Another Love Letter To My Favourite Music

“Hope,
A new beginning
Time,
Time to start living
Like just before we died

There's no going back
To the place we started from…”

-From All Secrets Known by Alice In Chains

Black Gives Way To Blue is an album that shows Alice in Chains as a band re-emerging from dark times – their lead singer, Layne Staley, died in 2002 – to not only pay tribute to their friend, but also to prove that they’re a band with more to say . The album opens with the aptly titled All Secrets Known; a song that shows a broken band picking up the pieces and carrying on doing what they do. Rightfully so, that song also begins their live set.

With the lights down, the album’s bare-heart logo is projected onto a white curtain covering the front of the stage. With nothing more than the sound of a heartbeat, anticipation builds as that familiar “thump, thump” grows increasingly more hurried. Then he appears.

A 30 foot silhouette of Jerry Cantrell towers over the nearly sold out crowd at the Civic Center in Portland, ME. This is the first time Alice in Chains has played a show in the city for 20 years; anticipation has now reached a boiling point. Cantrell raises his arms in the air to a cacophony of cheers. He begins the opening riff of All Secrets Known and the rest of the band appears, silhouetted on the curtain.

“...Time to start living; like just before we died...” Cantrell sings. The curtain drops. “There’s no going back, to the place we started from”, the crowd erupts at their first true glimpse at a band resurrected; a band on fire. They played for nearly two hours.

To say my opinion of the band is biased, is entirely expected; I’m a huge AIC fan. However, as I’ve mentioned in this blog before, I’m a fan of music with meaning. What excites me about this band is their ability to convey emotion in what they do; both musically and lyrically.

Many bands will say how their albums are reflections of where they were at the time they recorded them. The same can be said for Alice In Chains. Looking back on it, they laid it completely on the line; wearing their hearts on their sleeves. Layne Staley’s drug addictions (and let’s face it, the rest of the bands demons) are prominent features of the bands material; especially the last album with Layne.

As for live performances, the Portland show was my first time experiencing the band live - other than on a DVD. I’m well aware of the haunting performance that was given for the bands MTV Unplugged session (rivalling that of even Nirvana for the distinction of the best in the series, if you ask me). This performance - while loose, fun and technically stunning - is filled with sadness. Staley looked like he was on his last legs then and yet he still “lived” for 6 more years; simply chilling.

A lot was said when William Duvall took over vocal duties for the band in 2005. Many claimed you could not have Alice in Chains without Staley. Well, for my money, he more than handled the back-catalogue with ease and exuberance, making the songs not only as memorable as they were when originally recorded, but making them his own. He’s a fantastic vocalist and he’s also no slouch when it comes to guitar. Trading guitar parts with Cantrell as much as he traded vocal duties, Duvall proves himself worthy of being in this band.

The show I saw was filled many a memorable moment - The opening from behind the curtain was certainly one of them - but it was the introduction of the band that will stand out as one of the most memorable, for me. Taking a moment to introduce each member, before introducing himself, Jerry Cantrell confirms what the crowd is already gleefully aware: “(they) are Alice in Chains”. This was followed by a touching tribute to their lost friend which transitioned into a haunting performance of Nutshell – you could almost see the pain in Jerry’s eyes as he began. Woah.

Alice in Chains has shared their emotions with every album; with, presumably, every live performance. Amidst the aggression of their music is a soul that beats beautifully; it may be scarred, but therein lies its character. The band I saw on stage in Portland last week is a band that has lived through the grief and sadness to only appear that much stronger, conveying that very emotion with each song - the black has given way to blue - I can’t wait to experience it again.

-Crash-
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