I will say that the show was a tad disappointing only in the fact that Heart only played like 2 songs (to which I don't think they were even theirs, but I may be wrong) and Alice only got to do 4.  Outside that it was pretty amazing.  This kid who was a survivor of Leukemia came out and did a song dedicated to all his doctors and Michael Shrieve played a few songs.  This was my first time seeing Alice in Chains (had seen Jerry with CV) and I will say that it was by far the best performance I have seen in a show.  They came out with Whale & Wasp, moved into Sickman, and ended it up with I Stay Away.  The guy in charge had the boys and Heart sign a guitar and then sold it for $6,500 I believe.  Alice came back out for one more and played Kashmir.  By far my favorite concert experience yet.  It was really cool to see a band like them come out and do a show like that for Children's Hospitol.  It was simply amazing.  Too short, but amazing.

 If anyone has pictures, please post them.  I forgot my camera and would love to see them.

I agree with the tad (maybe more) disappointing...its cool that it was benefitting Children's Hospital, but when you advertise the "headliners" as Heart and Alice, and Heart does two songs, neither of which are their own, and Alice only does 4, its pretty disappointing.

It was cool to see Whale and Wasp live...and Kashmir was awesome. I was surprised to hear Sickman....I was expecting an unplugged-type set, and they came out plugged in and rockin.....made for an odd crowd with us AIC/Heart folk and the obvious symphony goers there.

Glad I went, but not quite what I was expecting.

I don't know really how to put this gently, but the show was just alright...  The guys only played for 15 minutes, Ann and Nancy only like 10.  The sound was nowhere near as good as it has been.  Tom is missed.  Got into the meet and greet after the show, everyone was in good spirits, Jerry's family was there, a bunch of cousins and such.  Sean's parents were there and of course the LSF girls and Nancy.  Scotty played with Alice which was pretty nice.  Kashmir was pretty cool, I was disappointed that Ann and Nancy didn't come out for it... they might have already been gone by then though too.  Overall finished off my little greatest hits booklet with all the guys signature, was just missing Mike's.  Got to chat with him a briefly, and managed to talk Tim into letting me take some pictures of Jerry's Les Paul.

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That's how you become great, man, hang your balls out there.

Oh and all the guys were talking about the album.  They are very serious and plan to take a little bit of a breather after this tour but will be hitting the studio, probably after the holidays.  William also said he hopes to get CWTF back in the studio for 2008.

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That's how you become great, man, hang your balls out there.

That's unfortunate about the sound.  I know they are really missing their sound guy (p.s. get well soon).  But to be able to hear Whale & Wasp & I Stay Away played live would outweigh the sound issues in my book.  I'm sure the orchestra sounded amazing, and would still love to hear it . . . . and KASHMIR . . . !!!!!!!!!

Sickman?! 

Sorry to hear you guys were a little disappointed, but I would DIE to hear I Stay Away.......

I hope someone recorded it??????

 

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"We play so fine, don't you agree?" ~ Layne Staley

"We want to celebrate what we did and the memory of our friend." ~ Jerry Cantrell

This show was incredible!!!! No complaints here. We got to see a different side of music. I laughed at the fact that half the crowd was over sixty and pluggin their ears, but other than that, it was a very SPECIAL night!!!

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Who do you trust more??? Your media, or your goverment?

I did pick these up as well.....

 

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Who do you trust more??? Your media, or your goverment?

Yea, It was a fun show.

 The biggest disappointment for me was the increasingly shorter play time the guys are having. Last year at the Paroumount-two hours, w/Velvet Revolver-45 min, last night-20 minutes. Sigh... Time to headline another show guys!!!

 The songs chosen were quite different than from what I expected and with the seattle girls choir backing up 'I stay away' turned it into quite the surreal event.

 William does a mean Robert Plant.

Mike Inez is a freak. I love watching him play.

During and between performances it was evident they were having fun and enjoying themselves. Lots of comradarie with the orchestra and other musicians, plus a general feeling of goodwill.

But who would have thought, that in Seattle, with an Orchestra, plus Ann Wilson, that they wouldn't have performed 'Brother'. I was truly shocked.

No encore, but we tried. Those Symphony people are a tough nut.

Over all, though, Even not my best AIC show, it was a great show that I'll remeber fondly for a long time.

 

Will does have a voice for Zepplin.  I kept thinking about the CWTF girls, I know they would have loved that.

 

I was actually impressed with the older audience, most of the senior citizens, and there were a lot, were pretty tolerable of the music.  I noticed they did try to keep the house volume down as much as possible to accommodate them though. 

 

Being to as many shows as I have and having some great experiences, it's hard to say that this was a great show.  It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't one that would blow you out of the water.  I really enjoyed the orchestra and performers, but it was sort of annoying that half the crowd was rowdy rock fans that didn't really follow proper etiquette for such a venue and show.

 

Matt also is a great guy.  You can tell how much he loved having Ann, Nancy and AIC up there.  People may tend to think of composers who right symphonys as boring and just versed in classical music.  Matt is really a well studied and shows a love for all music.

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That's how you become great, man, hang your balls out there.

Redsand187:

Will does have a voice for Zepplin.  I kept thinking about the CWTF girls, I know they would have loved that.

 

OMIGOD!  As a CWTF girl, an AIC girl, and a Zep Fan all I can say is:  

 

 

***must find recording*** 

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In the end we are what we pretend to be...

mmmm. Alice and William doing Kashmir...crap. u can kill me now. lol

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"I fear again, like then, I lost my way
and shout to God to bring my sunny day"

Damn what a performance........

Alice in Chains perform Kashmir at Benaroya

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"We play so fine, don't you agree?" ~ Layne Staley

"We want to celebrate what we did and the memory of our friend." ~ Jerry Cantrell

I loved the show. I sat in the front row, just off-center in the Founder's Tier (first tier, directly opposite the stage)  -- the sound was amazing, and it didn't seem as far away from the stage as I'd thought by looking at the seating chart. The guy with Brown Paper Tickets was right -- much better seat than the mid-Orchestra ticket I almost bought.  It wasn't easy to stay sitting, so I settled for a standing-O for every song to be respectful of the people behind me (who weren't exactly the rock-show crowd). It would've been great if the Alice & the Wilsons had played together, but still, I'm so glad I made the trip up from Portland. I don't think I'll miss another show in either OR or WA if I can help it!

I ended up sitting next to a cool couple from Bremerton, & we were surprised to hear "Sickman" -- how cool is that? With the full orchestra & all those sweet young ladies singing back-up, it was really cool. (I talked to a few after the show to tell them how wonderful they sounded, they really were sweethearts and as excited as I was to get autographs. :)) The performance was flawless from where I sat. Even though this was my 3rd time seeing Alice in the past 2 years, I was blown away like the first time by the finale -- "Kashmir." 

Every good thing we've ever heard about Alice In Chains is true. These guys are the coolest, they stuck around after the show for a meet & greet with 30 rabid fans -- er, charitable folks who bought a boatload of raffle tickets to support uncompensated care at Seattle Children's Hospital. It was beyond great to meet them. I was toward the front of the line, so I got to watch Jerry posing for pix with his family before they let us in. It was beyond awesome, even though I couldn't help gushing like a silly fan-girl when I met Jerry. But, how many chances will I get to meet my favorite living musician? Probably not many. (I'm charitable, but I'm still a wage-slave.)  I've been clean & sober since the early '90s & have to give credit where it's due; music has propped me up more times than I can remember -- AIC, Mad Season, and Jerry's solo albums fill up my mp3 player and are as much a part of my life as oxygen. I never thought I'd be able to hear any of those songs live, let alone shake their hands and say thanks for the music.

Don't take this wrong, but I laughed out loud when I read the post up-thread about dressing appropriately. I thought my Alice concert shirt was completely appropriate, and very few people looked down their noses at it –  unexpected, since this wasn't my first symphony. It's how you treat people, not what you wear, kids.  :)