What’s interesting about growing up in the Digital Age is that audiophiles like myself can often find crazy old live footage and practices of our favorite bands. Having recently seen bands like Fall Out Boy and Deftones in their infancy, wailing away on their instruments before ever signing a record deal, is honestly really cool.
Our friends at Alternative Nation (seriously, they’re great) have bestowed upon us a full Alice In Chains concert in December of 1989, a month after yours truly was born, and months before popular singles like “We Die Young” and “Man In The Box” were released on their full-length debut, Facelift. Check out the full video after the jump, along with a review and backstory about how the show at Washington State University came about. You can read the full review right here, along with an excerpt from the story below, if you need a reason to read the whole thing (you shouldn’t).
Alice In Chains opened with “Killing Yourself”, the fastest song in their repertoire. Although it worked and sounded great to start a show, it was not like their other slower Grunge songs that later appeared on Facelift. “Killing Yourself” did however initially appear on the We Die Young EP.
“Man In The Box” This break-out hit is delivered here with the ferocity that made them stars. But this audience had probably never heard the song before.
“Love, Hate, Love” showcases Layne’s haunting vocal abilities. This live version rivals Chris Cornell’s legacy with extreme power and emotion.
“We Die Young” gets the crowd head banging. But when bassist Mike Starr starts his signature move of running in circles, the whirlwind he creates cannot be stopped and Layne soon jumps in the crowd.
“Sunshine” is introduced by Layne saying ‘Always remember, we’re huge in Guam.” You can hear additional Layne humor at the 19:31 mark where he imitates cartoon Chester Cheetah (“Eye-Eye-Eye-Eye-Eye…”) He did the same for the demo recording, but kept it serious for the album recording.
“Queen Of the Rodeo” was written by Staley and Bang Gang singer Jet Silver, carried over from Layne’s previous band. Originally written as a joke, it had a faster Speed-Metal feel and worked great to get the crowds going. Layne introduced it here by saying, “This next song, living out in the sticks, you should be able to relate to this. And if you can’t, fuck you!”
“Social Parasite” had the catch phrase “So Fuck Off!” (which also graced the back of their promotional T-shirts). The song appeared on the band’s 1988 demo that was passed around to Seattle locals and some of the Pullman audience here were familiar with the song.
When a girl appeared lost on the stage and refused to move from his spot. Layne urged her to “Jump!”. He then asked her, “So what’s your name?” Someone in the crowd yelled, “Fuck her!” Layne said “What, right here?” They’re just kidding, you’re a sweet girl, I know.” The band then went into “Put You Down” without even a flinch.
“This next song is about a nasty, nasty habit – masturbation – No, I’m just kidding”, Layne said, poking fun at himself of a song in which he wrote the lyrics, “Real Thing.”
“I Can’t Remember”, slow and dark, is said to be one of the first songs that Jerry felt defined the band’s music. In this performance, he seems to be in a willing state of hypnosis.
“Sea Of Sorrow” had an over-zealous fan help Layne sing the chorus before hurling into a power stage-dive. Drummer Sean Kinney plays with power and conviction to lead the band.
“Suffragette City” was the song often used as an encore song and where people were encouraged to come up on stage (such as audience members like myself did at the Backstage show a few days earlier). But wisely, audience participation was not encouraged with such an unruly crowd. On this night, a fan was crowd surfing and not only unplugs Jerry’s guitar, but then gets his hair caught on his guitar tuning pegs. After the song is finished, security tries to step in, and Jerry waves goodbye to everyone and almost walks off the stage. Layne remains calm and Jerry returns to play “Taxi Driver” – a Hanoi Rocks song with a Glam-Punk influence which was most likely suggested by Staley.
After the final song, “Taxi Driver”, and just before leaving the stage, Layne Staley announced to all 450 people in the crowd, “Party at the White House – be there!” ‘The White House’ was the promoter’s residence they were staying at, and about 100 people went back to the six-bedroom house across from the police department.
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