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PHOTOS: Alice in Chains Concert Balances Now with Nostalgia

Alice in Chains performs in front of a red backdrop.
Alice in Chains performs at PNC Music Pavilion on Oct. 4, 2022. (Photo by Jeff Hahne)
It’s hard to believe the current lineup of Alice in Chains with singer William DuVall has been together two years longer than the lineup featuring original singer Layne Stayley. That being said, the band’s focus remained on those early years during Tuesday night’s show at PNC Music Pavilion.
 
Tuesday’s setlist included songs like “Dam That River,” “Them Bones,” “Would?” and “Rooster.” In fact, only three songs on the 15-track setlist were more recent — one from each of the band’s three latest albums. 
 
Alice in Chains performs, with frontman singing into a microphone in the foreground and in the background the drummer plays on a drum set with Betty White giving a rock n roll sign on the bass drum.
Alice in Chains at PNC Music Pavilion. (Photo by Jeff Hahne)
 
That’s not to say the band doesn’t drive forth with the same energy that it used to. DuVall is a much more energetic frontman than the normally stoic Stayley ever was, judging from the set I caught at Lollapalooza in the early ’90s. 
 
 
Alice in Chains provided a solid punch to a night that featured co-headliners Breaking Benjamin stoking the modern metal fires (of course, modern only in the sense that they’ve been around about 10 years less than their counterparts, but still 20+ years). 
 
A guitarist with Breaking Benjamin performs while pyrotechnics explode in the background
Breaking Benjamin performs at PNC Music Pavilion. (Photo by Jeff Hahne)
 
Believe it or not, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale is now 56 years old, but he held his own as well on Tuesday — both vocally and in terms of stage presence, pacing the stage and showing an enthusiasm not often seen during his band’s performances. 
 
Gavin Rossdale sings into a microphone standing in front of a large red curtain that says BUSH in white letters
Gavin Rossdale of Bush. (Photo by Jeff Hahne)
 
The night opened with a set by up-and-coming hard-rock outfit Plush, who proved their mettle (see what I did there?) with a cover of Heart’s “Barracuda.” The female quartet is definitely one to keep an eye on; they opened for Sevendust at Neighborhood Theatre earlier this year and are headed out on the Kiss Kruise later this month
 
Two women play guitar onstage
Plush performs at PNC Music Pavilion. (Photo by Jeff Hahne)
 
All-in-all the night provided a good balance of new vs. nostalgia. 
 
Alice in Chains setlist
Again
Check My Brain
Grind
Them Bones
Dam That River
Hollow
Down In a Hole
Angry Chair
Man in the Box
Nutshell
The One You Know
Got Me Wrong
No Excuses
Would?
Rooster
 
 
Breaking Benjamin setlist
Blow Me Away
Sooner or Later
Firefly
Follow
So Cold
Angels Fall
Breath
Failure
Who Wants to Live Forever
Polyamorous
Give Me a Sign
Red Cold River
Until the End
Torn in Two
I Will Not Bow
The Diary of Jane
 
 
Bush setlist
The Kingdom
Machinehead
Quicksand
Bullet Holes
Everything Zen
Blood River
Flowers on a Grave
More Than Machines
Glycerine
Comedown
 

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