Alice In Chains

London Shepherds Bush Empire

Grunge touchstones still in touch. Twenty-five years after its heyday, a romanticism still surrounds the 90s grunge scene; a timeless pull that has drawn a sell-out audience to West London’s Empire. The movement’s Big Four – Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains – all wrestled with darkness, but it was Alice who perfectly captured the entwinement of sickness and bliss that enveloped Seattle at the time.

From the moment the veterans appear on stage tonight, they walk that line with a mesmerising grace that belies the crush of their material. It’s a set of glorious moments: the nightmarish euphoria of Them

Bones, the fans air- drumming along to crunchy new single The One You Know, and singer William DuVall and guitarist Jerry Cantrell creating a twisted sort of magic with their sublimely tortured vocal harmonies. Upfront, DuVall is welcomed not as a Layne Staley replacement, but as the man who led the band into the light from a dark place. The huge riffs of recent tracks Hollow and Stone prove that AIC’s heaviest material isn’t confined to their past, while Nutshell is affirmation that the band’s most tender moments are some of their best.

An otherworldly Rooster brings the show to a close with band and audience in perfect unison. It’s a reminder that although these songs are haunted by death, tonight they’re a testament to life, love and beauty that has outlived tragedy.

Dannii Leivers