LAMC Productions is proud to announce heavy grunge godfathers, ALICE IN CHAINS will headline and close the very first SINGAPORE ROCK FESTIVAL on March 6, 2014 at Fort Canning Park! The full electrifying lineup now includes previously announced co-headliners ROB ZOMBIE and KORN with acclaimed hard rock bands FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and BLACK VEIL BRIDES on Wednesday March 5, 2014. Seattle rock heavyweights ALICE IN CHAINS completes the lineup with rock juggernauts ALTER BRIDGE and NEWSTED on Thursday March 6, 2014!

In many ways, ALICE IN CHAINS was the definitive heavy metal band of the early ’90s. Drawing equally from the heavy riffing of post-Van Halen metal and the gloomy strains of post-punk, the band developed a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock with subtly textured acoustic numbers. They were hard enough for metal fans, yet their dark subject matter and punky attack placed them among the front ranks of the Seattle-based grunge bands. While this dichotomy helped the group soar to multi-platinum status with their second album, 1992’s Dirt, it also divided them. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell always leaned toward the mainstream, while vocalist Layne Staley was fascinated with the seamy underground. In April 2002, the news that every Alice in Chains fan had feared for years had finally come to pass: Layne Staley was found dead. 

 

After a long hiatus the members of ALICE IN CHAINS have decided to honor their musical legacy by taking their beloved songs to the road this spring/summer. JERRY CANTRELL, MIKE INEZ and SEAN KINNEY will be joined by WILLIAM DUVALL, who will handle lead vocals for the group’s U.S. club shows and overseas festival performances in Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia.

CANTRELL says, “We’re gonna take it like we always did, and we’ve always kind of made it up as we’ve gone along. If you were looking at how to really capitalize on this experience and really make dough and make it a profitable thing, a band might, you know come out with a singer, have a record ready and all that. But that’s not where we’re coming from with this thing. We’re coming from the place of ‘It feels good, and we’re having a good time, so we’d like people to be a part of that.'” KINNEY told Reuters, “We’re not trying to replace Layne…We want to play these songs one more time, and if it seems like the right thing to do, it’ll happen. I don’t know how long it will go or where it will take us. It’s kind of a tribute to Layne and our fans, the people who love these songs.”

The ALICE IN CHAINS legacy dates back to 1987 when the tight-knit group began a riotous ride that saw them escorted from their illegal rehearsal space by Seattle’s finest to a 1989 record deal with Columbia Records. Their instantly recognizable brand of dark, moody rock would become a signature sound and a major influence on later rock bands.

ALICE IN CHAINS released their debut EP WE DIE YOUNG (July 1990) and the title track went on to be their first of many rock radio hits. The platinum-certified FACELIFT followed in August of 1990 and the video for the grinding hit “Man in the Box” went into regular rotation on MTV. In 1992 ALICE IN CHAINS began recording DIRT with Dave Jerden again producing. DIRT–which debuted at #6 on the Billboard charts in September 1992 and went platinum in less than two months–was their darkest release to that point with a heavy, guitar-driven sound and lyrics exploring a sense of alienation and addiction. 1992 also saw the release of SAP–a five-song acoustic EP. But it was Cameron Crowe’s 1992 film Singles, about the lives of 20-somethings in Seattle that transformed the song “Would?” into an anthem for the brooding angst of Generation X. While the band was touring to promote DIRT, MIKE STARR left the group to be replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne bassist MIKE INEZ. In 1993, Alice in Chains’ first collaboration with INEZ was two tracks (“What the Hell Have I” and “A Little Bitter”) for the Last Action Hero soundtrack. JAR OF FLIES — released in January 1994 — marked a return to more mellow acoustic arrangements, punctuated by Cantrell’s signature electric guitar riffs and Staley’s bracing vocal intensity. It would be the first EP in Billboard chart history to debut at #1. A year later the band released ALICE IN CHAINS which also debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts and launched a handful of hard rock singles that would cement the band’s place in the pantheon of metal legends.

Over the next few years, CANTRELL, KINNEY and INEZ would go onto different projects including CANTRELL’s Degradation Trip (his sophomore solo album) which was dedicated to STALEY. The 25-song double album was a stunning emotional tour-de-force, written before STALEY’s passing but often cited for the prophetic mournfulness of its lyrics. After the 2002 death of LAYNE STALEY, the members of ALICE IN CHAINS continued on with their projects until a 2005 benefit in Seattle. Overwhelmed by the Tsunami, they were moved to put together a charity show for CARE. It was the first time the band performed together in eight years. Five months later, KINNEY posed the question, “Should we go round the world and play these songs one more time.” Their March 2006 performance on the “VH1 Decades Rock Live” tribute to Heart in Atlantic City confirmed that their fans still wanted to hear them live. JERRY CANTRELL, SEAN KINNEY and MIKE INEZ are thrilled to be reunited and returning to the music they created and the legacy that is ALICE IN CHAINS.