Talk about it here!

 

 

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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 just got home a little while ago. The Cain's holds about 1600 people, and it was a fantastic venue for the Unplugged format. Even though I've loved the band since '92, this was actually my first time to see them live. And what a show it was.

 I'm sure they have manic crowds everywhere they go. Especially at the very small venues like this one. But the crowd tonight in Tulsa was FANTASTIC. There was a small bit of ugliness during the first song (Don't Follow), as I saw what I though was either someone trying to crowd-surf or maybe trying to get up on the stage. As soon as the song ended, however, Jerry said "Everyone needs to just chill out,".  It had actually been a scuffle right in front of the stage. Mike laughed and said "We're up here singing songs about peace, love and happiness, you you all are beating the shit out of each other out there!" prompting a laugh from everyone.

 After that everything went without a hitch, and it was a beautiful, beautiful show. I LOVE the way their music sounds when played acoustically, and I actually had tears in my eyes a couple of time... no joke. I believe they played everything off the original Unplugged cd except "Frogs". The also did "Squeezebox" by The Who, "Love/Hate/Love", and "I Can't Remember". Does anyone know what the first song of the encore was? William said, but I didn't understand him. Also does anyone have the complete set list? I meant to write them down in order but didn't take anything to write with.

 Sound at the Cain's is very good. There were maybe one ot two moments in the show where it sounded like something in the mix was a tiny bit off, but it was quickly corrected. The Band seemed very happy to be there and had a great time. I hope and pray, some or all of this show might be released as a dvd or cd.

 Jerry's Dad came out on stage at the end, which was cool. He's from Oklahoma. Also, there was a girl there dressed like Alice in Wonderland, with a big chain fashioned out of plastic. She was a small girl, and she was on her boyfriend's shoulders a large part of the show. The band had spotted her, and was pointing at her, and near the end of the show, Jerry said "We gotta get the Alice in Chains girl up here on stage, that's fucking great." Her boyfriend walked up to the stage with the girl still on his shoulders, and the crowd parted before them. The security guys lifted her up there, and the Band all hugged her, and posed for a picture with her! I'll bet that was the highlight of her young life!!!  Then, she got to watch the rest of the show from the corner of the stage. It was very cool.

I'm still trying to digest everything I have seen tonight. I may post more later. To the Band- THANK YOU SO MUCH for letting Tulsa be one of the few Unplugged Hour shows.

 Eric

Also I was about 35 feet away from Jerry the whole time. I was on one of the few bleachers at the Cain's (everyone else was standing out on the floor) and I SWEAR one time he looked right at me and smiled. Probably because I had a huge ear-to-ear grin the entire show.

That is so awesome. You are so lucky that you got to see an unplugged show.  i saw them twice on this tour but i they weren't in my area for the unplugged. sounds like it was pretty awesome. Oh god i hope they come back around adn will do the acoustic thing again....

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Sorry for the triple-post, but I wanted to add that during the encore, Mike and William started playing 'Dear Prudence' and Jerry soon joined in. When they stopped, William said "There's a little bit of bonus Beatles for ya. Jerry can pay for that one." And Jerry replied, "Oh, that's great!"

 

ooh dear prudence is one of my fave beatles song! i would've loved to see that!

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Eu juro que é melhor
Não ser o normal
Se eu posso pensar que Deus sou eu

-----> Luke

...yes, kick ass show!...at least as good as last year's electic show at cain's...the band really had a great time and seemed to love the Tulsa crowd...the first song of encore was "Curtains", the last song on Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album...still buzzing...

The Tulsa show was amazing! I was up fairly close to Jerry and got a few good pics/vids.  The acoustic sound worked well at the cains, and I'm so glad I was there!  The setlist is the same as the other posts:

Don't Follow
Heaven beside you
Brother
I Can't Remember
Nutshell
Killer is me
Angry Chair
Sludge Factory
Love, Hate , Love
No excuses
Down in a hole
Curtains - Elton John
Squeeze box - The Who
Got me wrong
Would
Rooster

Here is a pic of Jerry and a link to my site with more:

More pics at my site

...thanks for posting pics!...I was midway in the crowd and I was guessing he was playing Takamine's...the videos playing behind band were pretty trippy also!...

Great pics and video clips, Grizz!  What a great sound you captured.

Thanks for the great reviews, you guys - and thanks for sharing!!

 

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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

Cain's Ballroom was freakin awesome. I was on sidestage with the main guitar tech and he was a great guy. He gave me 5 Alice in Chains guitar picks! I got to meet the whole band and got to chat with Mike Inez and Sean Kinney. Man they are very nice and funny guys to hang out with. I got a few picutres with them too! This was my first concert with my favorite band ever and I am only 14. I got in backstage as the drumtech for the drummer for the Rachel Stacy band and who also happens to be my dad =). I was standing sidestage also when he was playing, right behind him actually. Jerry, William, Mike, and Sean all shook my hand at seperate times and when they were doing sound check they played no excuses and I was sitting on the middle bench with my dad just watching them play that great song. Sean and Mike stuck around to party a bit so I got my backstage pass autographed by them. I will always remember this day for the rest of my life...

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Music and drums.............LIFE!

...every one of these reviews are awesome, thanks to all of you....& thanks for the visuals, too, Grizz.....this whole thread is fun to read.......

 

 

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Check out WILLIAM'S OTHER BAND
CWTF music page: http://www.comeswiththefall.com/music.html
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I was in the very front, right in front of Jerry.  Some shit went down at first up there and the security guards tooks this big Indian dude out who'd been pushing and flexing his testosterone (prolly fueled by a little hooch as well lol).  Ended up getting wrestled on and almost lost my footing which was kinda scary cause it was packed up front.  The show was SO GOOD.  It surpassed all of my expectations.  I was never lucky enough to see this band when Layne was alive--his and Jerry's music has meant so much to me.  I was skeptical about this dude William Duvall, but all doubt was erased after "Love, Hate, Love".  That song is probably the hardest Alice song to sing and that Duvall guy totally ripped it.  He really captured the angst of the song.  Eventually I had to pull back from the front (too many mouth breathers LOL) and enjoyed the rest of the show from the back of the building.  I felt like it was a really special moment for the band because the crowd was so into them and Jerry had many family members there, as he has family here in Oklahoma, and it was a sold out show!  Good on ya Tulsa for selling out the show--I'm sure Alice knows they have a hardcore following here in Oklahoma.  One thing though, if anyone knows or can remember, who was that opening opening act, the guy that started playing Rush in the middle of his song.  Kinda cool.  Where was he from?   All in all a spectacular performance, given that the band is probably exhausted at this point.  They really gave it their all!  I hope that they can continue on as Alice in Chains with William Duvall as permanent lead singer.  He has totally gained my respect and admiration.  A true singer, just like Layne was.

JK-

 I agree with you 100% about William, and about Love/Hate/Love. You need a serious set of pipes to get some of the points of that song even close to the way Layne did it... and William nailed it totally. He wasn't trying to copy Layne's voice, hell, who can, but he did it right and did it his own way at the same time and I felt it was perfect.  I have supreme confidence-- and I hope the band does as well-- that this is the guy to move forward with.

 The first opener, that was the guy who was selling the T-Shirts for them! So, as he told us, it was indeed a moment he will never forget... the first time he ever performed in front of a crowd 

What exactly happened up front? I was standing near the top of the bleachers at stage right, and I saw a guy's head and shoulders pop way up above the crowd on the floor, which is why I thought someone was trying to get on stage maybe, and at the same time Jerry pointed this out to one of the security dudes. Did he literally climb up on top of somebody, or was he driven up on the edge of the stage by the guy he was fighting? It just looked odd from where I was.

 

Thank you for the beautiful pictures