Spin the Black Circle

Music journalist Travis Hay drops some knowledge and insight about local and national music news, offers reviews and offers a place for conversation on all things music.
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Posts Tagged ‘Alice In Chains’

The best concerts of 2010

Monday, December 27th, 2010

When I look back at all of the wonderful shows I was lucky enough to attend in 2010 it seems pretty clear that it was a great year for concerts in Seattle. From big names like Arcade Fire, Gorillaz and Muse coming to town to festivals like Bumbershoot attracting music fans young and old to see the likes of Drake, Bob Dylan and Weezer, in my book there was no better place to be than in Seattle for concerts in 2010.

With so many amazing concerts to choose from I’m surprised I somehow managed to narrow down my list of favorite concerts of the year to 15. Not surprising is that 11 of my 15 favorites were from local artists big and small. Here are my favorite shows of the year in chronological order with a one-sentece summary for each :

Shabazz Palaces at Neumos 01.08.10
One of the most hyped local hip-hip acts delivered during its public debut

McCready and McKagan having a hootenanny Photo by Jason Tang

Hootenanny for Haiti at the Showbox 02.28.10

Some of Seattle’s biggest stars came out for a good cause

No-Fi Soul Rebellion at Nectar Photo by Alex Crick

Ear Candy Birthday Bash at Nectar 03.20.10
A birthday with Katie Kate, No-Fi Soul Rebellion, Lisa Dank and Queerbait! is a damn good birthday

Shawn Smith fronting a reunited Mother Love Bone

Brad and friends at the Showbox  04.14.10

Why yes I would like a Mother Love Bone reunion featuring Shawn Smith on vocals.

Soundgarden at the Showbox 04.16.10
The biggest reunion of the year in a very small setting (more…)

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From Crosscut: A review of Alice in Chains at the Paramount 02.04.10

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Below is an excerpt of a review I wrote for Crosscut. You can read the entire review by clicking on the jump.

Alice in Chains is one of the more interesting cases of a major grunge group experiencing post-90s success.

They don’t carry a catalog of anthems like Pearl Jam or Soundgarden. They’re nowhere near Nirvana’s poppy punk-metal hybrid style, and they don’t define their genre in the way a band like Mudhoney does. Oh, and their original lead singer died suddenly, replaced by a relative unknown four years ago. All of this points to Alice in Chains being one of the least likely comeback bands from the era of flannel fashion and Neanderthal hairstyles. But they’re not only making a comeback, they’re cranking out a batch of quality new tunes to boot.

There they were Thursday night (Feb. 4) at the Paramount Theatre, nearly two decades after the g-word was in Vogue, playing to a capacity crowd of rabid fans while supporting a new Grammy-nominated album — last year’s exceptional Black Gives Way to Blue. The album, which lost to AC/DC for Best Hard Rock Performance, was released 14 years after the band’s last studio recording.

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PREVIEW: Alice in Chains new album Black Gives Way To Blue

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Alice In Chains released a teaser of its highly anticipated upcoming record Black Gives Way To Blue earlier today. It’s no laser show, but it’s a nice sampling of what the album has to offer. The record drops Sept. 29.

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Alice in Chains debuts new album with invite-only acoustic set followed by a laser show

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

The boys in Alice In Chains are back at it with new singer William Duvall and Wednsday they treated hometown fans to a sepcial invite-only acoustic performance followed by the debut of their new record “Black Gives Way To Blue” accompanied by a laser show at Pacific Science Center. I didn’t attend the show but reports have been trickling in from Twitter, Facebook and other outlets about the experience. Those who were there had their cell phones, cameras and video devices confiscated but word has it Nik over at Seattle Rock Guy was at the show and is writing about what went down. As of 1:38 a.m. (that’s when I’m typing this) nothing has been posted. So check back later today for the details.

UPDATE: Here’s some of the set list from the acoustic show as provided by a loyal reader:

Brother

Got Me Wrong

Rooster

No Excuses

Down In A Hole

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Hear it here: New Alice In Chains “A Looking In View”

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Alice In Chains are back. The band is gearing up for the release of its upcoming album “Black Gives Way to Blue” Sept. 29. Today the group slipped out the first single from that album, ist first with new singer William DuVall, titled “A Looking In View.”

It’s a pretty dark, sludgy, heavy song. Lots of Jerry Cantrell vocals. If the rest of the record sounds like this then it’s very good news for fans of vintage Alice In Chains.

As you probably already know, the band briefly reunited in 2005, performing what was believed to be a one-off concert featuring Maynard James Keenan, Chad Kroeger, the Wilson sisters, Pat Lachman and others filling in on vocals. Since that show the Chains gang hooked up with DuVall, played a bunch of shows nationally and internationally and recorded an album. Here is what the results of that collaboration sound like. What do you think?

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