Recordando a Layne Staley

Remembering Layne Staley

Ya sabéis, es muy largo, lo dejo en Inglés, las otras partes saldrán mañana, coincidiendo con el 10º aniversario de la muerte de Layne

REMEMBERING LAYNE STALEY PART 4: LOLLAPALOOZA 1993

WRITTEN BY DAVID BRONSTEIN & EDITED BY BRETT BUCHANAN

The first thing you noticed was the crowd, waves of bodies squashed together surging to the front in small waves among the sweltering heat.  The stage in front is hidden by a massive white sheet, adding even more to the aura and anticipation.  The anticipation is unbearable; a soundman can be seen from the side of the stage testing what may be Jerry Cantrell’s guitar.  Minutes seem to go by like hours. Then, just as everyone steps back to feel the cold water being sprayed by security at the front, the intro music to Iron Gland breaks free from the speakers. Save that water, you’ll need it, the crowd surge forward again- this is it.  Members of Alice in Chains are right behind that sheet. If you are at the front you are being annihilated- the band have not started yet.

The intro ends and without a second to think, you’re feet are no longer on the grassy floor, instead you are sandwiched between a biker who looks to have awoken from a Rolling Stones show twenty years previously, and a smoking hot blonde.  You have no choice but to go with the flow.  When singer Layne Staley belts out his first vocals of the day, the huge white sheet drops to the floor. Your feet are just about touching the grass, when a crowd surfer comes right over your head.  For a moment it’s as if you are wearing earplugs as your body bends down to take the impact diffusing the sound. That teenage crowd surfer will be the first of many.

In the photo pit, professional photograhers are not happy about the net that also engulfs the stage.  Some are behind it.   Layne Staley as usual will wear his sunglasses at least for the first three songs, after which he knows the photographers will be forced to leave.  Layne Staley, looking dapper in his suit, is an anti rock star and rock star all rolled into one. His hair is cropped and he is singing like a screaming angel to the thousands that have descended into a field housing the third Lollapalooza festival. Though Primus are officially headlining, this tour belongs to Alice In Chains. About an hour later, AIC leave the stage to thunderous applause, and soon head to the next city.

The third edition of Lollapalooza took in 36 shows over two hot summer months.  Starting in Canada and ending in Los Angeles, the tour’s tag line is ‘Wherever you go there you are’.  The lineup was incidentally mostly influenced by Sony artists, including: Alice In Chains, Primus, Dinosaur Jr, Arrested Development, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Babes in Toyland, and Front 242.  Layne Staley’s favorite band on the tour was the electronic band Front 242.  Staley met members of the band at an after show party early on in the tour and wanted to arrange to share a stage with the Belgians at a later date.  Richard Jonckheere, a founding member of Front 242, explains: “In the early days of our trip, I was told by one of our crew members that, after spending party time with crew members of Alice in Chains, Layne was a “fan” of our music and wanted to come and sing on stage with us. At first I thought it was a joke because we were kind of like the “black sheep” of the tour, being from Europe with a strange accent, no guitars or drums on stage, different hair style, no tour buses but small vans, etc… We didn’t really have too much contact with the other bands members til then. We were also kind of shy and the mood in our band was not really the best. So the day after I went to find Layne to ask him if it was true, he told me he had some of our records and that he would love to come sing “Religion” with us when he would be “awaken and sober”! We agreed right away. To us it was a cool way to get closer to the rest of the artists, but before all it was an honor to have the lead singer of the main act of the tour join us on stage. So he did come sing with us a few times and I think he was really into it. I guess it was a total new experience for him but it was for us too.  Of course our record company was soooo happy we could make the headlines with it. We never thought that way of course but it’s true, it brought us some more attention in the press.”

To his fans Layne Staley was at his absolute healthiest during the summer of 1993, he even put on some puppy fat.  Staley had been able to quit his habit and manager Susan Silver even had a security guard employed to follow Staley backstage on the tour, since alcohol was also on his prohibited list.  Jonckheere says, “Layne would find our dressing room and come in and say hi. After a while, he asked if we had something alcoholic to drink.  We always had some beers and vodka and it looked like he was in heaven when he saw that.  We didn’t know he was recovering from some kind of rehab. I didn’t know much about Alice in Chains before the tour, I only bought ‘Dirt’ before going on tour with them. We had no idea he had drug and alcohol issues. So it was no big deal for us to share our drinks. Later on we understood he had a personal bodyguard that was supposed to keep Layne away from it all and I think that Layne had of course no alcohol in his own dressing room. But that body guard would never come with him in our dressing room so he couldn’t see what was going on.”

However the next time Staley tried to trick his way into their dressing room for some beverages, the bodyguard caught on. “One day, after a brief visit from Layne his body guard came rushing in like a crazy man.  He asked us to stop serving alcohol to Layne.  Somewhere, when you look at it, it is a shame an artist like that can go down that way, but on the other hand, sometimes that’s the way some artists need to be creative. I don’t know if it was the case for Layne because I think he was clever enough to be able to express himself without it…,” says Jonckheere.

When the tour hit New York, Staley invited Jonckheere onstage for the band’s set opener.  ”Layne proposed for me to join them on stage, which I did once to sing Dam that River.  It was an amazing experience for me as it was my first time on stage with a rock-guitar band!  Loud on stage and crazy in the audience!  I loved it.  Afterwards, I stood by the side of the stage and was mesmerized by Layne’s performance.  My impression is that Layne didn’t need to do much on stage to make everything right!  He had an amazing voice and his presence was more than enough to deliver something strong and emotional at the same time.  Mike Inez was cruising and Jerry Cantrell had the perfect melodic noisy guitar, it was a unique time, a unique time indeed. Layne could deliver something that was deep inside of him.”

Joonkheere remembers that he and Staley would catch Beavis and Butthead episodes backstage. “He was so happy with that show because they would play and like Alice in Chains songs.”  Some of the most memorable photos of Layne Staley would be taken during Lollapalooza, a tour that only underline how huge Alice in Chains had become.  No one could have known it at the time, but the festival would in end up being Staley’s final full nationwide tour with AIC.  But the memories of this tour would be aplenty.  On July 18th, Rage Against the Machine stole the show without performing, after the band came on stage fully naked.  They were protesting over the PMRC, a lobby group led by Tipper Gore that wanted censorship and warning stickers over records that were deemed offensive.  The band stood naked for twenty minutes.  The news filtered backstage, and a smiling Staley told a story about Tipper Gore.  In 1983, Staley made his TV debut in a local Seattle discussion show about censorship. Aged 16, he got into a war of words with Gore, lucky for Gore she was speaking live via satellite.

Alice in Chains would usually end their set with Rooster, and given the time each night this would coincide with some incredible sunsets.  Alice In Chains were the soundtrack to the summer of 1993.