It’s a double dose of rock at the Podium with Alice In Chains and opener Royal Thunder
No one can blame Mlny Parsonz for being a bit starstruck. While soundchecking the other day, the vocalist-bassist geeked out when one of her rock idols surprised the Royal Thunder leader.
“I felt someone touching my bass strap from behind me and it was Jerry Cantrell,” Parsonz said. “It was awesome. Jerry is so playful, and there I was seeing the silly side of Jerry. This is not an insult to him, but he has this silly dad vibe.”
Parsonz and her band are thrilled to be touring with Cantrell and his band, Alice in Chains. Both groups will perform Saturday at the Podium.
Arrive early for the swaggering, intense hard rockers. Royal Thunder delivers greasy, psychedelic rock that’s buoyed by Parsonz’s soulful singing, which features the power of Ann Wilson and the grit of Joan Jett.
However, Parsonz, 43, didn’t gravitate toward rock while growing up in Atlanta.
“I was singing Whitney Houston songs on piano. I grew up on R&B,” Parsonz said. “I thought I had to sound rough, sultry and smokey.”
Parsonz found her voice when she formed Royal Thunder with guitarist Josh Weaver in 2004. Royal Thunder is touring behind its fifth album, “Rebuilding the Mountain.”
“This record was all about capturing our live sound,” Parsonz said. “It was about sounding as natural as possible. It’s about the live sound.”
Royal Thunder, which includes drummer Evan Diprima, is taking a cue from its heroes, Alice in Chains, which has been adept at adding the live energy to its studio albums. It took some time to figure things out in the studio, but Alice in Chains has been around for 36 years.
Seattle grunge icons Alice in Chains has crossed the Evergreen State countless times to play Spokane.
“One of our very first shows was in Spokane,” Cantrell said. “We opened up for the BulletBoys in a Spokane cafeteria. I’m not (kidding) you. It was at a university (Gonzaga). I remember the tables and chairs. During the early days, Alice would open for anybody. ”
Cantrell, 57, laughed when asked about his most memorable Spokane show. “No doubt it was when we played the raceway (Raceway Park, July 2, 1989),” Cantrell said while calling from Tacoma. “We got signed that day (by Columbia). We opened for Great White and Tesla. The PA wasn’t even on. We played four or five songs for about 20 people. It was one of our worst gigs ever. We were so pissed off that it sounded so bad. We had guys coming to check us out from the label. But the guys (from Columbia) told us they were going to sign us anyway (laughs). We’ll always remember that show.”
It was a wise move by Columbia since Alice in Chains found a national audience with 1990’s “Facelift” and hit rock’s upper echelon courtesy of the 1992’s “Dirt.” “Jar of Flies” in 1994 and an eponymous album released in 1995, followed. However, Alice in Chains went dormant due to vocalist Layne Staley’s substance abuse, which was the cause of his death in 2002.
Alice in Chains, which also includes bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney, regrouped with vocalist-guitarist William DuVall and have released three albums, 2009’s “Black Gives Way to Blue,” 2013’s “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” and 2018’s “Rainier Fog.”
The material from Alice in Chains of the 21st century is balanced with the anthemic standards from a generation ago such as “Man in the Box,” “Them Bones” and “Again.”
“It’s been great having this new life,” Cantrell said. “We don’t take anything for granted.”