Photo by Stephen Kline.
The modern hard rock scene has been saturated with carbon-copy bands that monopolize on few unique qualities and skills. The bands on Alice in Chains’ BlackDiamondSkye tour showed those bands how to keep fans both old and newrocking as hard as ever.
The tour, named for the newest albums from Alice in Chains, Deftones and Mastodon, respectively, featured a heavy-hitting hard and alternative rock trio that has rocked the scene for the better part of two decades.
Mastodon opened up the set with an explosive opening number and an incredible light show. The band had a lot of flavor in the visual department, but their music lacked energy. Despite the impressive drum work by Brann Dailor, the band’s set felt more like one 40-minute song.
Deftones was next, continuing the mood with an ethereal light show and came on strong with their new single “Rocket Skates.” Their hour-long set was high energy, delivered through the incredible vocal styling of lead singer Chino Moreno as he sung fan favorites from their entire library.
Alice in Chains rocked eagerly waiting fans with powerful lighting and a face-melting rendition of their classic, “Them Bones.” They kept the tempo going with a great stage presence and impressive light show. Hit after hit came early in the set, and they suffered a Mastodon-like snag as the first five songs started to blend together.
Alice in Chains mixed old and new hits, while the voice of recently-added lead vocalist William DuVall soared high above the skillful guitar work of Jerry Cantrell.
They broke pattern with a more intimate acoustic song dedicated to the late Layne Staley. The rest of the set consisted mainly of high-energy favorites, leaving leaving fans satisfied to the last song.
The BlackDiamondSkye tour brings together three of today’s most popular post-grunge, alternative rock groups in what is a great mix of three distinct flavors of the genre. The entire night was high energy and kept the crowd hungry for more.
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