Alice in Chains Just Awesome at Sidewaves

This evening I took Helen to the lovely Enmore Theatre to see the Sidewaves show for Alice in Chains.

We headed up from home just before 5.00pm and arrived at our parking at about 6.20pm. We walked up to Enmore Road, and found a mexican place called El Cuervo Cantina. They had $4.50 margeritas which Helen found to her liking, and also had Chimichanga for the first time with beans, which looked pretty god. However, it was not as good as my beef fajitas - HOT beef fajitas too, they really brought the spice. Great stuff.

Walking Papers

We arrived at the Enmore just after Walking Papers started their set. They had a great sound, and it was great to see Duff McKagan again. The drummer was good, but his kit was amazing, just a fabulous sound he got from it. I'd love to have had a go on it.

Down

Down was on next, and while they were not overly to Helen's taste (she appreciated the guitarists - and they were good - but she couldn't come to the vocals) they sounded 100% better than the last time I saw them when they supported Heaven & Hell on their tour to Australia. Phil Anselmo's ego still ruled the show, but his band was terrific.

End of Down gig, with roadie's and kids all taking over the instruments.

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Alice in Chains were amazing, carrying on from their gig on Sunday. Their sound was just incredible. Mike Inez and Sean Kinney were as solid and sensational as always. William DuVall' s vocals soared, while Jerry Cantrell was superb. His guitaring is still such a highlight.
All of the songs off the latest album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here sounded so much better live, but Helen remarked on how they just lack that spark that the older material has. They don't have the same vocal harmonies as the they did when Layne Staley was co-writing the songs, and they lack his unique vocal abilities. They sound great, but they don't have that affinity with the old material. It's not meant to be a criticism, just an observation. But when you hear songs like "Man in the Box" and "Rooster" and "No Excuses" and "Down in a Hole" and "Would?"... well... it was amazing. "Rooster" and "No Excuses" brought tears to my eyes again, just thinking of the waste it was when Layne died so young. Madness.

Oh, and of course, there was the standard meeting-up with Dale Clark after the gig had finished. It is almost uncanny how we always seem to find each other during a gig, even if we haven't shown up together.

Helen and I don't get to go to see bands together very often, so this was a great night.

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