Hard Rock Royalty: Alice In Chains Perform At Fox Theater In Pomona

Review & photos by Matt Nielson

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October 5th 2016, Fox Theater, Pomona CA: In the final week of the second leg of their North American headline run this year, Alice In Chains visited Pomona, California for a gig at the Fox Theater, and our man Matt Nielson was in attendance. Below is his recap of the show via his images and words.

Arriving at 6:30 PM, the line for the Alice In Chains show wrapped around the Fox with well over 300 waiting to secure their spot in the theatre. The general area was packed as Failure was performing their 20th anniversary show for the LP ‘Fantastic Planet’ over at the Glass House across the street. I arrived inside the Fox about 7:30 and the opening band The New Regime came on right at 8 PM sharp, led by Ilan Rubin. This hard rock trio played a fantastic 35-minute set with some great hooks and crisp melodic vocals. Midway through the set, the audience was treated with a proper cover of ‘Spanish Castle Magic’ by Jimi Hendrix. A nice set, but visually there were only the basic house lights during their performance, which was kind of a drag.

The venue was packed from the balcony to the floor by 8:45, and at 9:00, Alice In Chains slowly walked out and went right into ‘Hollow’ from their 2013 release ‘The Devil Puts Dinosaurs Here’. AIC played seven songs from their masterpiece ‘Dirt’, mixing in a few newer numbers like ‘Stone’ and ‘Check My Brain’ from the two newest releases, which altogether made this an 18-song, 90-minute set strong from start to finish. ‘Nutshell’ was a highlight of this evening, along with ‘Your Decision’ and ‘Down In The Hole’. From about midway though the show you could hear the fans yell out ‘Rooster’, and frontman William Duvall smiled and said, “It’s Coming, you’ll see”. The main set closed with ‘Junkhead’, but the encore opened with ‘Rooster’, and the crowd could not be happier. ‘No Excuses’ and ‘Would?’ closed out this performance. A small, calm ‘pit’ formed during ‘Would?’, for old times sake. Everybody was smiling.

For this AIC fan, this show which once again proved that William Duvall has become a perfect piece of this band’s history. His vocals were strong and the addition of his playing rhythm guitar along with Jerry Cantrell is just an added bonus. Overall, a great performance by Alice In Chains, and one hopes to see them again in all their glory, possibly with a new album next time.

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Alice In Chains set list:
01. Hollow
02. Them Bones
03. Dam That River
04. Again
05. Check My Brain
06. Nutshell
07. Angry Chair
08. Man in the Box
09. Your Decision
10. Down in a Hole
11. Stone
12. Last of My Kind
13. We Die Young
14. Got Me Wrong
15. Sludge Factory
Encore:
16. Rooster
17. No Excuses
18. Would?

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