilliant showmen and musically tight as. Ghost are only going to keep on expanding on their global tour, so you better be paying further attention before they take over!
So now it comes to the band that everyone has been waiting for… the grand return of Alice In Chains.
Kicking things off with the heavy as hell ‘Them Bones’, followed by ‘Dam That River’ and ‘Check My Brain’, that was probably the best songs they could have possibly opened with. A trilogy of hard hitting songs, and a way to whip the crowd in to a frenzy.
Alice In Chains actually do sound as heavy as they ever have been tonight. The guitar and bass tones sound as crunchy and as dirty as they ever have done, and with every song they truly display the extent of their musicianship, and showmanship.
Compared to other bands of their time who are still going like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains still know how to put on a show and captivate, especially within frontman William Duvall being very energetic and interactive with the audience members.
In terms of the stage production as well, Alice In Chains have some pretty cool visuals and lighting on show as well, providing some at times artistic and obscure, and at times moody video clips during songs. So this slight addition brings their music in to a new interactive perspective, where as when I have previously seen them before, they had little or no stage production at all. Not that is a bad thing by any means, as these guys could quite easily just stand on a stage with bugger all on, play some tunes, and still have enough power to mesmerise.
But for me there were two very distinctive surprises about Alice In Chains set tonight…
Firstly was the inclusion of some rarely played songs. This included the gorgeous ‘Rotten Apple’ from the ‘Jar Of Flies’ EP, and ‘It Ain’t Like That’ from their debut album ‘Facelift’. But the second noticeable surprise was the lack of material from their most recent release ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’, and leaned heavily towards more songs from ‘Dirt’. Only two songs from the ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ album were played tonight, being ‘Hollow’ and ‘Stone’. Even though this was not necessarily a tour which stated that it would be in support of their new album, I would have liked to have seen a bit more from them in regards to that. Like when I saw them at Brixton Academy on the ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’ tour, they played about six or seven songs from that album, but tonight seems like a greatest hits set.
All in all, bar a couple of times which the band were not entirely on cue (noticeably during ‘Down In A Hole’), and at times the sound was a little muffled due to the acoustics of the venue, Alice In Chains were highly gracious and successful in kicking off their UK tour here at Alexandra Palace. There is not a face without a smile in sight, and more importantly, Misters Cantrell, Duvall, Inez, and Kinney, all emerge at the end of a stirring rendition of ‘Rooster’ with smiles and appreciation very evidently shown to the audience, with the inclusion of a mass of plectrums and drumsticks being thrown out to the rapturous crowd.
Welcome back once again, Alice In Chains. Do not leave it too long next time please!
Score : 8/10
Review by: James Paul Matthews
Photo by: Andrew Pepin
