According to Travis Hay from Earcandybeat.com, ALICE IN CHAINS treated hometown fans to a special invite-only acoustic performance at Experience Music Project followed by the debut of their new record Black Gives Way To Blue accompanied by a laser show at Pacific Science Center. About 450 invited friends and radio station contest winners were invited, however cell phones, cameras and video devices confiscated. After the short acoustic set Jerry Cantrell dragged the crowd to the nearby Pacific Science Center where fans were surprised with free beer (I've been told there was at least one keg there). The band hung out and schmoozed with fans during a meet and greet and later gave them another surprise by playing all of Black Gives Way To Blue (on CD, not live) set to a customized laser show.

The band's setlist from the acoustic show included:

'Brother'

'Got Me Wrong'

'Rooster'

'No Excuses'

'Down In A Hole'

Among the many highlights on Alice In Chains new album, Black Gives Way To Blue - which arrives in stores September 29th - is a special guest performance by ELTON JOHN. The two rock legends collaborated on the album’s stunning title track, 'Black Gives Way To Blue', a heart-stirring tribute to Alice In Chains’ late lead singer Layne Staley.

“We were thinking about adding piano to the track and a friend suggested we call Elton,” recalls guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell. “I remember laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on that.’ But I decided it was worth trying and wrote Elton an email explaining what that song means to us - that it’s a real, raw openhearted song for Layne. We sent him the track and got a call shortly after saying he thought it was beautiful and that he wanted to play on it. We were blown away. Elton John is a huge influence on me as a songwriter and having him on that song is an amazing honour for us.”
“I’ve long been an admirer of Jerry Cantrell and when he asked me to play on ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, I was very flattered and couldn’t resist,” says John. “It was a great recording session with Alice In Chains for a beautiful song.“

About the collaboration, Cantrell says, “Elton was finishing his Red Piano run in Vegas, so we flew there and hung out for a few hours. Walking into a studio and seeing the sheet music for that song on Elton’s piano made it meaningful on so many different levels. The whole experience was pretty magical.”

Black Gives Way To Blue is Alice In Chains’ first new studio release in more than 10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and guitarist/vocalist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

Black Gives Way To Blue tracklisting:

'All Secrets Known'

'Check My Brain'

'Last Of My Kind'

'Your Decision'

'A Looking In View'

'When The Sun Rose Again'

'Acid Bubble'

'Lessons Learned'

'Take Her Out'

'Private Hell'

'Black Gives Way To Blue'

BraveWords.com's Martin Popoff has issued a new story on Alice In Chains. Check it out at this location.

Alice In Chains tour dates are as follows (additional shows to be confirmed):

September

4 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
5 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
7 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
8 - New York, NY - The Fillmore
11 - Nashville, TN - WBUZ Buzzfest
12 - Indianapolis, IN - X-Fest
13 - Dayton, OH - X-Fest
15 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
16 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
17 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
19 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
21 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
24 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theater
26 - Portland, OR - Roseland Grill
28 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
30 - Avalon - Los Angeles, California

October

22 - Bone Bash @ AT&T; Center - San Antonio, Texas