Alice in Chains

I don't even know where to begin... even the opening band "Creature With The Atom Brain" was incredible. I had heard a few clips from them online and didn't care for it at all. They started to play and after a few minutes I looked over at my friend standing next to me and we both had that "WOW" look on our faces. I don't know what mood I was in when I heard their stuff online, but boy was I wrong.
As for AIC, I've always really loved Jerry Cantrell as a guitarist so I had a pretty good idea that the show was gonna be really good. But I had no idea just how good.
I was really glad that he, along with drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez were going to continue on with the band, but with who? You can't just replace Layne Staley. He was one of a kind and he was one fourth of the chemistry that made AIC so amazing. So who could they find to join the band that would be able to do all the older songs justice and still be his own person?
William DuVall is that guy. I had never heard of him before, but I liked a lot of the newer songs on "Black Gives Way To Blue", so I figured that they made a good choice. After seeing them the other night at the Hollywood Palladium, I now realize that they made the ONLY choice. I can't imagine anyone else that could be a part of that band and do it half as well. He fits in perfectly.
Starting with "All Secrets Known" and ending around 2 hours later with "Rooster", every song was played like a rock n' roll machine that was just tuned up for maximum intensity. Every haunting guitar riff, every booming kick drum, every intense bass line, every incredible vocal harmony... basically, they were just so good that it was almost hard to believe.
But they WERE that good.
Thank you Jerry, Sean, Mike & William.

I can't wait 'till you play in Hollywood again.