My Cup Runneth Over.

Tonight I saw Alice in Chains at the Wiltern. It was a spectacular show. Michael Duvall is an amazing singer. I will never doubt his ability to maintain the richness of every note in AIC tracks which were perfected by Layne. Layne’s gone, but his legacy I feel is in good hands. Of course, he can never be replaced but the “new guy” is perfect. His demeanor and performance had left the crowd screaming and I can state with confidence, he has earned our respect. Kicking off the show with “Again” from the self titled third album, the show picked up pace. Every fan in the audience sang along to “Bleed the Freak”, the next track. For the first fifty minutes, Michael, Jerry, Sean and Mike enchanted us with songs that have stuck with our intellects for over fifteen years. “It ain’t like that”, “Junkhead”, “Rain when I die”…

Then a brief pause followed as we were treated to a montage of music and recordings of Layne over the years. When the lights came back on, the stage was set up for an acoustic session. The band started this section of the show with “Don’t follow”…”Got me wrong”, “Down in a hole”. Perfect.

The third part of the concert rocked with tracks like “Angry Chair” followed by “Brush Away”, “Main in the Box”. The show was seemingly going to end as they performed “Them bones” and proceeded to exit the stage. The crowd screamed for more! Jerry came back out followed by Michael, Sean and William. Then they treated us to “Rooster”, finally ending the show with “Would”….

It feels amazing to be a fan who’s loved this band for over fifteen years, and being from a place that’s over eighteen thousand miles away, the first ever concert without Layne ought to be a different experience. Notwithstanding that I’ve never seen AIC live, except on DVD. I didn’t know what to expect. But I have a lot of faith in a band that has been a savior and friend through times of personal turmoil, failures and the ever misplaced triumph. The 90’s were such. I would sing along to Layne’s soothing renditions of favorites like “Bleed the freak”, “Confusion” and “I stay away”. Yesterday was my day of reckoning. It was an opportunity to see the band that I cherish the most; live!