The incomparable Alice In Chains have announced their initial tour plans for 2014. The 21-date spring tour kicks off on April 25 at the Brady Theatre in Tulsa, OK and wraps up at Harrah’s Stir Cove on May 24. The band is continuing to support their hugely successful album, The Devil Put The Dinosaurs Here, which made TheRockRevival.com’s list of The Top Rock Albums of 2013 at #16 and the video for the single “Hollow” was #3 on our list of The Top 2015 Rock Music Videos of 2013. Debuting at #2 on the Billboard Top 200, the disc sold over 61,000 copies in it’s first week of sales and, so far, has produced three hit singles, the current single being “Voices”. The follow-up to 2009’s Black Gives Way To Blue, disc is the band’s second album with vocalist/guitarist William DuVall. Alice In Chains garnered a Grammy Nomination last week for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for The Devil Put The Dinosaurs Here. Before this headlining tour kicks off, Alice In Chains head to Australia in February for Soundwave Festival, which kicks off on February 22 and runs through March 3. In between festival dates, the band will be playing two separate shows with Down. After that, the band is set to co-headline Singapore Rock Festival along with Korn on March 6, and two Japan dates on March 9 and March 10.
Alice In Chains are largely credited for ushering a new brand of heavy metal at the turn
of the decade in 1990. While it only hit #42 on the Billboard Top 200, their debut album, Facelift, has gone on to be certified double-platinum and features arguably their biggest hit: “Man In The Box”. After the explosion of their first record, AIC returned in 1992 with their sophomore effort, Dirt, which hit #6 on the Billboard Top 200. The album has since gone on to sell over 5 million copies, achieving 5x platinum status by the RIAA. In 1995, the band released what would be their final album with vocalist Layne Staley. The self-titled LP debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and eventually went triple-platinum. During this five-year stretch, Alice In Chains toured with the likes of Van Halen, Iggy Pop, Poison, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, and Ozzy Osbourne. They also toured on Lollapalooza in the summer of 1993. Throughout their entire career, the band has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and 1 American Music Award. They have also been nominated for 3 MTV Video Music Awards, winning 1 in 1993 for the song “Would?”.
The band has enjoyed much success in recent years since their reformation in 2005. After playing a series of 1-offs with special guest vocalists, the band officially reformed with new vocalist William DuVall in 2008 and entered the studio to begin work on a new album. Much like contemporaries Soundgarden, it had been 14 years since AIC’s last studio effort. In 2009, Black Gives Way To Blue was released to much fan praise and critical acclaim. The record hit #5 on the Billboard Top 200, and garnered the band two Grammy Award nominations. Alice In Chains were one of the most successful music acts of the 1990s, selling over 25 million albums worldwide throughout the decade. In 1992, the band released sophomore album, Dirt, which was critically acclaimed and has been certified quadruple platinum. Two of the band’s albums, Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains, both hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200. In total, Alice In Chains have received eight Grammy Award nominations throughout their career. The band’s latest effort, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, dropped on May 28, 2013 and hit #2 on the Billboard Top 200. – by Matt Bishop (Alice In Chains Live Photo Gallery)
