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Alice In Chains  

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• Upcoming 2024 concerts: none

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Alice in Chains (formed in 1987) is an American alternative metal and grunge-influenced rock band who made their breakthrough in 1992 album with the full-length “Dirt”, hailing from Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Initially formed as Alice N’ Chains to dispel connotations of female bondage, the band’s early lineup included Layne Staley, guitarists Johnny Bacolas and Zoli Semanate, drummer James Bergstrom, and bassist Byron Hansen. Staley subsequently met guitarist Jerry Cantrell at Music Bank rehearsal studios, while working with Alice N’ Chains, and the two began living together. It wasn’t long before Staley and Cantrell were playing live together, and alongside drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr, ultimately formed Alice in Chains.

The band recorded an early demo tape, “The Treehouse Tapes”, aided by local promoter Randy Hauser, which caught the attentional of Columbia Records. By 1989 Alice in Chains were signed to Columbia’s roster, and released their debut promotional EP “We Die Young” in July 1990. The EP and lead single “We Die Young” both generated considerable success for the band, turning Alice in Chains into one of the label’s top priorities.

The group’s debut studio album “Facelift” was issued by Columbia in August 1990, peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard 200. Bridging the musical gap between grunge/alt-rock and heavy metal, the record proved a huge success aided by the singles “Man in the Box” and “Sea of Sorrow”. In support of the LP Alice in Chains toured extensively in support of Iggy Pop, Van Halen, Poison, and Extreme, before opening on the Clash of the Titans Tour.

Alice in Chain’s subsequent release was the acoustic EP “Sap” inspired by a dream drummer Sean Kinney had. Popularised by fellow Seattle-based band Nirvana, whose album “Nevermind” was at the top of the charts, Alice in Chain’s recognition was growing at an increasing rate. Focusing on the subject of addiction, with songs written on the road, the band’s sophomore full-length “Dirt” was released in September 1992. Rising to No. 6 on the Billboard 200, the record earned widespread critical acclaim, later being certified four-times platinum. Spawning the Top 30 singles “Would?”, “Rooster”, “Them Bones”, “Angry Chair”, and “Down in a Hole”, the record was supported by an opening slot for Ozzy Osbourne and on the 1993 Lollapalooza tour.

A second acoustic EP followed in 1994 entitled “Jar of Flies”, which subsequently became the first-ever EP to top the Billboard 200. Hauntingly sorrowful, the EP was written and recorded in one week and spawned the singles “No Excuses” and “I Stay Away”. Following a hiatus in which Staley entered rehab for his heroin addiction and joined the supergroup Mad Season, Alice In Chains released their self-titled, third album in November 1995. Once again topping the U.S. Billboard 200, the record earned a wave of esteemed reviews, following which the group recorded and released an MTV Unplugged session in 1996.

Following two years of struggles for Staley in 1998 he reunited with Alice in Chains to record two new songs “Get Born Again” and “Died”. The band went on to release a string of box-sets and compilation albums including “Nothing Safe: Best of the Box” and “Greatest Hits”, before in April 2002, Layne Staley was found dead in his condominium. The remaining members of Alice in Chains, including new vocalist William DuVall, returned in 2005 to play a benefit concert in aid of the tsunami disaster. Four years later, ahead of their fourth studio album, Alice in Chains released the single “A Looking in View” in June 2009. The full-length “Black Gives Way to Blue” followed in September, featuring Elton John on the title track. In 2013 Alice in Chains release their fifth studio album “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Her”, led by the singles “Hollow”, “Stone”, and “Voices”.

Live reviews

For a band of such iconic status, many people do not realise that Alice In Chains have only released five studio albums in their vast career that spans back to the late 80's. They are very much a group that believes in the mentality of quality over quantity. The quartet is known for having an anthemic live show and despite not relying on tricks and gimmicks of the stage, they still manage to entertain the crowds with vast sets of crippling instrumentals and thumping beats.

Demonstrating the highlights of their discography for anybody who may not know, going all the way back to the debut to air the likes of 'Dam The River' and 'Rooster'. These are of course received well and with extended instrumentals and new arrangements they seem fresh and classic all at once. The group really does enjoy showing off their musical prowess and they have turned 'We Die Young' into a sheer wall of sonar which the crowd really responds well to. By the final tones of 'Would?', the audience knows that the band clearly do not need more than five albums.

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Alice in Chains is a band that strongly believes in quality over quantity. Their career has spanned several decades, they formed in the 80s, but they have only released five studio albums to date as a result of their incredible determination to produce music of the best quality only. Their fans are extremely appreciative of this fact and the band has garnered a whole legion of dedicated and devoted fans over the years as a result of this. The amount of lighting and stage gimmicks was minimal but this barely mattered because the music and quality of the band was so good. The thumping beats, bass and melodic instrumentals all worked together perfectly and stirred the loving crowd into a frenzy. This frenzy only increased in madness as the band played more and more of their biggest hits, including a brilliant rendition of ‘Nutshell’. They even paid homage to their beginnings with old singles such as ‘Rooster’ and ‘Dam the River’. Overall, it was a fantastic night and the atmosphere could not have been better.

Excited was an understatement. Countdown on Facebook started past Monday. So why did we leave early? Bass overpowered rest of band. Sound generally distorted. So badly, that we often lost track of where the lyrics were. Band could have been making up lyrics and we wouldn't have known due to the overwhelming bass and horrid acoustic set up. Not sure who ok'd final sound check, but they must have had ear plugs in during operation.

Leaving early allowed us the plus of avoiding traffic. Would have preferred staying till last encore with our hands numb from clapping, and ears mildly deaf. Ears were still numb. Too bad they didn't begin that way.

The opening band was terrible. Unaware of there even being one until I looked at this website.

Poorly promoted. Badly presented. Generally awful.

Hope rest of tour goes better for Alice In Chains. The diversity of age and ethnicity speaks to the staying power of such a fantastic and unusual band. Fans, such as ourselves, were horribly disappointed.

Alice in Chains sounded phenomenal! I will start with that! Jerry Cantrell did not miss a chord, and sounded incredible. It was awesome to hear them sound as good as their CD. I was VERY disappointed that they started late, and only played an hour and 45 minutes. I payed for "an evening with Alice in Chains" and didn't even get 2 hours for the $80 a ticket I paid. I was also EXTREMELY" disappointed that they ended the show with 2 songs that weren't highlight songs to end with. Also, they just left the stage, NO ENCORE! I left the venue feeling like I got robbed, and didn't get to hear some key songs! "Don't follow", "Rotten Apple", "I stay Away" to just name a few. I hoped to hear Jerry sing "my song" from his solo album as well. All in all, they sounded INCREDIBLE, but really left you hanging the end, feeling like you didn't get what you paid for.

The first time I saw Alice in Chains was without a doubt the best concert I've been to that far in my life. They played all their best stuff, including 'Nutshell'. Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall's vocal duos are a worthy inheritor for the one and only Layne Staley. Then I saw them a second time later that year at an open-air festival, which was nearly as good as the first time. Despite all the drunk douchebags, I still managed to sing along to every single song. Because, after all, AIC is the best thing to ever happen to anything ever. I am so glad they finally played 'Angry Chair', but I have yet to hear 'Last of My Kind'. Or any Mad Season songs, I hoped I could get them to play one. Because of how powerful their rendition was, I had 'Your Decision' stuck in my head on nonstop loop for months afterwards.

Alice in Chains played for just under 2 hours at the Grey Eagle Event Centre in Calgary last night and everyone went home happy. The band rocked the place with their sludgy, doom metal, minor chord, disharmonies to the delight of their fans. They mixed their new and old material to good effect. Highlights included Rainier Fog and Red Giant from their latest album Rainier Fog and old classics Man in the Box and Rooster, which closed out a four song encore. If you are worried these guys might be too long in the tooth to really bring it don't be. Ironically, the loss of their iconic front man Lane Stayley in 2002 forced them through a refresh that may keep them relevant for years to come.

I saw the last 4 songs by Underoath. I thought they had one good song.

Alice in Chains was next. I was surprised at how many people were still sitting for this. THeir performance was good but I thought they played too many songs from Dirt. Last of my Kind and The One you Know were the only recent tracks that I recall hearing. Voices, Take her out and All Secrets known would have been nice to hear.

Korn pretty much put them away with their set. Maybe if it had been a 3 band bill instead of 4 bands, Alice would have had more playing time. The show was well worth it in any case but overall I thought Alice's set was too soft for me.

Man AWESOME SHOW!!!!! u saw them 2 years ago and point fest and walked out I was so cold and burned out and the singer seemed to put his own jimi hendrix style to the songs and it sucked but this time if you closed your eyes you could imagine lane up there belting out these songs nothing short of AMAZING!!! Jerry looking super old like Eric clapton but playing his ass of like a warrior and to top it off the bass player was rocking a Amarillo Cooper raiders jersey in arrowhead mad cuddos there coming from a raiders fan here

OK, guys don't if you will post this or not but the truth is. I had never heard either of the bands playing before the night of the show. I went to the concert for my husband who is a big fan (I expected to pray for a quick death)! The truth is I loved it! I had never listened to this style of music however, haven't stopped talking about it. Can't wait for the next one! I was shocked to hear the bass line. A great time! I was impressed with the concert venue and purchased tickets for the following weekend! A win win!

This was an AWESOME concert i try to never mis any of their shows when they're around here in birmingham Alabama. This is my second time I've seen them live but my third time I've seen Jerry Cantrel live couse of one time when he went solo back in 1997 i saw him live in WPB Florida. They're awesome and by the way, the openning band were awesome too, The Pink Slips they rock big time their female vocalist was a hottie. i am very satisfied with the show. Would go see Alice in Chains again and again, keep ROCKING

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Alice In Chains & Breaking Benjamin Announce 2022 Tour Kicking Off This Summer

Featuring Special Guest Bush 

Tickets on sale starting friday, march 11th at 10 am local on ticketmaster.com.

WHO: Alice In Chains & Breaking Benjamin with special guest Bush

WHAT: Iconic American rock bands Alice In Chains and Breaking Benjamin come together for the first time for a co-headlining tour with special guests Bush to put on an incredible night of rock across the country, making it one of the hottest tours of the summer. Produced by Live Nation, the 30-city tour kicks off on August 10th at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, PA winds across the U.S. in Camden NJ, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Seattle, Irvine, CA and more before wrapping up in Mansfield at the Xfinity Center on October 8th.

With over 30 years behind them and 30 million records sold, the upcoming tour marks Alice In Chains’ first tour dates in nearly three years. The band will be playing iconic songs from their classic albums like Dirt and Facelift as well as fan favorites from their more recent releases Rainier Fog and Black Gives Way To Blue. Alice In Chains were honored in December 2020 with the Museum of Pop’s annual Founders Award. The celebration was streamed worldwide, viewed well over 1 million times, and offered fans a chance to see acoustic performances from Alice In Chains, as well as covers from musicians and friends of the band.

Sean Kinney, founding member and drummer for Alice In Chains said about the tour, “We’re looking forward to finally hitting the road again this summer. It’s been too long and we can’t wait to get outdoors and share a night of music with our fans again.”

Alongside Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin are looking forward to performing live, coming off of a pair of successful tours in Fall 2021. Their most recent work, Aurora was released in January of 2020. Comprised of reimagined versions from their critically acclaimed catalog, Aurora quickly became a fan favorite and featured the brand new, “Far Away.” As always, the band will be performing a set chock full of hits all summer long.

Ben Burnley of Breaking Benjamin says, “We are so extremely excited to be hitting the road with Alice In Chains and Bush. It’s such an honor to share the stage with such amazing bands that we grew up listening to and have influenced us so very much! We can’t wait to see you all out there!!”

TICKETS: Tickets On Sale Starting Friday, March 11th at 10 AM Local on Ticketmaster.com

TOUR DATES:

Wed Aug 10 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake

Thu Aug 11 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion

Sat Aug 13 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview

Sun Aug 14 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater

Tue Aug 16 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre

Wed Aug 17 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center

Sat Aug 20 – Council Bluffs, IA – Westfair Amphitheater^^

Mon Aug 22 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater

Wed Aug 24 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL

Sat Aug 27 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre^^

Mon Aug 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre

Wed Aug 31 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater

Fri Sep 2 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

Mon Sep 5 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre

Wed Sep 7 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre

Thu Sep 8 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre

Sat Sep 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion

Sun Sep 11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater

Wed Sep 14 – Del Valle, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater

Fri Sep 16 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion**

Sat Sep 17 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman**

Tue Sep 20 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP

Wed Sep 21 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO

Tue Sep 27 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

Wed Sep 28 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

Fri Sep 30 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds

Sat Oct 1 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre

Tue Oct 4 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion

Wed Oct 5 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live

Sat Oct 8 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center

**Bush not appearing

^^not produced by Live Nation

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

About Alice In Chains

Over the course of their remarkable career, ALICE IN CHAINS (vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) have garnered multiple Grammy nominations, sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and amassed a diehard international fanbase whose members number in the millions. Their discography features some of the biggest and most important albums in rock history, including 1992’s quadruple-platinum-certified “DIRT,” 1994’s triple-platinum-certified EP JAR OF FLIES, which was the first EP in music history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and 1995’s self-titled double-platinum-certified ALICE IN CHAINS, which also entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 1. They returned in grand style in 2009 with the critically acclaimed BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE, which hit No. 1 across the rock and alternative charts, earned a Grammy nomination, was certified Gold and hailed by Vice as “a record that’s as powerful as anything the band has done.” Theband’s latest album released in 2018, RAINIER FOG, hit No. 1 across Billboard’s Rock, Alternative and Hard Music Charts and No. 1 on the iTunes Rock Album Chart and earned them a Grammy nod for “Best Rock Album.” ALICE IN CHAINS remains one of the most successful and influential American rock bands of all time.

About Breaking Benjamin

Breaking Benjamin are no strangers to the upper echelons of the rock charts. Since bursting onto thescene with2002’s Saturate, the band has amassed an impressive string of mainstream rock radio hits, with ten songs hitting #1, numerous platinum and multi-platinum songs and albums, 8.5 billion combined streams worldwide and a social imprint of over 6.5 million — a testament to the band’s global influence and loyal fan base. Their most recent release, AURORA, gave Breaking Benjamin their 10th #1 song at rock radio with “Far Away ft. Scooter Ward.” Breaking Benjamin’s last studio album, EMBER debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and marked the multiplatinum band’s fourth Top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200, following 2015’s #1 debut for DARK BEFORE DAWN (Gold), 2009’s DEAR AGONY (Platinum) at #4 and 2006’s PHOBIA (Platinum) at #2. EMBER spun off two #1 hits at Active Rock Radio with “Red Cold River” and “Torn in Two.” AURORA and EMBER charted Top 10 across numerous countries worldwide and topping #1 charts across multiple genres, including Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Digital Albums. For more information, check out the band’s website. https://breakingbenjamin.com

With a discography that includes such seminal rock albums as 1994’s 6x platinum-selling SIXTEEN STONE,‘96’s triple-platinum-selling RAZORBLADE SUITCASE and ‘99’s platinum-selling THE SCIENCE OF THINGS,BUSH has sold over 20 million records in the U.S. and Canada alone. They’ve also compiled an amazing string of 23 consecutive Top 40 hit singles on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. Eleven of those hit theTop5, six of which shot to No. 1: “Comedown,” “Glycerine,” “Machinehead,” “Swallowed,” “The Chemicals Between Us” and “The Sound of Winter.” The lattermade rock radio history as the first self-released song ever to hit No. 1 at Alternative Radio, where it spent 6 weeks perched atop the charts top spot. The song appeared on 2011’s “comeback album, ”THE SEA OF MEMORIES, which was BUSH’s first studio album in ten years.That year Billboard ran a story about the band under the headline, “Like They Never Left” – a fitting title as the multi-platinum quartet (vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Gavin Rossdale, guitarist Chris Traynor, bassist Corey Britz and drummer Nik Hughes) promptly picked up where they left off. They’ve continued to dominate rock radio and play sold-out shows to audiences around the world ever since. Their latest albumThe Kingdom followed 2017’s Black And White Rainbows, which People magazine hailed as “a triumphant return.”

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ALICE IN CHAINS Announces Summer Tour With BREAKING BENJAMIN & BUSH

It kicks off this August.

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ALICE IN CHAINS Announces Fall 2023 Headlining Tour Dates

ALICE IN CHAINS has announced a series of headlining shows during their fall 2023 tour with GUNS N' ROSES .

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, June 29 at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

Sep. 23 - Kansas City, MO - Kauffman Stadium (supporting GUNS N' ROSES) Sep. 24 - Tulsa, OK - Tulsa Theater Sep. 26 - San Antonio, TX - Alamodome (supporting GUNS N' ROSES) Sep. 28 - Houston, TX - Minute Maid Park (supporting GUNS N' ROSES) Oct. 01 - San Diego, CA - Snapdragon Stadium (supporting GUNS N' ROSES) Oct. 03 - Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues Oct. 05 - Highland, CA - Yaamava' Theater Oct. 07 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles Amphitheatre Oct. 08 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort Oct. 10 - Las Vegas, NV - Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood Oct. 11 - Phoenix, AZ - Chase Field (supporting GUNS N' ROSES) Oct. 13 - Boise, ID - Idaho Centeral Arena Oct. 14 - Spokane, WA - The Podium Oct. 16 - Vancouver, BC - BC Place Stadium (supporting GUNS N' ROSES)

In a recent interview with Terrie Carr of the Morristown, New Jersey radio station 105.5 WDHA , ALICE IN CHAINS singer William DuVall was asked about a possible follow-up to the band's "Rainier Fog" album, which came out in August 2018. He said: "I would suppose [there will be new music coming soon]. There's no plans in the offing right now, because we're all kind of doing other things. But inevitably it seems to kind of circle back. [ Laughs ]"

DuVall also reflected on his 17-year stint as the ALICE IN CHAINS frontman, saying: "In some ways it feels like seven minutes, and in other ways it feels like 37 years. [ Laughs ] It's really interesting — time, your perceptions of time. But, yeah, there are certain memories that feel like three lifetimes ago, and then there are certain things that happened maybe 15 years ago but it feels like yesterday. It's really weird. But it's great. And I'm really proud of everything that we've been able to accomplish in that time."

William 's critically acclaimed debut solo effort, "One Alone" , arrived in October 2019. The 11-track album showed DuVall 's powerful voice with nothing but an acoustic guitar to back it. A follow-up effort, "11.12.21 Live-In-Studio Nashville" , came out in June 2022 via DVL Recordings . The LP captured a power trio performance recorded live direct-to-disc at the famed Welcome To 1979 Studio in Nashville on November 12, 2021.

Prior to joining ALICE IN CHAINS in 2006, DuVall was a member of punk rock bands AWARENESS VOID OF CHAOS , NEON CHRIST , BL'AST! and FINAL OFFERING . DuVall 's long musical history also includes COMES WITH THE FALL and ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell 's solo work.

Cantrell befriended the members of COMES WITH THE FALL in the early 2000s, playing shows with the band on the West Coast, then enlisting the musicians to tour with him as both opening act and backing group in support of his album "Degradation Trip" .

DuVall appears on the last three ALICE IN CHAINS albums: 2009's "Black Gives Way To Blue" , 2013's "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" and "Rainier Fog" .

We’re excited to add some special headline dates while we’re out with Guns N' Roses this fall. Tickets go on sale Thursday, June 29, at 10AM local time. aliceinchains.com/tour/ Posted by Alice in Chains on  Monday, June 26, 2023

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Alice In Chains Announces Fall 2023 U.S. Tour Dates

Cait Stoddard

[READ FULL BIO]

• Alice in Chains
• Jerry Cantrell
• molly sides
• thunderpussy

Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell Announces 2023 Tour Dates

by Jacob Uitti November 11, 2022, 11:38 am

Alice in Chains frontman Jerry Cantrell has announced a swath of 2023 tour dates, beginning on February 21 in Ventura, California, and wrapping up on April 1 in Tacoma, Washington.

Videos by American Songwriter

Cantrell will be supported by the fabulous Seattle-born rock group, Thunderpussy, fronted by the elegant-yet-rampaging singer, Molly Sides.

The tour marks Cantrell’s next real occasion to play songs from his 2021 solo album, Brighten . He has performed some dates earlier this year in April. Fans can expect solo songs as well as Alice in Chains tunes.

To celebrate the news, Cantrell also released a new music video for the (NSFW) song, “Prism of Doubt,” which fans can check out below.

A ticket pre-sale is currently underway for the tickets (fans can use the code: Brighten). There is also a Live Nation presale starting on Thursday at 10 a.m. local time (with the code HEADLINE). General on-sale starts Friday at 10 a.m. local time. Fans can get tickets via  Ticketmaster .

Check out the new campy video below, which features Barbie-like action figures and a comet threatening to hit the Earth. And check out the tour dates for Cantrell and Thunderpussy as well.

Jerry Cantrell’s 2023 US Tour Dates with Thunderpussy:

02/21 – Ventura, CA @ Majestic Ventura Theatre 02/22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Midway 02/24 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Auditorium 02/25 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre 02/26 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre 02/28 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater 03/04 – Tulsa, OK @ Tulsa Theater 03/05 – Fayetteville, AR @ JJ’s Live 03/07 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern 03/08 – Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall 03/10 – Durham, NC @ Carolina Theatre 03/11 – Montclair, NJ @ The Wellmont Theater 03/12 – Huntington, NY @ The Paramount 03/14 – Providence, RI @ Strand Ballroom 03/15 – Portland, ME @ Aura 03/17 – Beverly, MA @ The Cabot Theater 03/18 – Bensalem, PA @ Xcite Center 03/19 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom 03/21 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue 03/22 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave/Eagles Club 03/24 – Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory 03/25 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre 03/27 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre 03/29 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory 03/31 – Spokane, WA @ Fox Theater 04/01 – Tacoma, WA @ Pantages Theater

Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

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LIVE REVIEW: ALICE IN CHAINS AMERICAN TOUR 2022

Iconic American rock bands Alice In Chains and Breaking Benjamin came together for the first time for a co-headlining tour with special guests Bush, and on beautiful Sunday night tour came to in Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY. That was the fourth show in a massive 30-city trek around the country. This show was simply perfect. Weather was sunny and warm, venue is one of the most amazing as it is located right on the water, performances were out of this world and fans enjoyed every single second of greatest rock music, cold beer, and electrifying atmosphere.

Written by Andris Jansons

The evening started with great performance from The L.I.F.E. Project. The new band organized by Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand and Paralandra vocalist Casandra Carson. They played wonderful set and we need to keep an eye on this band as it could be destined for a big things. The band will open up the shows on select dates through the month of August.

Bush was next. Whenever Bush plays as special guests, it never feels like it. Their set always feels like rightful headliners set. Band played 10 songs, and with one exception being More Than Machines taken from their upcoming release The Art Of Survival, all others were either from their debut album Sixteen Stone or last one The Kingdom. Gavin Rossdale never changes and his unique performance style with unparalleled energy draws the crowd in to the band’s music. During Flowers on a Grave, Gavin went on his signature venture to roam the crowd while singing the song. He made it all the way to the top and even hoped between private boxes (risky move I would say, as he had to climb several dividers, but all is well that ends well). Every time he does that, he just really brings that connection with the fans to a whole new level. The songs played included such hits as Machinehead, Quicksand, Bullet Holes, Glycerine and Comedown. Glycerine was performed as Gavin’s solo.

See full Bush photo gallery here .

Breaking Benjamin came on around the sunset. That added even more eye-catching scenery especially for those fans in higher seats of amphitheater. In addition, the band quite often used flame throwers and pyro making their performance a true eye candy. Breaking Benjamins set covered their whole discography, representing music from all of their six studio albums.  During the set Ben Burnley went on to tell the crowd how both co-tour bands Bush and Alice In Chains influenced his music and his life, emphasizing that his teenage self would have never believed if anyone would tell him that one day he will share the stage with these two bands. And I believe him, he did look excited. To mention just few of the songs played during the set I would go with So Cold, Breath, Red Cold River and Tourniquet. Special mention must go to bands cover of Queens Who Wants To Live Forever. It was beautifully done acoustic version, with Ben providing contrasting take on vocals, not trying to mimic Feddy Mercury (which is almost impossible for anyone anyways) but delivering the song with his own powerful vocals. Breaking Benjamin finished their set with a real bang, playing I will Not Bow and The Diary of Jane to wrap up the night.

See full Breaking Benjamin photo gallery here .

For me it would become the first-time seeing Alice In Chains live. As the stage crew came to prepare the stage for Alice In Chains, something interesting started to appear – chains. Three massive walls of chains were lifted from the ground up. With lights illuminating them from the front and back it gave the stage mesmerizing look.

While Alice In Chains were formed way back in 1987 by Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney and this year marks 35 year anniversary since then. The band have released six studio albums to date. Yes, they were in short hiatus, and with the future uncertain especially with vocalists Layne Staley’s death. But the band regrouped back in 2006 and added William DuVall as vocalist and on rhythm guitar and have stayed together since.

See full Alice In Chains photo gallery here.

Alice In Chains came on the stage playing their hit song Again from their self-titled album and the last one recorded with Staley. While DuVall have never tried to emulate Staley’s singing style, it did felt as original, and with my eyes closed it would not be able to tell the difference, and I mean that in very respectful and positive way. It did seem like William had some trouble with unzipping his leather jacket during the song, and after it ended he headed to the side of the stage where crew member was waiting for him with guitar for the next song Check My Brain. After some short commotion Willliam came over to sing just to have his shirt ripped. Hey, even if that was an accident it made for some fashionable rock’n’roll style.  

While Alice In Chains put heavy emphasis on their most successful album Dirt (sophomore album released in 1992) by playing five songs from it – Angry Chair, Dam That River, Rooster, Them Bones and Would?, the set represented all of the bands albums. It is hard for me to put emphasis on any specific moment in the show as it was amazing experience all together. The songs flowed from the stage flawlessly delivering the fans the best rock experience imaginable.

The tour will continue all the way into the October. Check the list below to see the nearest city to you.  

Wed Aug 17 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center

Sat Aug 20 – Council Bluffs, IA – Westfair Amphitheater^^

Mon Aug 22 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater

Wed Aug 24 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago, IL

Sat Aug 27 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre^^

Mon Aug 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre

Wed Aug 31 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater

Fri Sep 2 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater

Mon Sep 5 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre

Wed Sep 7 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre

Thu Sep 8 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre

Sat Sep 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion

Sun Sep 11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater

Wed Sep 14 – Del Valle, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater

Fri Sep 16 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion**

Sat Sep 17 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman**

Tue Sep 20 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP

Wed Sep 21 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis, MO

Tue Sep 27 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek

Wed Sep 28 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre

Fri Sep 30 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds

Sat Oct 1 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre

Tue Oct 4 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion

Wed Oct 5 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live

Sat Oct 8 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center

**Bush not appearing

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Alice In Chains & Breaking Benjamin bring 2022 Tour featuring special guest Bush to Pine Knob Music Theatre August 16

Iconic American rock bands Alice In Chains and Breaking Benjamin come together for the first time for a co-headlining tour with special guests Bush to put on an incredible night of rock across the country, making it one of the hottest tours of the summer. Produced by Live Nation, the 30-city tour will make a stop at Pine Knob Music Theatre on Tuesday, August 16 at 5:30 p.m. Pine Knob Music Theatre is presented by Proud Partners United Wholesale Mortgage, Trinity Health and Ally.

Tickets (starting at $25 on the lawn) go on sale Friday, March 11 at 10 a.m. at 313Presents.com , LiveNation.com , Ticketmaster.com and the XFINITY Box Office at Little Caesars Arena.

The tour kicks off on August 10 at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, PA winds across the U.S. in Camden NJ, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Dallas, Seattle, Irvine, CA and more before wrapping up in Mansfield at the Xfinity Center on October 8.

With over 30 years behind them and 30 million records sold, the upcoming tour marks Alice In Chains’ first tour dates in nearly three years. The band will be playing iconic songs from their classic albums like Dirt and Facelift as well as fan favorites from their more recent releases Rainier Fog and Black Gives Way To Blue . Alice In Chains were honored in December 2020 with the Museum of Pop’s annual Founders Award. The celebration was streamed worldwide, viewed well over one million times, and offered fans a chance to see acoustic performances from Alice In Chains, as well as covers from musicians and friends of the band.

Sean Kinney, founding member and drummer for Alice In Chains said about the tour, “We're looking forward to finally hitting the road again this summer. It’s been too long and we can’t wait to get outdoors and share a night of music with our fans again.”

Alongside Alice In Chains, Breaking Benjamin are looking forward to performing live, coming off of a pair of successful tours in Fall 2021. Their most recent work, Aurora was released in January of 2020. Comprised of reimagined versions from their critically acclaimed catalog, Aurora quickly became a fan favorite and featured the brand new, “Far Away.” As always, the band will be performing a set chock full of hits all summer long.

Ben Burnley of Breaking Benjamin says, “We are so extremely excited to be hitting the road with Alice In Chains and Bush. It’s such an honor to share the stage with such amazing bands that we grew up listening to and have influenced us so very much! We can’t wait to see you all out there!!”

About Alice In Chains Over the course of their remarkable career, Alice In Chains (vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) have garnered multiple Grammy® nominations, sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and amassed a diehard international fanbase whose members number in the millions. Their discography features some of the biggest and most important albums in rock history, including 1992’s quadruple-platinum-certified Dirt , 1994’s triple-platinum-certified EP Jar Of Flies , which was the first EP in music history to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and 1995’s self-titled double-platinum-certified Alice In Chains , which also entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 1. They returned in grand style in 2009 with the critically acclaimed Black Gives Way To Blue , which hit No. 1 across the rock and alternative charts, earned a Grammy® nomination, was certified Gold and hailed by Vice as “a record that’s as powerful as anything the band has done.” The band’s latest album released in 2018, Rainier Fog , hit No. 1 across Billboard ’s Rock, Alternative and Hard Music Charts and No. 1 on the iTunes Rock Album Chart and earned them a Grammy® nod for “Best Rock Album.” Alice In Chains remains one of the most successful and influential American rock bands of all time.

About Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin are no strangers to the upper echelons of the rock charts. Since bursting onto the scene with2002’s Saturate , the band has amassed an impressive string of mainstream rock radio hits, with 10 songs hitting #1, numerous platinum and multi-platinum songs and albums, 8.5 billion combined streams worldwide and a social imprint of over 6.5 million -- a testament to the band’s global influence and loyal fan base. Their most recent release, Aurora, gave Breaking Benjamin their 10th #1 song at rock radio with “Far Away ft. Scooter Ward.” Breaking Benjamin’s last studio album, Ember debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and marked the multiplatinum band’s fourth Top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200 , following 2015’s #1 debut for Dark Before Dawn (Gold) , 2009’s Dear Agony (Platinum) at #4 and 2006’s Phobia (Platinum) at #2. Ember spun off two #1 hits at Active Rock Radio with “Red Cold River” and “Torn in Two.” Aurora and Ember charted Top 10 across numerous countries worldwide and topping #1 charts across multiple genres, including Top Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Hard Rock Albums and Top Digital Albums. For more information, check out the band’s website, breakingbenjamin.com .

About Bush With a discography that includes such seminal rock albums as 1994’s 6x platinum-selling Sixteen Stone , `96’s triple-platinum-selling Razorblade Suitcase and `99’s platinum-selling The Science Of Things , Bush has sold over 20 million records in the U.S. and Canada alone. They’ve also compiled an amazing string of 23 consecutive Top 40 hit singles on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. Eleven of those hit the Top 5, six of which shot to No. 1: “Comedown,” “Glycerine,” “Machinehead,” “Swallowed,” “The Chemicals Between Us'' and “The Sound of Winter.” The latter made rock radio history as the first self-released song ever to hit No. 1 at Alternative Radio, where it spent six weeks perched atop the charts top spot. The song appeared on 2011’s “comeback album,” The Sea Of Memories , which was Bush’s first studio album in 10 years. That year Billboard ran a story about the band under the headline, “Like They Never Left” – a fitting title as the multi-platinum quartet (vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Gavin Rossdale, guitarist Chris Traynor, bassist Corey Britz and drummer Nik Hughes) promptly picked up where they left off. They’ve continued to dominate rock radio and play sold-out shows to audiences around the world ever since. Their latest album The Kingdom followed 2017’s Black And White Rainbows , which People magazine hailed as “a triumphant return.”

Pine Knob Music Theatre

Event starts 5:30 pm.

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Alice In Chains

Upcoming alice in chains festivals appearances, upcoming alice in chains concerts near me.

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Alice In Chains Announce Fall 2023 Headlining Tour Dates

Alice In Chains have announced dates for a headlining tour of the U.S. this fall in addition to the recently announced dates as a support act on Guns N’ Roses ‘ 2023 North American tour. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 30th.

“We’re excited to add some special headline dates while we’re out with Guns N’ Roses this fall,” says Alice In Chains.

The seven-date headlining trek will kick off on October 3 in Anaheim, California, and conclude on October 14 in Spokane, Washington.

Alice in Chains 2023 Tour Dates:

09/23 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Stadium + 09/26 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome + 09/28 – Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park + 10/01 – San Diego, CA @ Snapdragon Stadium + 10/03 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues 10/05 – Highland, CA @ Yaamava’ Theater 10/07 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre 10/08 – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort 10/10 – Las Vegas, NV@ Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood 10/11 – Phoenix, AZ @ Chase Field + 10/13 – Boise, ID @ Idaho Centeral Arena 10/14 – Spokane, WA @ The Podium 10/16 – Vancouver, BC @ BC Place +

+ = supporting Guns N’ Roses

(Photo: Pamela Littky)

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An Alice in Chains Tour of Seattle – 14 spots you can still visit

Posted by Brian Cicioni | Nov 20, 2023 | Music , Pacific Northwest | 26 |

An Alice in Chains Tour of Seattle

In Seattle, musical landmarks are as much of an attraction as Pike Place Market or The Great Seattle Wheel. Along with Pearl Jam and Heart, Alice in Chains is one of the Seattle bands that you can still hear on constant rotation on rock radio and who are still touring as a major headlining act. This Alice in Chains tour of Seattle is arranged in chronological order as much as possible. Here are 14 places you can still visit.

CENTRAL SALOON

The crocodile, layne staley, the moore theatre, london bridge, hard rock cafe, blue moon tavern, space needle, international fountain, gas works park, easy street.

Located in Seattle’s Northlake neighborhood, Gas Works Park is where Alice in Chains had their first-ever photo shoot in 1990. The 19.1-acre park along Lake Union is also the setting for Steve’s marriage proposal to Linda in the 1992 Cameron Crowe film  Singles . Spoiler alert: she says yes.

There are clips of Alice in Chains playing “It Ain’t Like That” and “Would,” the live versions of which are available on the  Singles Soundtrack Deluxe Edition . Gas Works Park was also the original venue for the Pearl Jam headlined Drop in the Park Show in 1992. It was later moved to Magnuson Park.

The towers are surrounded by a double fence, making it impossible to recreate the photo shoot without advanced editing techniques. But it’s still an essential stop on any Alice in Chains tour of Seattle . 

Central Saloon

One of the last grand old saloons, The Central, dates back to the 1890s. The venue opened just three years after the great fire. Before Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and  Soundgarden  headlined arenas and festivals worldwide, they all played at the Central. The venue is similar in size to  the former CBGB  and still hosts bands. The walls are lined with photos and concert flyers from the days that led up to the brief period when Seattle seemed like the center of the musical universe. Andrew Wood, who was the inspiration for the AIC song “Would?,” gave his final performance here in March of 1990.

Nearest light rail station: Pioneer Square

London Bridge Studio

 The first four Alice in Chains recordings were done at London Bridge Studio. Those two full-length albums and two EPs combined sold more than 12 million copies, with only the four-song  Sap  peaking at gold. All four are mounted on the wall, mixed among Pearl Jam’s  Ten ,  Temple of the Dog , and Soundgarden’s  Louder Than Love . 

One-hour guided tours  are available on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays for $55. London Bridge Studio is located in Shoreline, 13 miles north of Belltown. Local tour guide Eric Magnuson does  driving tours that include London Bridge .

El Corazon (formerly the Off Ramp Cafe)

The former Off Ramp Café is most well known as the small Seattle venue where Mookie Blaylock played their first show on October 22, 1990. The following year, they (renamed Pearl Jam) opened for Alice in Chains on their  Facelift  tour. AIC played two headlining shows here between August 1990 and February 1991, which you can find rough footage of on YouTube . 

The building is still there, but it’s been renamed El Corazon. If you search for it on Google Maps and find Funhouse, it’s the same building. And you can still catch shows at both venues today. Both spots were among the more than two dozen participating venues that hosted shows as part of the second annual Cloudbreak , which is a 21-day Seattle music festival started in 2022. 

Nearest light rail station: Westlake

The Paramount Theatre

The Paramount has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. Alice in Chains has played here at least four times between 1991 and 2016 . 

Easy Street Records

Dating back to 1988, when CDs started to replace vinyl and cassettes, Easy Street is an independent record store located in West Seattle. It also serves as a  café  and special occasion performance venue. Yes, this densely packed music store has hosted over 500 in-store performances. 

Easy Street  is an essential stop on any Alice in Chains tour of Seattle because it’s where the Dirt record release party was held. At midnight, on April 29, 1992, Owner Matt Vaughan opened the store to sell the first of what would eventually be 5 million copies of the band’s best-known album to date.

The Moore Theatre

Dating back to 1907, the Moore is the oldest Seattle theatre still in use. Alice in Chains,  Pearl Jam , and Soundgarden played there before they headlined arenas and stadiums. If you want to see a healthier-looking and more energetic Layne Staley, check out the Alice in Chains  Live Facelift  concert film from December 1990. Less than five years later, Mad Season (a Seattle grunge supergroup fronted by Staley) recorded their only concert film,  Live at the Moore,  in the same venue. It was their final show and Staley’s final performance in his home city. He died of an overdose in his University District apartment less than seven years later.

Free tours of the venue  are available on the second Saturday of every month. For paid, customizable tours, check out Eric Magnuson’s  Seattle Grunge Redux . 

Layne Staley rarely appeared in public during the final five years of his life. Very few pictures (and no video) exist past the date of his final live performance in Kansas City, where Alice in Chains opened for Kiss on their 1996 reunion tour.

While there are no authorized Layne Staley books, Alice in Chains: The Untold Story is well-researched and mentions a waterproofing company employee who saw him a couple times at the Rainbow Tavern. A couple of other interviewees corroborated these sightings, dated from late 2001 to early 2002. That University District address is now occupied by Ladd & Lass Brewing, adjacent to the Blue Moon Tavern.

Nearest light rail station: University of Washington

Layne Staley’s Final Residence

Layne Staley spent his final years as a recluse in his University District apartment. We know that he made regular ATM withdrawals and used some of the cash to support the habit that he often sang about and which claimed his life in April 2002. Despite him being 6′ tall, Staley’s body reportedly weighed just 86 lbs at the time of his death. He had been decomposing for roughly two weeks by the time his body was found. The coroner’s report put his date of death around April 5, which is exactly eight years after Kurt Cobain.

Today, there’s a Preschool and Women’s Health Clinic on the ground floor. Staley lived on the 5th floor, which is off-limits to non-residents. There’s nothing commemorating him on the property, but you can get the address from a quick Google search. In 2019, the city of Seattle declared August 22 (his birthday) Layne Staley Day. The Crocodile hosts the annual Layne Staley Tribute around his birthday.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brian Cicioni (@brianmayroam) on Aug 30, 2019 at 9:40am PDT

On the evening of April 20, 2002, a fan-organized vigil was held for Layne Staley at the International Fountain. The surviving Alice in Chains band members were among the more than 200 attendees, along with Chris Cornell and Susan Silver. The private service was held at Kiana Lodge on Bainbridge Island.

The public memorial service for Mike Starr was held at the International Fountain on March 20, 2011, immediately following the private service at MoPOP.

Nearest light rail station: Seattle Center Monorail (connection from Westlake)

Museum of Pop Culture ( MoPOP)

In November 2016, the former Experience Music Project rebranded itself as the  Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) . Jerry Cantrell’s G&L Rampage “blue dress” is among the guitars on display here. A private memorial service for Mike Starr was held at MoPOP on March 20, 2011, 12 days after his death. 

The former Crocodile Café has hosted a who’s who of major music acts. Layne Staley’s side project, Mad Season, played their first live show there as The Gacy Bunch. 

After closing in December of 2007, the venue reopened as The Crocodile less than two years later under new ownership. Current investors include Sean Kinney and former Alice in Chains manager (Chris Cornell’s ex-wife) Susan Silver. AIC played a secret gig here to mark the release of their 2018  Rainier Fog  album . 

The venue has since moved to the corner of 1st Avenue and Wall Street and still hosts a variety of shows. Among the Charles Peterson photos of 90s Seattle music icons, you’ll find one of a healthier-looking Layne Staley. The Crocodile hosts an annual Layne Staley Tribute around his birthday in late August.

To promote their 2018 album  Rainier Fog , Alice in Chains played an acoustic set in the Space Needle’s glass floor 500-foot observation deck. The four-song, 35-minute show marked the first time a band played the Space Needle and the first time that Alice in Chains played “Fly” live. 

The Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle has Sean Kinney’s drums displayed at the entrance/foyer. There’s even an Alice in Chains section to the left (after you enter) with framed magazine covers and a guitar signed by all four members.

You’ll have to get here no later than December 1, as the location is set to close . 

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This post was sponsored by  Visit Seattle . I stayed at the  Kimpton Palladian Hotel , conveniently located across the street from the Moore Theatre and within walking distance of many other  Seattle grunge landmarks . Kimpton properties are part of the IHG Group. By signing up for the no-annual-fee IHG One Rewards Traveler Credit Card via  this link , you can earn up to 80,000 bonus points.

All pictures were shot with my  Sony RX100 VI   compact digital camera, with the exception of any  Instagram pics . If you’d like to support this site at no additional cost, you can do your Amazon shopping via  our link .

Planning a trip to Seattle? Any Alice in Chains tour spots I missed? Feel free to leave a comment below!

About The Author

Brian Cicioni

Brian enjoys exploring different cities along public transit lines and writing about it on his blog, IMayRoam.com. He also writes about food tours, layovers, and exploring movie and musical landmarks. You can find some of his work on Fodor’s, Insider, InsideHook, Travel + Leisure, and USA Today. Brian has traveled to more than 50 countries as well as every state. On weekends, he leads music and film-focused tours of New York City. His five-star rated Goodfellas Tour of NYC has been featured in Airbnb Magazine. Always happy to offer tips to aspiring travel writers and tour guides, Brian has spoken at events, including the Travel & Adventure Show, TBEX, and the New York Times Travel Show.

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26 Comments

This sounds like a fun way to take a tour of Seattle! I’ve never been to the city but would love to visit one day.

Seattle and London are my two favorite CITIES for music history.

Seattle is the birthplace of grunge music and a couple of amazing bands of all time like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. Thanks for sharing this. You made their fans happy.

Thanks Maureen. Some of the places were revisits, but Blue Moon and London Bridge were firsts.

Wow, these are great places to visit especially for those Alice in Chains fan. It’s amazing to step foot in one of these locations and imagine how it was like to have been at the same place. Definitely a must do when in Seattle!

I want to finish the Nirvana list next time I’m in Seattle.

This would be so amazing! I’m a HUGE Alice in Chains fan, so this would be a dream trip for me.

ONE of the “if I could go back in time concert wishes” is the original DIRT-era Alice in Chains. But I have seen them a few times post 2005.

What a fun day. Nice and lovely places to tour at Seattle. Th aks for sharing your fun with us.

Hi Sayram. It took me FIVE YEARS (like the David Bowie song) to finish this post. Glad you appreciate it!

This would be an amazing adventure the next time we are in Seattle. Thanks for all the details and laying everything out on a map for planning purposes.

Hi Stephanie. I’M SO GLAD you appreciate the map!

If I had fun in Nashville as a non-country music person I’d have a blast in Seattle as a rocker girl at heart. Alice in Chains is a great band. These locations look cool!

Nashville was nice, but it’s Memphis that I really love.

What a cool way to see Seattle – all highlighting Alice In Chains. I need to plan a trip there soon!

Maybe I’ll also have a Nirvana guide by then!

Hhhhhmmmm….the London Music studios looks like a place I would want to visit. Seattle is a big city and I look forward to seeing it.

Yes, it took six visit to MAKE IT up there. It’s outside the city limits.

These places sound so amazing! We will love to visit them. Thanks!

Well, you’ll need at least a few days.

How cool! We’ve seen some other band references in Seattle. It would be fun to do this tour.

Check out Grunge Redux if you want to cover a lot in a short period of time.

Very cool, I’m saving this list to visit them with my partner soon. Thank you for sharing!

Even after six visits, Seattle NEVER seems to get old.

I’ve been to Seattle, but I didn’t realize it had such a great music scene. I’ll have to make note of that for the next time I go!

Hi Jennifer. Also check out my YouTube channel. There’s a Seattle playlist.

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With Arms Wide Open

How did creed, the most hated band of the 1990s, become so beloved—and even cool i sailed the seas with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out..

It’s high noon on a blazing April day, which is the ideal time to be sitting in an Irish pub aboard a cruise ship the size of a small asteroid. The bar is called O’Sheehan’s—yes, pronounced “oceans”—and it’s located deep within the belly of the boat, just above the teppanyaki joint, the sake bar, and the lustrous duty-free shops. This consciousness-altering diorama of infinite seas and cloying Guinness-themed paraphernalia is where I meet Colleen Sullivan, a 46-year-old woman with a beehive of curly red hair and arms encased by plastic wristbands. She wants to tell me how Creed changed her life.

A few moments earlier, Sullivan dropped one of those wristbands on my table—an invitation to talk. It’s lime-green and emblazoned with pink lettering that reads “Rock the Boat With Creed.” I slip it past my hand and sidle up to her booth. Sullivan uses one nuclear-yellow-painted fingernail to hook back the wristbands on her right arm. Underneath is the pinched autograph of Scott Stapp, the band’s mercurial lead singer, enshrined in tattoo ink. This, it seems, is not her first rodeo.

We are both here for “Summer of ’99,” a weekendlong cruise and concert festival for which Creed—as in the Christian-lite rock band that sold more than 28 million albums in the U.S. alone and yet may be the most widely disdained group in modern times—is reuniting for the first time in 12 years. Roughly 2,400 other Creed fans are along for the round-trip ride from Miami to the Bahamas, and the rest of the bill is occupied by the dregs of turn-of-the-millennium alt-rock stardom. Buckcherry is here. So are Vertical Horizon, Fuel, and 3 Doors Down, the latter of whom hasn’t released an album since 2016.

To celebrate, Sixthman, the booking agency responsible for this and many other cruises, has thoroughly Creed-ified every element of the ship. The band’s logo is printed on the napkins and scripted across the blackjack felt. The TV screens at the bar are tuned to a near-constant loop of Creed’s performance at Woodstock ’99. The onboard library has been converted to a merch store selling Creed hoodies and shot glasses. The stock music piped into the corridors has been swapped out for Hinder’s “Lips of an Angel,” Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy,” and 3 Doors Down’s “Kryptonite.” When I turn on the closed-circuit television in my cabin, a channel called New Movies plays Scream 3 and Can’t Hardly Wait . And four elevator doors in the boat’s central plaza are plastered with the words “Can You Take Me Higher or Lower?” Sixthman pulled similar stunts with 311’s “ Caribbean Cruise ,” Train’s “ Sail Across the Sun ” cruise, and Kid Rock’s notoriously debauched “ Chillin’ the Most ” cruise—the Kid Rock cruise also took place on the vessel I’m on, the Norwegian Pearl . The idea is to teleport a captive audience back into the dirtbags they once embodied and to a simpler time, when Scott Stapp controlled the universe.

Sullivan tells me that her relationship with Creed overlaps with her sobriety story. She first became a fan of the band in the late 1990s, when “Higher” and “With Arms Wide Open” were soaring up the Billboard charts. Then, Sullivan started using, and her appreciation for the divine proportions of those songs faded in service of more corporeal needs. Years later, after Creed broke up and Sullivan got clean, she returned to the music and discovered a dogma of her own: Maybe she had been put on earth to love Stapp—and Creed—harder, and with more urgency, than anyone else in the world.

“He helped me grow with those old Creed songs,” she tells me. “When I saw Scott for the first time live, he had just gotten clean too. I’d go to the shows and there would be tears streaming down my face.” Her left arm contains another Stapp tattoo, with the words “His Love Was Thunder in the Sky” scrawled up to her elbow, surrounded by a constellation of quarter notes. It’s a lyric taken from a 2013 Stapp solo song called “Jesus Was a Rockstar.” The singer Sharpie’d it onto her body himself.

“Summer of ’99” is Creed’s second attempt to reunite, after it disbanded in both 2004 and 2012 amid clashing egos and substance issues. The band couldn’t have picked a better time to get back together. If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of an extremely unlikely Creed renaissance, redeeming the most reviled—and, perhaps more damningly, most uncool —band in the world. For much of the past 20 years, hating Creed has been a natural extension of being a music fan: In 2013 Rolling Stone readers voted the group “the worst band of the 1990s,” beating out a murderers’ row of Hootie and the Blowfish, Nickelback, and Hanson. Entertainment Weekly, reviewing Human Clay , the band’s bestselling album and one of the highest-selling albums of all time, bemoaned the record’s “lunkheaded kegger rock” and “quasi-spiritual lyrics that have all the resonance of a self-help manual.” Meanwhile, Robert Christgau, the self-appointed dean of American rock critics, wrote Creed off as “God-fearing grunge babies,” comparing the group unfavorably with Limp Bizkit.

The disrespect was reflected more sharply by Stapp’s own contemporaries. In the early 2000s, Dexter Holland, the frontman of the Offspring, played shows wearing a T-shirt that read “Even Jesus Hates Creed.” After leaked images of a sex tape filmed in 1999 featuring Stapp and Kid Rock and a room full of groupies made it onto the internet, Kid Rock retorted by saying that his fans didn’t care about the pornography but were appalled that he was hanging out with someone like Stapp. The comedian David Cross, who embodies the archetype of the exact sort of coastal hipsters who became the band’s loudest hecklers, dedicated swaths of his stand-up material to bird-dogging the singer. (One choice punchline: “That guy hangs out outside a junior high school girls locker room and writes down poetry he overhears.”) Then, in 2002, after a disastrous show in Chicago at which a belligerently drunk Stapp forgot the words to his songs and stumbled off the stage for 10 minutes, four attendees unsuccessfully sued the band for $2 million. Holland’s shirt didn’t go far enough—at the group’s lowest, even Creed fans hated Creed.

All this acrimony plunged Stapp into several episodes of psychic distress. His dependence on alcohol and painkillers was well documented during the band’s initial brush with success, but after Creed’s short-lived reconciliation, Stapp spiraled into a truly cavernous nadir. In 2014 the singer started posting unsettling videos to Facebook, asserting that he had been victimized by a cascading financial scam and was living in a Holiday Inn. That same year, TMZ released 911 calls made by Stapp’s wife Jaclyn claiming that he had printed out reams of CIA documents and was threatening to kill Barack Obama. But these days, Stapp—who announced a bipolar diagnosis in 2015—appears to be on much firmer ground, and the band has reportedly patched up some of those long-gestating interpersonal wounds.

But with time comes wisdom, and in 2024 neither the critical slander nor the troubling reports about Stapp’s mental state are anywhere to be found. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Creed is good, a shift that, as Stapp told Esquire , “just started happening” around 2021. The new paradigm likely solidified the next year, when Creed’s mythically patriotic post-9/11 halftime show, played on Thanksgiving in 2001, began to accrue latter-day meme status. The set was ridiculous and immaculately lip-synced by Stapp and company. Yoked, shirtless angels spin through the air, and cheerleaders pump out pompom routines synchronized with “My Sacrifice,” all while the live broadcast is interspersed with grim footage from ground zero. It’s garishly, unapologetically American, issued just before the unsavory decline of the Bush administration clicked into place. Today both of those relics—Creed and the unified national optimism—are worth getting wistful about. “This is where we peaked as a nation,” wrote football commentator Mike Golic Jr., linking to the video.

Creed nostalgia has only proliferated further since the resurrection of that halftime show. The band’s guitarist, Mark Tremonti, told the hard-rock site Blabbermouth that he’d recently noticed athletes bumping Creed as their “ go-to battle music ,” and in November, an entire stadium of Texas Rangers fans belted out “Higher” to commemorate their team’s World Series victory . Earlier this year, a viral remix of “ One Last Breath ” even began pulsing through some of the hottest parties in New York. The band has clearly crossed some sort of inscrutable cultural Rubicon and thrown reality into flux—up is down, black is white, and, due to a sublime confluence of biting irony and prostrating sincerity, Creed fucking rocks .

All this means that the inaugural edition of the “Summer of ’99” cruise is buoyed by very high stakes. It has been 12 long years since Creed last played a show, and the cruise is intended to be the dry run for a mammoth comeback tour that is scheduled for 60 dates, through summer and autumn, in basketball arenas and hockey stadiums across North America. The only remaining question is whether the band can keep it together. I’m there in a commemorative Creed Super Bowl halftime T-shirt to find out.

Several flights of stairs above O’Sheehan’s, the day before I meet Sullivan, I find Sean Patrick, a giddily beer-buzzed 34-year-old from Nashville who is standing in awe of a Coachella-sized stage that looks downright sinister on the pool deck. Creed is playing two shows this weekend, and the first is set for the very minute the boat leaves port and escapes Miami for the horizon. This means that everyone who purchased a ticket to “Summer of ’99”—which ranges from $895 for a windowless hovel to $6,381 for a stateroom with a balcony—has ascended to the top of the ship, preparing for Creed’s rebirth in a wash of Coors Light tallboys.

As of two days ago, Patrick was unaware he would be attending this cruise. Everything changed when a friend, who was on the waitlist, received a call from Norwegian Cruise Line informing him that a cabin with his name on it had miraculously become available. Patrick was suddenly presented with the opportunity to spend a tremendous amount of cash, on very short notice, to witness this reunion amid the die-hards.

Unlike Sullivan, Patrick doesn’t possess one of those highly intimate histories with the band, flecked with tales of trauma and perseverance. Still, he fell in love with Creed—even if it was only by accident.

“I think it started as a joke. The songs were good, but there was definitely a feeling of, like, Yeah, Creed! ” he tells me. “But then, next thing you know, you find yourself in your car, alone, deciding to put on Creed.”

The majority of the passengers on the Pearl have never been burdened with Patrick’s hesitance. Their relationship with Creed is genuine and free—cleansed of even the faintest whiff of irony—and, unlike Patrick, they tend to be in their late 40s and early 50s. The woman standing ankle-deep in the wading pool with a Stewie Griffin tattoo on her shin unambiguously loves Creed, and the same is probably true of whoever was lounging on a deck chair with a book, written by Fox News pundit Jesse Watters, titled Get It Together: Troubling Tales From the Liberal Fringe . Two brothers from Kentucky who work in steel mills, but not the same steel mill, tell me that loving Creed is practically a family tradition: Their eldest brother, not present on the boat, initially showed them the band’s records. Tina Smith, a 48-year-old home-care aide from Texas, crowned with a black tennis visor adorned with golden letters spelling out the name of her favorite band, loves Creed so much that she embarked on this trip all by herself. “This is my first cruise and my first vacation,” she says, proudly. (Smith is already planning her next vacation. It will coincide with another Creed show.)

Passengers I encounter that are a generation younger are clearly acquainted more with Creed the meme than Creed the band. These are the people who vibe with statements like “Born too late to own property, born just in time to be a crusader in the ‘Creed Isn’t Bad’ fight”—especially when they’re arranged as deep-fried blocks of text superimposed over the face of Keanu Reeves as Neo. If the establishment brokers of culture once settled on the position that Creed sucks, then it has been met with a youth-led insurgency that seems dead-set on shifting the consensus—if for no other reason than to savor the nectar of pure, uncut taboo.

Many members of this insurgency are aboard the Pearl , and they’re caked in emblems of internet miscellany that scream out to anyone in the know. Consider the young man, traveling with his father, who is draped in a T-shirt bearing the Creed logo below a beatific image of Nicolas Cage circa Con Air , or the many fans who wander around the innards of the Pearl in matching Scott Stapp–branded Dallas Cowboys jerseys, a reference to that halftime show. In fact, the best representatives of sardonic Creed-fandom colonists might be the youngest collection of friends that I’ve met on board. They are all in their 20s, most of them work in Boston’s medicine and science sectors, and each is dressed in a custom-ordered tropical button-down dotted with the angelic face of Scott Stapp in places where you’d expect to find coconuts and banana bunches. A week before “Summer of ’99” was announced, the four of them made a pact, via group text, that if Creed were ever to reunite, they would make it out to see the band play, no matter the cost. Their fate was sealed.

“I hated Creed. I thought they were terrible,” says Mike Hobey, who, at 28, is the oldest of the posse and therefore the one who possesses the clearest recollection of Creed’s long, strange journey toward absolution. “But then I started listening to them ironically. And I was like, Oh, shit, I like them now .”

His point is indicative of a strange tension in this new age of Creed: If “the worst band of the 1990s” is suddenly good, does that mean all music is good now? Is nothing tacky? Have the digitized music discovery apparatuses—the melting-pot TikTok algorithm, the self-replicating profusion of Spotify playlists—blurred the boundaries of good and bad taste? Am I, like Hobey, incapable of being a hater anymore?

This is what I found myself thinking about when Creed took the stage, right as the Miami skies began to mellow into a late-afternoon smolder, and put on what was, without a doubt, one of the best rock shows I’ve ever seen. The scalloped penthouses of Miami’s gleaming hotel district passed overhead as the Pearl ’s rudder kicked into gear, and Scott Stapp—looking jacked and gorgeous, chain on neck and chain on belt, flexing toward God in a tight black shirt—launched into “Are You Ready?,” the first song of the afternoon, his baritone sounding, somehow, exactly like it did in 1999. “Who would’ve thought, after our last show in 2012, our next show would be 12 years later, on a boat?” Stapp said. He is risen, indeed.

I later hear from Creed’s PR agent that Tremonti, the guitarist, was more anxious than he was excited to get this first show in the books. I also gather, from Stapp’s representative, that photographers are mandated to shoot the lead singer during only the first two songs of the set, before he begins to “glisten” (her word) with sweat. But if nerves were fraying, Creed conquered them with ease. The members of the band were enveloped by an audience that had paid a lot of money to see them, and in that atmosphere, they could do no wrong. They blitzed through a variety of album cuts before arriving at the brawny triptych of “Higher,” “One Last Breath,” and “With Arms Wide Open,” pausing briefly to wish Tremonti, who was turning 50, a happy birthday. (Stapp wiped away tears afterward, a genuinely touching moment, considering that during their first breakup, Tremonti had compared his years collaborating with Stapp—who was then in the throes of addiction— with surviving Vietnam .) Given Creed’s historic proximity to the Kid Rock brand of red-state overindulgence, I half expected the concert to detonate with violent pits and acrobatic beer stunts, but nothing remotely close to mayhem occurred. This crowd was downright polite—chaste, even—as if it had been stunned by the grandeur of Creed.

“He tried to dance pogo ,” says a disappointed German woman, basking in the pool after the show, gesturing toward her husband. Both of them explain to me that pogoing is the German word for “moshing” and that, even more astonishingly, Creed is huge in their native hamlet, just outside Düsseldorf.

“It’s a reunion after 12 years!” says her husband. “Everyone should be dancing pogo .”

Nothing about Creed’s music has changed in the past decade, which is to say that many of the quirks that people like Hobey once used to mock the band for were on brilliant display during its first show back. But the truth is that little of the smug hatred for the group has ever had much to do with the music itself. Creed’s first record, 1997’s My Own Prison , was nearly identical to the down-tuned angst of Soundgarden or Alice in Chains, drawn well inside the lines of alt-rock radio. (It earned a tasteful 4/5 rating from the longtime consumer guide AllMusic.)

The problems arose only after the band started writing the celestial hooks of Human Clay , solidifying its superstar association with other groups chasing the same crunchy highs with machine-learning efficiency: Nickelback, Staind, Shinedown, and so on. Post-grunge was the term music journalists eventually bestowed on this generation, and in retrospect, that was the kiss of death. Creed was suddenly positioned as the inheritor of the legacy of Kurt Cobain, the godfather of grunge, who bristled at all associations with the mainstream music industry and hired the notoriously bellicose Steve Albini to make Nirvana’s third album as sour and uncommercial as possible. Stapp, meanwhile, has long called Bono—he of the flowing locks, billionaire best friends , and residencies in extravagant Las Vegas monoliths —his “ rock god .” Creed’s sole aspiration was to become the biggest rock band in the world, and for a few years there, the group actually pulled it off. Cobain’s grave got a little colder.

Post-grunge steamrolled the rock business, reducing its sonic palette to an all-consuming minor-chord dirge. Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” went quadruple platinum in 2001, eventually sparking a furious period of retaliation from the underground. (You could make the argument that the rise of the Strokes or the White Stripes or the indie-rock boom writ large is directly tied to the vise grip Creed once held on the genre.) Before long, music aesthetes adopted a new term, rather than post-grunge , to refer to the Creed phenotype: butt rock . In fact, by the late-2000s, the hatred of Creed had been so canonized that when Slate published a rebuttal —in which critic Jonah Weiner asserted that the band was “seriously underrated”—the essay was considered so “ridiculous” and contrarian as to single-handedly inspire the viral and enduring #slatepitches hashtag, instantly prompting parodies such as “ Star Wars I, II, & III, better than Star Wars IV, V, & VI .”

But, frankly, when I revisit Weiner’s piece, many of his arguments sound remarkably cogent to modern orthodoxies. “Creed seemed to irritate people precisely because its music was so unabashedly calibrated towards pleasure: Every surging riff, skyscraping chorus, and cathartic chord progression telegraphed the band’s intention to rock us, wow us, move us,” he writes. Yes, these easy gratifications might have been unpardonable sins in the summer of 1999, capping off a decade obsessively preoccupied with anxiety about all things commercial and phony. But now even LCD Soundsystem—once the standard-bearer of a certain kind of countercultural fashionability—is booking residencies sponsored by American Express. We have all become hedonists and proud sellouts, and with Creed back in vogue, it seems as if the band’s monumental intemperance has become a feature rather than a bug.

That does not mean Stapp no longer takes himself, or his art, seriously. The singer’s earnestness—some might say humorlessness—has always been a cornerstone of Creed’s brand, and there are millions of fans who will continue to meet him at his word. They brandish personal biographies that intersect with Creed’s records; they finds lines about places with “golden streets” “where blind men see” more inspiring than corny, and many of them are etched with the tattoos to prove it. But in the band’s contemporary afterlife, when all its old context evaporates, Stapp has also attracted a community eager to treat Creed like the party band it never aspired to be—the group of licentious pleasure seekers Weiner wrote about. They’re all here, sprinkled throughout the boat, ready to drink a couple of Coronas and shred their lungs to “My Sacrifice.”

After wrapping up the first night of the cruise, Creed, along with the rest of the bands on the bill, was scheduled to administer a few glad-handing sessions on the weekend itinerary. On Saturday, Tremonti chaperoned a low-key painting session while the Pearl floated into the Bahamas at a dock already crammed with other day-trippers. (Our boat was parked next to a Disney cruise, and when we disembarked, in direct earshot of all the young families, the PA blasted Puddle of Mudd’s “She Fucking Hates Me.”) Tremonti keeps busy: The previous evening, he had judged a karaoke tournament—on the main stage—alongside 3 Doors Down lead singer Brad Arnold. Toward the end of the competition, Tremonti grabbed the microphone for a rousing cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” which I’d like to think served as a tribute to Creed’s own tenaciousness.

Stapp, on the other hand, is slated for exactly one appointment mingling with the masses: He’ll be shooting hoops with some of the more athletically oriented Creed adherents on a helipad that doubles as a basketball court near the rear of the boat. Stapp is, by far, the most famous person on board, evidenced by the security detail that stands guard on the concrete. So I take my seat on the bleachers and watch him casually drain 10 free throws in a row in mesh shorts under the piercing Atlantic sun with the distinct tang of contractually obligated restraint. Afterward, Stapp slips back into the mysterious alcoves of the ship, while an awed buzz of fans—hoping for a selfie, an autograph, or a split second of euphoric surrender—tail him until they are sealed off for good. It is the one and only time I see him cameoing anywhere but the stage, drawing a stark contrast to the other musicians on board, who flit between the casinos, restaurants, and watering holes in the guts of the Pearl .

This makes some sort of cosmic sense. Stapp, to both his detriment and credit, has never embraced the flippancy that so many other people wanted to impose on Creed. “Sometimes I wish we weren’t so damn serious,” he said in a memorable Spin cover story from 2000, at the height of his mystique. “My agenda from the beginning was to write music that had meaning and was from the heart. You can’t force the hand of the muse.” If you’ll excuse the ostentation of the sentiment, you can maybe understand how someone like Stapp might not be able to feel like himself when he’s orchestrating photo-ops around a free-throw line with that same young man dressed in his Nic Cage–themed parody Creed shirt. He seems to find nothing trivial about Creed’s music. The threat of irrelevance shall never tame him. You cannot force the hand of the muse.

Unfortunately, Stapp’s remoteness is also why Kelly Risch, a 58-year-old from Wisconsin with streaks of ringed, white-blond hair and glam-metal eye shadow, is currently fighting back tears in the Atrium, the ship’s lobby and central bar. Risch is sipping mimosas with her sister Shannon Crass, and, like so many of the others I have spoken to on this cruise, they each have matching Creed tattoos memorializing a personal catastrophe. Twenty years ago, Risch suffered a massive blood clot in her leg and almost died. Crass printed out the lyrics to the latter-day Creed ballad “Don’t Stop Dancing”—a song about finding dignity in the chaos of life—and pinned them in Crass’ intensive care unit during her recovery. Today the chorus is painted on their wrists, right above Scott Stapp’s initials.

The sisters were two of the first 500 customers to buy tickets to “Summer of ’99,” which guaranteed them a photo with the band at its cabin. This is why Risch is crying. The photo shoot came with strict rules, all of which she respected: no Sharpies, no hugs, and no cellphones. She’d hoped for a moment, though—after spending $5,000 and traveling all the way from the upper Midwest, after clinging to life with the help of Creed, and after waiting 12 long years to have the band back—to thank the singer for his comfort. But Stapp, even indoors, was wearing dark, face-obscuring sunglasses. She didn’t even get to make eye contact.

“He’s so great with the crowd. He’s so engaging onstage,” says Crass. “I think that’s why this is disappointing.”

The two sisters are determined to make the most of the rest of their vacation. The Pearl will be pulling into Miami tomorrow at 7 a.m., and there are plenty more mimosas left to drink. I tell them I’m going to speak with Stapp, and the rest of Creed, in an hour. Do they have anything they’d like me to ask?

“Tell him not to wear sunglasses during the photos,” they say.

Creed is finishing up the meet-and-greet obligations in a chilly rococo ballroom, paneled—somewhat inexplicably—with portraits of Russian royalty. The band members have been at this all morning, after a late night finishing off the second performance of their two comeback sets. A molasses churn of Creed fans, all sea-weathered and scalded with maroon sunburns, weaves through a bulwark of chairs and tables toward the pinned black curtains at the rear.

Creed has this down to an art. The band is capable of generating a photo every 30 seconds, and afterward, the fans exit back down the aisle, with beaming smiles, their brush with stardom consummated. Stapp chugs a bottle of Fiji water and holds out his hand for a fist bump after the last of those passengers disappear. A crucifix dangles above his navel, and an American flag is stitched to his T-shirt. He’s still wearing those sunglasses.

I am given just 15 minutes to ask questions, in a makeshift interview setup against the portside windows, under the watchful surveillance of the entire Creed apparatus—both PR reps, a few scurrying Sixthman operators, the photographer, and so on. I ask what their day-to-day life is like aboard the “Summer of ’99,” in this highly concentrated environment of super fans, with no obvious escape routes. Stapp says that he has spent most of the time on the cruise “resting and exercising,” while Brian Marshall, the band’s bassist, told me he executes his privilege of being one of the band’s secondary members by frequenting the sauna and steam room. Throughout the weekend, Marshall is hardly recognized.

Scott Phillips, Creed’s drummer, confirms my suspicions about the cruise’s demographics. The ticket data reveals that a good number of the passengers aboard are under 35 years old. I’m curious to know how the band members are adjusting to this new paradigm shift, and if they wish to settle common ground between the post-ironic millennials and the much more zealous Gen Xers, who bear Creed insignias on their calves and forearms.

“People are drawn to our music for different reasons,” Stapp says. “That’s probably why you have the guys you were talking about, who want to chill and drink light beer and scream ‘Creed rocks!’ and the others, who have a much deeper, emotional impact.”

“And maybe, at some point, with the light-beer guys, it does connect with them,” Phillips adds. Stapp agrees.

But, really, the reason I’m here is because I want to ask Stapp a question I’ve been curious about for the entirety of Creed’s career. The band’s bizarre odyssey, from its warm reception among youth groups across America to the bloodthirsty backlash that met its success to this current psychedelic revival, has all orbited around a single lasting question: Why is Scott Stapp so serious? Could he ever mellow out? Does he want to? Surely now is the time. If Stapp allocated some levity for himself, then so many of the bad things people have said about him would be easier to process. Who knows? Maybe he’d have an easier time getting his arms around the current state of Creed, a group that is now, without a doubt, simultaneously the coolest and lamest band in the world. Why must he make being in Creed so difficult?

“It’s just who I am,” he says. “It’s what inspires me. It’s where I come from. And it’s tough, because you have to live it. That’s the conundrum of it all. That’s the double-edged sword. If I started writing [lighter material], there would be a dramatic shift in my existence.”

There’s a break in the conversation, then Stapp asks me to identify the name of the new Taylor Swift album. The songwriter’s 11 th record has dropped like a nuclear bomb while we’ve all been out to sea, but data restrictions mean that nobody on board can access Spotify or any other streaming service. The Norwegian Pearl serves as a butt-rock pocket dimension: The biggest story in pop music simply can’t penetrate our airtight seal of Hinder, Staind, and so much Creed. “It’s called The Tortured Poets Department ,” I reply. Outside of my fiancée, he is the only person on the entire cruise I will speak to about Taylor Swift.

“That’s what I feel,” he says, without a shred of artifice. “I connect with that title.”

Later that evening, I climb to the top of the Pearl for a final round of karaoke, where fans keep the spirit of 1999 alive for a few more hours. The bar is more hectic than it’s been all trip—everyone is willing to risk a hangover now that Monday is all that looms on the horizon. The host asks a guest if they intended to sing “Torn” by Creed or “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. “I assume Creed, but Natalie would be a fun surprise.”

The playlist is more diverse than I expected. We are treated to both Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin’ ” and Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine.” Brandon Smith, one of the very few people of color aboard the cruise, crushes Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” A lanky kid from St. Louis unleashes a Slipknot death-growl into the microphone. A queer couple quietly slow-dances on the otherwise empty dance floor. And a 16-year-old, teeth tightened by braces, orders his last Sprite of the night. “Rockers are the most awesome people!” shouts one transcendently inebriated guest over the clamor of his Rolling Stones cover. “Creed is awesome!” On this one thing, at least, we can all agree.