Opening Act Outguns Velvet Revolver

TAMPA - No knock against headliner Velvet Revolver, but the highlight of Saturday night's Ford Amphitheatre concert was the triumphant return of Alice in Chains.

Singer William Duvall has the unenviable task of replacing Layne Staley, Alice in Chains' original lead singer, who died in 2002. Staley was a ghostly, iconic performer and Duvall does well not to mimic him.

Duvall may have radiated the unbridled glee of a fan who won the chance to sing with his favorite band when he took the stage before a crowd of around 8,000, but he proved quickly that he had the pipes to handle the job.

Perhaps most impressive were the many instances where Duvall and guitarist Jerry Cantrell's voices joined together in the twisted harmonies that are such a huge part of Alice in Chains' sound.

By the time the quartet finished with 'Would?' and 'Rooster' - a harrowing tale of a Vietnam veteran made more resonant by current events - the crowd was on its feet, saluting the resurrected band with a long ovation.

If Velvet Revolver felt threatened by Alice in Chains' reception, they didn't show it. Lead guitarist Slash, silhouetted behind a black curtain to start the set, provided a detached, cool counterpoint to singer Scott Weiland's hyperactive, Mick Jagger-like strut. The band's music recalls Guns N' Roses, the alma mater of three of its members, but Velvet Revolver has yet to gel as a songwriting group or develop a style truly its own.

But it has decidedly improved as a live act since a wooden 2005 performance at the Forum. Songs, including highlights such as 'She Builds Quick Machines,' came fast and furious, with little breathing space until a midset portion that saw the band seated, playing quieter numbers such as 'Interstate Love Song,' from Weiland's old band, Stone Temple Pilots, and the Guns N' Roses ballad 'Patience.'