Alice in Chains bring their Rainer Fog tour to Hamilton

On the 10th stop of their tour promoting their new album, Rainier Fog, Alice In Chains showcased a great cross section of their body of work, playing more from their sophomore album Dirt than from the most recent. Still, some of the highlights of the show were the four selections from recently released Rainier Fog – “Never Fade”, the title track “Rainier Fog”, “Red Giant”, and then “The One You Know” as an encore number.  Ultimately cuts from all six studio albums were included in the set, plus a couple from their MTV Unplugged session and Jar of Flies EP, so long-time followers will be very happy with the deep and broad set list.

The album and song title ‘Rainier Fog’ are a nod to Mount Rainier. In a June 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Jerry Cantrell said, “This song is a little homage to all of that: where we come from, who we are, all of the triumphs, all of the tragedies, lives lived.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/alice-in-chains-talk-honoring-seattle-comrades-with-new-album-rainier-fog-666951/

Always consistent with their Seattle roots and its influence on their sound (and their important influence on the development of the Seattle sound and scene), Alice In Chains crosses and blends genres to create their own distinct sound and unique identity, stewing grunge, heavy metal, blues, rock and roll, punk,  with melodic writing, solid harmonies, poetic lyrics and pulsing rhythm. (With the occasional odd-meter song to keep the toe-tappers guessing e.g. Them Bones in 7/8, Dam That River in 6/4)

For some reason all entertainment sites in Hamilton must be named ‘First Ontario’, reminiscent of the Monty Python sketch where everyone is called Bruce, just to avoid confusion.  I wasn’t the only out of town reviewer/photographer who expected the venue to be the old Copp’s Coliseum arena concert bowl, now called FirstOntario Centre, and was surprised it was held in FirstOntario Concert Hall, formerly named Hamilton Place theatre, and a couple of them went to the wrong venue first.  We all wondered about holding an ‘arena rock’ show in a soft seat theatre, but from the first notes there was no question it worked!

Alice In Chains had the packed house of over 2,000 on their feet from the first note of the opener”‘Bleed the Freak” until the last chord of “Rooster”.  The crowd had palpable energy, and spanned generations – millennials who’ve become avid fans more recently shoulder to shoulder with those who have been there since the band’s origins in 1987.

The opener City and Colour (Dallas Green) teed it up perfectly for the headliner with an acoustic set featuring his genre blending talents, solid writing and wonderful voice. In a nice nod to Dallas, Alice In Chains invited him up to perform ‘Nutshell’ with them as the first song of their encore.

The tour continues for two final dates in Quebec, Montreal tonight and Quebec City on Sunday before leaving for a European run. Alice in Chains will return to Toronto for a stop at Budweiser Stage on August 14!

For full tour details and tickets visit www.aliceinchains.com

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