Showdate: October 9th, 2010
Mastadon and Deftones open. I’m too late for Mastadon but catch some of the Deftones set. I’ve seen the Deftones open before. Here is the thing about the Deftones. The music is hard. The energy is high. And their fans are true believers. And I get it. But here’s the thing. The sound in the Memorial Coliseum is soooo fucking bad. It was like the Deftones sound was being filtered through a sludgy toxic waste shitpile. The sound board should be classified an EPA Superfund site in need of clean-up. I’d allocate my tax dollars for it.
Therefore, when you are Deftones superfan screaming at me while I take a piss. Evangelizing that the Deftones are the best fucking band in the world? And advising I should leave right now cause Alice In Chains will suck in comparison? All I can do is shrug. And contemplate pissing on your leg. I don’t think Led Zeppelin would have sounded good coming through that mix and I don’t think the Deftones did either. I would love to catch the Deftones live at the Roseland sometime.
Let’s set the scene.
Show is general admission floor. Reserved seats in the lower and upper bowl. Hope the band guarantee is reasonable tonight for the promoter’s sake. Or they are taking one hard in the ass. Floor is packed. Lower bowl is mostly full. Upper bowl is almost empty. Show was overpriced at $50 face value. Face of $20-30 for the upper bowl could have forced this one close to clean. Like almost all national acts now, the perceived valued of the show is much higher than reality. Funny thing about greed. Often overpowers the common sense necessary to actually make money. Guess playing to an empty crowd at a face of $50 is preferable to playing in front of someone at $20-$30 per ticket. Sounds logical, right? Welcome to the live music biz. Logic isn’t a strong suit.
Crowd is a nice split of male/female. I see women here and there giving the slut route a good go. Respect. The occasional drunk/ripped/loaded/high person can be found wandering the concourses and bathrooms hooting and hollering. Trying to pump it up. But that is the exception. Sadly. A generally well behaved crowd. The venue is too big and the crowd is too small to get that “I am at a really hot show” vibe and buzz going.
I’m sitting 8th row. Closest lower reserved. Thanks to the ticket broker who sold me $20 under cost. Sucker. You can always tell a broker versus a scalper. Scalpers don’t sell under cost. View is good except for the lights blinding the shit out of me. Do you like my “concert photo” tribute for this review? That was my vision for most of the set. I’m still seeing spots the next day. I think my retina has been scorched.
Stage setup is large. Huge video screens behind the band. Stage ramps going up behind the drummer Sean Kinney. The aforementioned lights. Alice In Chains definitely giving the arena rock vibe a go. I’m ready to give this shit a go, too. Stage is draped by curtains and a laser/video display starts rolling on the curtain before the opening to to “Them Bones” starts playing. DuVall screams. “I”. “I”. “I”. Curtain drops.
Here’s your setlist, party people.
Them Bones
Dam That River
Rain When I Die
Again
Check My Brain
Your Decision
No Excuses
Grind
We Die Young
A Looking In View
Lesson Learned
It Ain’t Like That
Rooster
—Encore
Nutshell
Man In The Box
Would?
William DuVall is rocking the center of the stage. Mike Inez (bass) is your left. Cantrell is your right. Definitely go right. For the numbers Jerry sings lead for, he moves center and DuVall goes to your right. Definitely where the action is. Don’t sit very side stage on Jerry’s side, though. You will be blinded.
William DuVall plays rhythm guitar on the tracks Jerry Cantrell sings and does the backing vocals. He obviously sings lead for all the songs that Layne Staley held down back in the day. I guess it is required to mention something about the DuVall-Staley vocal similarities. I’m not really that amped to talk about that. As a live performer, DuVall is his own man. Plays guitar capably. Can bring the tone, range, and intensity on his vocal to be complete fire. Has a cool retro-70′s blaxploitation look. And is an engaging live performer. I was taken with him. Layne Staley died alone as a drug addict. He was dead two weeks before they even found the body. That’s a self-imposed horrific waste of talent and life. I’m not going to judge Cantrell and the other surviving members of AIC for re-starting. And I’m not going to call DuVall a poser. Sometimes life deals shit from the bottom of the deck. How people move on and react is their call. As long as it is done respectfully? All I can do is judge the music and show I pay my money for. And the show was nothing but respectful of Staley’s legacy while trying to chart new territory.
“Them Bones” killed. If I close my eyes it sounds just like when I saw original lineup AIC back in the day. And I am fine with it. The second number was “Dam That River”. I was fully into the show by this point. Singing along. Hoping the light would stop shinning in my eyes long enough to see the band. All good, though. Musically, this show is pure fire. Even with the terrible (but better than Deftones) sound quality.
“Check My Brain” lifts the middle of the set. DuVall playing rhythm and singing with that low end sound just churning while the hook, well, hooks me. I love this song and it made me give Black Gives Way To Blue, and the band, a second chance. I’m glad I did tonight. The highlight of “Check Your Brain” for me was the harmonies when Cantrell and DuVall work the chorus together. Really. It is awesome. And made me listen for harmonies the rest of the night. God, that’s dorky.
“No Excuses”, “Grind”, and “When we Die Young” scorch. “No Excuses” is a song that will never leave me. I love it.
And if we change,
Well, I love you anyways….
I’m certifiable for not going to this show at The Roseland last year. A complete idiot. I made the band prove they were worthy and weren’t a karaoke retread. Pathetic. And now I have to watch a kick ass band in the Coliseum instead. “When We Die Young” is balls to the wall and the first track played from Facelift.
Watch where you spit
I’d advise you to wait ’til it’s over
They you got hit
And you shoulda known better
Similar to the show last night. I’m reminded that the time and place I latch onto a band is special. I never realize it until I am at the show. I still remember getting Facelift for Christmas one year and playing the holy living shit out of it. Those memories always stick. Going to a house party and watching a bunch of kids cover “Man In The Box”. The song was so new the kids had tabs and lyrics written down. People just remember the “grunge” era burnout. Living through that initial wave where mainstream pussified terrestrial FM rock radio was transformed into a hard rocking Seattle joint was glorious.
Back to “We Die Young”. I’m screaming lyrics and whipping my head and hair around. Probably annoying those around me. I don’t care. I’m a Facelift kid. Which is reinforced three songs later when “It Ain’t Like That” blows my mind. I’ve always loved the bass and guitar hooks for “It Ain’t Like That”. Tonight was no exception. Perfect.
“Rooster” closes out the set. Since Sean Kinney was the only musician I could see without feeling like I was staring at the sun, I watched him for most of the song. It was fun. Cantrell came over during most of the beginning and hung out with Sean as he tapped the cymbal with his hand while he smoked. I guess you could say the only two original members shared a moment. It made me think, who knows how many times those two have played “Rooster” together? Sean winds it up. Points at the crowd with his left, circles his head with his right, and brings it down to start crashing out the last of the set.
“Nutshell” is the first song of the three song encore. “This is for Layne”. “Man In The Box” is next and just destroys. Frankly, it overshadows the closing song “Would?”. Looking at the setlist reminds me of how good a band this is and was. The setlist is very good and not dominated by new stuff. And still plenty of great music out there to add. “Sea Of Sorrow”, “Love, Hate, Love”, “Down In A Hole”, and “Angry Chair” were all omitted. And others. How many bands would love to be able to call one of those their own live? And they weren’t even played.
Overall, musically? Fucking great night. Venue wise? The Coliseum sucks diseased rhino cock as a music venue. Nothing to recommend about it. The sound is crap. The popcorn is stale. The ambiance is bomb shelter/70′s sporting venue. The smoking area is like a Russian gulag. The stark truth is for shows looking at roughly 10K capacity to book in to, the options in Portland metro are miserable.
Alice In Chains was not miserable. I want to go again. Can give no higher compliment. I love the way DuVall rocks with his guitar, often falling to his knees, and just bringing it on the vocal. Cantrell is a pro and will make sure his side is well taken care of. The low frequency and rhythm section of AIC was always under-appreciated and overlooked as a whole. Tonight it was fantastic. I never really liked the grunge label on AIC. Definitely more heavy metal/hard rock to use the 90′s terms. At least in my mind. AIC always seemed to bridge the harder rocking segment of the alternative/indie types and the more traditional hard rock folks. Judging from the crowd, they still do. And I hope it continues.
