Stone Temple Pilots - Flashback

And again, this is almost EXACTLY where I was sitting. Yes, it was cool.

Alice In Chains - Flashback

This is almost EXACTLY where I was sitting. I didn't even see anyone filming around me.

Alice In Chains - Follow Up

I guess they really did like the audience...

April 19, 2010

Hello!Mike, again, filling in for the "travelin" Baldy and I am here in the wonderful city of Huntington, West Virginia. I have been touring the world now for 22 years and was just trying to remember if I have ever been to the state of West Virginia. I mean surely I have been here before and I was racking my brain trying to scrape some sort of memory out. But I think all of the years of giving myself shaken baby syndrome every set has taken its toll. Not to mention the "extra stuff" from the early days... heh. So, anyway, I didn't have any idea what tonight was going to bring us. There have been concerts that stick out in my memory over the years. Some huge and some small. The ones that always "pop" for me are the ones where the audience is really lively and the energy level is high. We just played in Warsaw, Poland, and Prague CZ and I'll never forget the walls literally dripping with sweat. Those are the shows that we tend to throw a couple of more songs into the set at the end. I'd like to think it's sort of a bonus for you guys giving us that extra boost but the truth is, it's TOTALLY something we do just for US! It's selfish and self centered but god damn if we still don't think that sharing that feeling, with an audience that's really bringin' it, is the coolest feeling in the world. It's addicting in a way and after all this time, it warms my heart that we still get a pump outta playing our music for you. I'd be the first guy on a plane home if I ever thought that we were just going through the motions and not enjoying this. That is the most special part of our new journey for me. Traveling around the world with my best friends and still laughing and sharing our time on this planet. It's been a testament to our friendship that we still want to "make racket" for you guys. And against all odds, the good still far outweighs the negatives and I'm tellin' ya straight up, that the fans are at the center of it for us. Which brings me to Huntington, West Virginia... Only one term keeps popping up for me… HOLY ****!!! I never knew West Virginians were so crazy! It was by far one of the best crowds we have played in front of for years! No joke, I was simply blown away tonite. Nice work West VA. And thank you to the pretty girl in the front for showing me the underside of your shirt for the whole time. I'm not sure why you were doing that but... umm... the view from where I was standing was phenomenal!! Haha.

Thanks again,
Mike Inez

Confused Bird

I was dozing off early for a change, and this bird woke me up... At 1:30 in the morning! Something scared it, and woke it up, and caused it to keep singing for a couple hours. Weird...

Alice In Chains!!!

Hey there! Just got back from my 8th concert, Alice In Chains! Good times... The opening act was a bit of a surprise: Shooter Jennings(?!). I was expecting country or some sort of rock-a-billy stuff, but he (and his band) played hippy, trippy, psychedelic rock. I kinda liked it! I think I'm going to get their new CD, and try it on for size. They only played about four songs... Five at the most, and then curtains fell. A few minutes later the heart from "Black Gives Way To Blue" appeared on the curtain, and a few minutes after that it started "beating." Jerry Cantrell's shadow was the next thing to appear on the curtain, and he went into the opening riff of "All Secrets Known." Mike Inez's shadow came next, then Sean Kinney's, and then William Duvall was last. I didn't think it'd ever happen, but, after the first verse of the song, the curtain finally dropped. "It Ain't Like That" was the second song. There were a couple "Hello West Virginia"s from the band, and then one of my favorite songs, "Again," kicked in. There was some more audience interaction, and then "Check My Brain." Right around this time I noticed a lot of moshing going on down on the floor. I've never been to a concert that had moshing. This audience was lively. There was even some crowd surfing later on, which continued throughout the night. Jerry Cantrell noticed it, too. He said that "This is the best audience of the whole tour." "Them Bones," and two more of my favorites, "Dam That River" and "Rain When I Die." A roadie brought out an acoustic guitar on a stand, and William went over to it for "Your Decision." Next came "Got Me Wrong," "We Die Young," and "A Looking In View." Next, William said, "This is a song that, up until a couple nights ago, we haven't played live:" "Rotten Apple." Very cool! "Sickman," and "Grind," another one of my favorites! Jerry said, "This is a song that we haven't played for a while," "Heaven Beside You." This is the part of the show where I started looking around the audience, and seeing all the guys dancing with their girls. It made me miss Baby Girl more than ever! Then "Angry Chair," and "Man In The Box" closed out the first half of the show. The band took about a five-minute break, and came back out for an encore. William said something along the lines of "Thank you, West Virginia. We're really glad to see you. Since we appreciate you so much we're going to play a seven-minute-mellow-jam that we don't normally play for everyone else. This is called 'Acid Bubble.'" After the song Jerry said, "We've got to get back here again -- that's for sure!" Next was "Would?" and then the final song of the night was "Rooster." I can mark that off my bucket list now. I've seen Alice In Chains in concert!

Brandon's New Swing

More Of Brandon's Werewolf Calls

Brandon's Werewolf Call

He just started doing this, all of a sudden, a few nights ago.