Atlanta, GA. – Sept. 21st
Alice In Chains is not a big celebrity band.
In other words, for whatever reason, they don't get a lot of
famous people showing up to watch them play.
Back when I worked for Elton John, seeing a celebrity backstage
at a show was like seeing vomit stains on
a dressing room carpet. They were everywhere.
But this isn't the case with Alice In Chains.
(The celebrities I mean, not the vomit stains. We see our
share of those)
But all of that was going to change in Atlanta.
We were contacted by the camps of a pair of A-list actors
who were in town, and plans were laid for them to attend the show.
This was mentioned to the guys in the band, who reacted with
surprise, and possibly even a little excitement.
This never happens after all.
Show day came and we all got caught up in our daily tasks
and chores, and the next thing you know, it was showtime.
The concert was awesome, the crowd was amazing, and it was a
great night, capped off with an appearance backstage by…nobody famous.
Oh sure, there were plenty of guests and friends, but no one
that had anchored a billion dollar film franchise for the last decade.
It's one thing to never have the shimmering glow of a world
famous actor or actress grace the backstage area of an Alice In Chains show.
It's another thing altogether to get snubbed.
One of the guys asked after the show if the actors showed
up, and I told them no.
The response was perfect: "Didn't think so".
Alice In Chains is more a band of the people after all.
And even though two of the band members live in L.A., they
don't really breathe the rarified air of the Hollywood elite.
They breathe the same stinky tour bus air that I breathe,
and they occasionally eat at Subway, and they have friends who are character
actors, not blockbuster popcorn movie stars.
So yes, Alice In Chains got snubbed.
But it wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the
last.
Would it be cool to have supermodels and actors and other
celebrities hovering around backstage after a show?
Celebrities are the fuel that America runs on after all.
But until an A-lister actually follows through and shows up,
I guess the Alice train will keep sputtering on, powered in part by the
low-octane fuel self-generated by their bald underling who writes a blog that's
read by dozens around the world.