Alice in Chains

Sunday, August 16
Sands Steel Stage at PNC Plaza
Price: $55 / $45 / Steel Terrace:$169

6pm: Gates
8-9:45pm: Alice In Chains
9:45pm: Fireworks

Chart-topping alt rock band Alice in Chains will bring Musikfest to a thunderous close when the group performs Aug. 16, 7 p.m., at the festival’s Sands Steel Stage. Tickets for the show are $45-$55 and go on sale starting tomorrow, 10 a.m., to ArtsQuest Members and March 13, 10 a.m., to the public at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.

Originally consisting of vocalist Layne Staley, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Starr and drummer Season Kenney, Alice in Chains formed in the mid-1980s in Seattle, Wash. The group’s debut album, 1990’s “Facelift,” helped transition fans of heavy metal into the Seattle alternative “grunge” scene, and the band continued to record and tour into the mid-’90s, earning nominations from The American Music Awards, GRAMMY Awards and MTV Music Video Awards. In 1994 it released “Jar of Flies,” which quickly topped the Billboard 200, making it the first EP in history to reach the peak of the album charts.

After a hiatus of nearly a decade, Alice in Chains reunited for a benefit show in 2005, with Come with the Fall’s William DuVall ultimately becoming the new frontman for the group. The following year, the band set out on its first tour in 10 years, performing across the U.S. including an Aug. 5 performance at Musikfest 2006.

In fall 2009, Alice in Chains released the record “Black Gives Way to Blue”, earning it the No. 5 spot on the Billboard 200, two GRAMMY nominations and certified gold records in both the U.S. and Canada. Its latest album, “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, receiving praise from critics and fans alike.