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It took a natural disaster of epic proportions to reunite Alice in Chains after the 2002 death of the rock band's lead vocalist, Layne Staley.
When the 2004 tsunami devastated Southeast Asia, the group's three remaining members — Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez and Sean Kinney — came together for a fundraiser in Seattle.
The event, which featured Tool's Maynard James Keenan, Puddle of Mudd's Wes Scantlin, Ann Wilson and others handling vocals, led to the idea of bringing Alice back for a series of club dates. "It felt really good at that point," said bassist Inez in a phone interview last week from Los Angeles.
"It felt like we could play our songs around the world."
The small but successful experiment turned into large festival runs, shows in Europe with the likes of Guns N' Roses and Metallica, and now a 40-date national tour.
The tour's third stop is Tucson's Rialto Theatre on Tuesday.
"It is going to be a lot different without our brother Layne there with us," Inez said. "But we thought maybe we could do this as a celebration of Layne and of the music that we created together."
The band's new singer is William DuVall, who until joining Chains was the lead vocalist for the hard rock project Comes with the Fall.
"We didn't see many people, hold open rehearsals or anything like that," Inez said. "We just called our friend Will and he was nice enough to come. He is such a good guy and is bringing his own flip to the music. He is not trying to sound like Layne, either, which would have been the worst possible thing."
After successfully testing the waters with DuVall in Europe, the band is now armed with plenty of new material — electric and acoustic songs that may or may not show up on a new Alice in Chains album.
"We don't know what the hell is going on," Inez said. "We are just kind of surfing, seeing which way the wave breaks."
Established bands hit the road with new singers.
Alice in Chains isn't the only band hitting the road with a new voice upfront. Here's a rundown of groups with new singers and how they are faring, according to the Sept. 9 edition of Billboard Magazine:
INXS
Old vocalist: Michael Hutchence
New vocalist: "Rock Star: INXS" winner J.D. Fortune
2006 tour gross: $6,896,945
Shows reported: 35 (87 percent capacity)
Our take: INXS' gamble on finding a new lead through a televised search seems to have paid off. The band has celebrated good Fortune on its inaugural tour.
Journey
Old vocalists: Steve Perry, Steve Augeri and others
New vocalist: Jeff Scott Soto
2006 tour gross: $11,187,243 (with co-headliner Def Leppard)
Shows reported: 18 (86 percent capacity)
Our take: Journey fans don't seem to care who is singing anymore. As long as the band keeps performing its hits, the masses come along for the ride.
New Cars
Old vocalist: Rick Ocasek
New vocalist: Todd Rundgren
2006 tour gross: $1,505,546
Shows reported: 10 (44 percent)
Our take: With so many hit tours with different singers this year, it's kind of surprising to see the New Cars collide with such poor ticket sales.
Queen
Old vocalist: Freddie Mercury
New vocalist: Paul Rodgers
2006 tour gross: $12,858,832
Shows reported: 22 (69 percent)
Our take: No one can ever replace Mercury's distinct vocal theatrics, but Bad Company's Rodgers is apparently up to snuff. Fans showed up in droves to catch the band's 2006 tour.
Arizona Daily Star |
