Boy am I exhausted today…so is Toppy, Double R, and Mono-Nick..as we all went to the Alice In Chains secret show. I have to say, without any hesitation, this was the GREATEST musical experience in my life. Working in radio is a cool gig, we are lucky enough to get to witness and do cool things, and in the 11 plus years I have done radio…this was the most incredible experience ever. I use the word experience because it was so much more than a show…it was like a night hanging with Alice In Chains. First off, we got to watch them play an intimate acoustic performance at the EMP in a small theater-like room in the Science Fiction Museum. The played songs like Brother, Got me Wrong, Rooster, No Excuses, and Down In A Hole…no joke, every song played gave me goose bumps. Then when they finished their acoustic show, Jerry asked the crowd if they would like to hear the new songs? Of course we all yelled YES, and Jerry told us to follow him…and he & the band walked out of the EMP, and along with the help of Blue Thunder we all marched to the Lazer-Tarium where the band threw us a party with beer, wine, and food…and treated all of us to an exclusive listening party where we were able to hear the entire new CD “Black Gives Way To Blue”(in stores September 29th) set to a laser show. How awesome is that. The fact that the band was there for the listening party was beyond cool…one guy called in to say he was lying next to Jerry Cantrell during the laser show. Before the band started the new disc, they all went on mic, and Jerry took a moment to dedicate the night to Layne Staley, which led to a huge ovation. The whole band was so approachable during the party, just b.s.’ing with all of their fans….I got to chat briefly with William Duvall, their new lead singer…what a nice guy, and you can tell that he knew that last night was something special. Speaking of William…during the acoustic show, his voice sounded killer…at one point, I think during Brother, William hit some notes that had Jerry smiling ear to ear. Jerry wasn’t the only one impressed by his singing…all of us were screaming in appreciation of his singing skills. Speaking of smiling…watching Mike Inez on bass was a true treat…he looked as happy to be on stage as we were to see him on stage. All in all…I could write a novel on how blown away by last night…but to sum it up best: Thank You Alice In Chains.
Speaking of their new CD…it is truly amazing…there is a song called Your Decision that I think will blow your mind. There is a great mix of heavy & dark songs, as well as beautiful mellow acoustic-like songs with the harmonies that Alice In Chains have always excelled at. The last song on the disc, the title track, is the one that features Elton John on Piano & is about Layne…it’s the perfect ending to a phenomenal CD. I can’t wait to own this disc. Speaking of the new CD, I came across this You Tube video of them performing one of their new songs, Looking In View, live:
Thanks to Susan Olsen, AKA Cindy Brady, for coming on the show…she has a new book called “Love To Love You Brady’s”, but we spent most of the time talking about her nearly puking once on air on a show in Denver. When we played the audio of that moment, she thought we were those radio guys—so she originally called us “assh**es” on air, not once, but twice!!!! It was hilarious, once she realized we weren’t those guys, we had a great time chatting with us!
Huge thanks to Davis Guggenheim for calling in. Davis is the director of “It Might Get Loud”…a film that we loved…here is the blog when I talked about that movie…
