Alice in Chains, London Forum 17/11/09
AiC were absolutely awesome. The larger venue really suited them compared to the Scala back in August. It's not often I think a band is better in a larger venue. They opened with "Them Bones" and it was uphill all the way from there, including a short acoustic set, towards the end of the main set they did a stunning "Angry Chair" where the sinuous bass was much more prominent than on record and then they came back on and did "Would" and "Rooster". William DuVall is great. I missed out on AiC a bit first time round so I do have a pretty open mind, but the wider audience seem to have really warmed to him too.
I'd have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't got sprayed with beer THREE times, and the final time (just as "Angry Chair" started) I think it was more of a slop from somewhere not far behind as my hair got pretty wet. I have been going to gigs for over twenty years and I have been covered in beer and even piss (urgh) more times in the last year than in the previous twenty. I don't know if it's the type of gigs I go to now (throwing beer at someone at a Killing Joke gig could get you seriously injured) or if audiences are just getting worse, but I'm really sick of it. I wasn't even down the front.
In not entirely unrelated news, I have ordered the Them Crooked Vultures album. They seem to have stopped streaming the whole thing on YouTube now that it's on sale, but I spent a lot of Saturday listening to it. Not exactly groundbreaking, but good stuff nevertheless.
I'd have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't got sprayed with beer THREE times, and the final time (just as "Angry Chair" started) I think it was more of a slop from somewhere not far behind as my hair got pretty wet. I have been going to gigs for over twenty years and I have been covered in beer and even piss (urgh) more times in the last year than in the previous twenty. I don't know if it's the type of gigs I go to now (throwing beer at someone at a Killing Joke gig could get you seriously injured) or if audiences are just getting worse, but I'm really sick of it. I wasn't even down the front.
In not entirely unrelated news, I have ordered the Them Crooked Vultures album. They seem to have stopped streaming the whole thing on YouTube now that it's on sale, but I spent a lot of Saturday listening to it. Not exactly groundbreaking, but good stuff nevertheless.