Remembering Layne Staley

So, when you die what stays behind? I can think of a few things: memories, accomplishments, things you have created, basically places where you left your mark (either physically or emotionally). Unfortunately over time almost all of those are washed away or become meaningless. There are plenty of examples to the contrary, such as people who changed the lives and perspective of many, who in turn did the same or raised families based on those values, etc. However, for the most part, even many of your creations will disappear or be taken by others. This was never more poignant for me than Sunday night at the Alice in Chains concert here in town.

Artists who touch public culture with art or music, however, have some level of continuity from the grave. You can listen to someone's music from long ago and feel what they felt or know what they sing about. You can look at their painting and be moved by what they convey. In a way you can connect with them from the grave. Except in Layne Staley's case where they replace you with a joke of a guy who steals your voice from the grave.

In Layne's case even his musical legacy has been taken from him. Alice in Chains co-founder Jerry Cantrell started the band back up recently and has gone on tour. Only now there is someone else singing Staley's songs, and singing them with a very similar voice. Only it's not him, and herein lies my problem with this situation. To have someone else sing is one thing, to have someone exactly mimic Staley's voice is another. Though they played a tribute video to Staley while setting up the acoustic part of the set, and Cantrell made a few comments about him, Staley's work has been taken from him in death. It's a shame, whether you like Alice in Chains or not, Staley deserved better. In fact he always has.

I was outraged back 4 or 5 years ago when he died in the same week as "One-Eye Lopez" of TLC and no one paid notice. A B level singer in a C band that pressed no musical boundaries, made predictable pop hits, and basically meant nothing, got weeks of press while Layne Staley's death went unnoticed. There was literally 3 weeks of "Left Eye" stories in the papers and online while the media turned a blind eye to Staley. I had to go to the band's website to find the news after hearing rumors from someone two days later. Ridiculous. However this isn't a discussion on media coverage of celebrity deaths and such. In reality I'd rather people be more informed about the world and country than such things...

At any rate, Staley is gone, though his band goes on. I find it a disservice to him to continue on with a soundalike vocalist.

The Show

Enjoyed the show. A quick review:

Kelly and I noticed immediately that it was quite a strange mix of people at the show. There were more than a few people twice our age and quite a few who were probably about 3 when Dirt was released in 1992. The other half of the crowd was full of 30 somethings, many with band tshirts on.

The opening band, "Hurt", was not very good. Some of their songs were okay but they drummer was playing so hard and loud that you couldn't appreciate anything else. He completely drowns out the band, on every song. I'm not sure if this was bad mixing or just the way the band is. I think it was the latter, unfortunately. Half way through their set I already had a headache, not a good sign.

After a 45 minutes of prepping the stage and seeing a guy in a Spiderman costume walk around backstage, the lights went down and amps turned up. The band started out the show with the lights down playing the intro of "Whale & Wasp", a tune from "Jar of Flies" and one of my favorites. I got excited as they walked out on stage one by one. First interesting observation, they were playing completely wireless for the mics and guitar/amps. After the intro was over they busted into "Grind" from their last studio album and the show had started. I enjoyed the first few songs but definitely spent the first 20 minutes trying to figure out what the singer's deal was and why he was hiding over next to the drums most of the time with his back to the audience. The opening set finished off with "Nutshell" one of my all time favorite songs, which fortunately is mostly sung by Jerry Cantrell, not the guest vocalist joke who was totally weird and distracting. (Note: I was also a little distracted during this time because Kelly wasn't feeling well and had to go outside to sit down for a moment. Unfortunately the smoke was very thick from people smoking and we both didn't feel great from it).
After "Nutshell", they switched the set around and brought out a rug and stools to play an acoustic set (see blurry picturephone pic). (Kelly also came back feeling much better) While they set up the stage a memorial video for Layne Staley was played, during which the crowd went a bit wild.

When the band came out for the acoustic set Jerry Cantrell said a few words about how they are glad to be back out playing but it doesn't feel right without Layne. The acoustic set was where I really started to enjoy the show. It was similar to their MTV Unplugged performance and they rattled through a few hits such as "No Excuses", "Down in a Hole", and "Rotten Apple". This picked up the audience quite a bit and people started to really get into the show. After about 9 songs they cleared the stage and plugged back in. This was where they really started to rock out. The band flew through about 5 more songs finishing with a cool version of "Brother" and then did the usual first and second encore. First encore featured "Man in a Box", "Again", and "Angry Chair".

For the first song of the second encore Jerry Cantrell said, "One nice thing about being on the road is all the friends you get to see, so I'd like to bring out James Hatfield to play with us on this one." Now I'm no fan of Metallica but it was pretty cool to see a bona fide star come out to play instead of a member of the opening band as is all too often the case. Anyhow, the crowd went nuts and Hatfield and Alice played a really strong version of "Would?", another of my favorites. They finished up with a long and powerful version of "Rooster", which I thoroughly enjoyed.

To wrap it up, once they started the acoustic set they really got in synch and played well. From that point on I had a great time. The first set prior to that was not the most engaging and I think everyone was trying to figure out what to do with the guest vocalist. The guest vocalist can nail Layne Staley's voice exactly when he wants to, but has no stage presence whatsoever. In fact he is a very negative stage presence. Neither Kelly or I liked him at all and I hope he goes on his way soon. Anyhow, my overall grade for the show is a B, but worth noting that it's pulled down by the vocalist guy.

Sunday Night Revival

Sunday night the 90s band Alice in Chains takes the stage at the Warfield here in San Francisco. Kelly and I plan to be there. I'm actually quite excited to see them. They are out touring with a "guest vocalist" for the moment and planning new work in the future with an as of yet unknown lead singer.

Alice in Chains was always one of my favorite 90s bands. They had a hard edge lacking in some of my other 90s favorites. Not really metal, but more visceral than a normal rock band they dug out their own groove and I really liked them. You may recall Layne Staley, the former singer, died about 4 years back.

It strikes me that in the last few months I will have seen Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam (3 times), Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, and Sonic Youth. Clearly I am in the midst of a revival of musical tastes from days long past. In fact, all I need is for Chris Cornell and Billy Corgan to come walking through the door and I've covered it all. Though I never stopped to think about it 10 years ago, I find it surprising that most of my favorite musicians from those days are still our there in one form or another playing music. It must be a nice thing to be able to create music and spend your life playing it to other people for loads of cash.

Anyhow, I am really enjoying seeing these bands after so many years. So, bring on the show...