MODJESKA THEATRE • MILWAUKEE, WI
October 3, 1998
Reviewed and contributed by Kerri
I'm not a critic. . .and I'm not a writer. . .but here's what happened in order tonight. . .
My friend Liz and I went to the show. . .we got there at four. . .the show started at eight. . .and the door opened at six thirty.
We were trying to kill time, and man did we get an awesome parking space! Right next to the buses. One was silver and had a mural of a setting sun on it. It was really pretty. It didn't have a license plate on the back. The bus next to it was turquoise and had Florida plates. . .and the bus in front of that was grey and had black tinted windows. I couldn't catch the plates. But anywho, Liz and I walked around to see if we could catch a glimpse of Jerry or maybe Sean. No one was there, but we got to touch the buses! We walked around the other side of the building and we heard music coming out of it so we walked around to the side and into this doorway with no knobs on the door. So we were listening and we heard, "Seems I've failed you all my life. . ." That's right! We heard the man in soundcheck. Then this bitchy roadie saw and yelled at us. Turns out we weren't supposed be that far in. She locked the gate behind us. So we just killed off the time and until the show started - we made some friends with these weird guys.
So there was about ten people waiting outside, but we were there first. They let us in and then they searched us (no bootlegs!). That was embarrassing! We got to the theatre door and we had to wait there for another half hour but the band Cold was in soundcheck so we had some tunes to listen to. The lady at the door told us that the Modjeska, where we went, used to be a movie theatre. So imagine how small that place was. It was like a movie theatre and it had a big space in front. I made friends with the lady at the door and she knew how excited I was. She said she didn't want me to trample her so she let me and Liz in early. We got front row center, baby! We had to wait another hour in there, but I was talking to these girls from a college radio station. They said the night before they had to interview Flight 16. Flight 16, they said, were from London, and just plain wonky! "The lead singer came up to me and said, 'I have to fart,' and he went over by the doorway and let one rip" said she. I laughed. She said she was reading the insert for Boggy Depot, drooling over the pictures, when Jerry came up to her and said "Whatcha doin?" And she muttered, "Reading." She was really nervous. And she asked him if he'd do her a favor, and he said, "Sign it?" She said, "Yeah, that too, but could you introduce our radio station?" And he did. What a nice guy. I was talking about Sean Kinney, and they didn't know he was touring with Jerry. He actually came up to one of them and said hi, and she gave him part of her cookie, not realizing who he was. The bouncers there we made friends with too, one of them was telling us stories about all the concerts he'd been too. And he was telling us stories about how he'd seen ghosts in the Modjeska, which was freaking out my friend. We were pretty much passing time.
The first band was Cold. They started at eight and ended at eight thirty. They were pretty good. I liked them, then again, I really like all bands. The girls from the radio stations kept seeing Jerry in the doorway, but I never saw him there. I thought I saw a shadow, but that's it. Anywho, the guitarist put on a great show. He was really into it. He was jumping and doing circles and spitting water at us (only once!) and he was cool. At that time the theatre was *really* empty. There were two rows standing up and there were some people sitting down.
Flight 16 was next. They started at 8:50 and ended at 9:30. The singer really got into his part. When they first came on, a banner came down saying, Flight 16. The singer said, "We are. . .Fuh. . .Fli. . .Flight 16. . .I think. . ." And it was really cute because he had an English accent and everything. They were pretty good, also. The singer was playing guitar and doing kicks and he was about three feet away from me, he gave me a high five. He also looked me in the eyes a couple of times. The other guitarist said, "This is our first tour. You all here to see Jerry? [everyone screams] Yeah, Jerry is awesome, he really made us feel welcome. It's a FUCKING PRIVILEGE playing for him!" It was so cool; he also had an accent. Also, the lights blacked out for about two minutes during the show. At the end, the singer said, "Did ya like that?" And I yelled out YEAH really loud. . .and I was the first one. . .it was like this. . .YEAH (me). . . . . . . . . . . . . YEAH (everyone else)!!!!
Between Flight 16 and Jerry, they were playing Black Sabbath. . .the roadies that is. . .it was so cool. They played Iron Man and everyone was singing along.
The part you've been waiting for. . .Jerry. He came on at about 9:45 and wrapped up at 11:30. Jerry came on with a full mane of golden blond hair which reached about halfway down his back. He was wearing a black button down jersey which he had open about halfway. He unbuttoned it all the way at the end. He was wearing jeans and black converse all stars. He also had a ring on his right middle finger. Sean's hair was really short, I mean, for him. It was kinda layered, the first part was down to his chin, and the rest was about halfway between his chin and shoulders. His hair looked really dark. He was wearing a tight black shirt and black track pants (with three white stripes down each leg). Chris DeGarmo was wearing a kinda tight black shirt and khakis. He had on a black hat turned backwards and black sunglasses which he took off about half way through the show. Nick Rhinehart was wearing a black shirt and jeans. I'm not sure if Chris Dowd was playing the keyboards. I couldn't hear Jerry when he was introducing the band, but I don't think it was. Anyways, he was wearing a white sweater that had stripes and blue pants.
The first song Jerry played was Devil By His Side. He used a red guitar. The place was packed. . .I think. . .or everyone that was sitting down was standing up. Jerry closed his eyes a lot when he played. The next song was No Excuses which he also played with the red guitar. When he was playing solo for it, he played right on the edge and was within three feet of me. Naturally I reached out as far as I could, and if he would have put out his hands I coulda touched him. After the song was over he said, "Man, there's a lot of fucking space between here and the crowd. That fucking sucks! We're just gonna have to make up for it!" Next he played My Song with a white guitar. Apparently, everyone liked that song so they rushed the stage. I, being in the front row, was squashed. I couldn't breathe, but somehow I managed to sing to the whole song. Then he played Satisfy with the same white guitar. I can't remember everything he said and when he said it so bear with me. I think when he was done he said, "Wow, you guys are a much better crowd than Chicago!" After that he played Got Me Wrong with the white guitar. It sounded really weird without Layne, Jerry sang the whole thing. Next he played Hurt A Long Time with a really ugly green guitar. Yech, I did not like that guitar one bit! He did the solo next to me again. I stopped breathing, I think. I just watched him play guitar. It was like one of those spiritual moments. He had his eyes closed and I could see all the stubble on his face. Next he played Brother with the red guitar again. Wow, he is just great. Then he played What the Hell Have I with the red guitar and once again the crowd rushed and I was smashed right into the wall. Shit, that hurt so much, my ribs were right in the wall. I felt like I was playing Red Rover because I couldn't let anyone into the front. After that he played Settling Down with a sunburst guitar. How appropriate. The crowd did settle down though. Wow, so he changed guitars again and came back with the one and only G&L Rampage. I was so close I could SEE the naked chick, lol. I knew he was going to play Them Bones, sure enough he did. Now thee coolest thing happened. Jerry came right by me again to play solo this time he was on his knees, head back, playing his Rampage. God, I wish I had a camera. It was thee moment. Eyes closed, hair flying, everything. Jerry then played Keep the Light On. Very awesome in concert. They rushed. Once again, I couldn't breathe. He played Between after that with the white guitar. Everyone was rushing again. This time there were body surfers. One almost kicked me in the head - they all got kicked out though. I was singing along and I had my big "I'm here to see Jerry" button on, and he looked at me and smiled! It was so cool! Thanks Dianne! Next he played Heaven Beside You with the white guitar. Everyone knew the words to that one, and at the last chorus, Jerry yelled, "CLAP YER HANDS AND SING IT WITH ME!" Then they all got off stage and left.
The crowd was going wild, we yelled out "JERRY! JERRY!" for about three minutes. He came back on stage and said, "Are you expecting another song? It sounds like you want us to play another song. You may want another song, but do you need another song? [he motioned the crowd to yell] I don't think you need another one [the crowd yells really loud] Okay." The rest of the band comes out and Jerry says, "Tell me if you know this one." And he starts playing Cut You In with the red guitar. Just like him to make us beg :)~ Can you guess what's next? Jerry keeps on his red guitar and starts playing Dark Side of the Moon. The part where Jerry sang, "The lunatic is in my head" the guy a couple people down from me did that creepy laugh from the song, and Jerry looked at him and laughed. Then it was the end of the show for good and Jerry jumped off the stage to the right of me and was shaking hands and giving out picks, then he got right by me, and jumped back on stage. GRRRR! Then Sean came out with four drumsticks and gave them away to people on the left of me. GRRRR! Then Jerry jumped down and went to the left and gave out some more picks, but he never reached me. Ditto GRRRR! During the middle of the show, some roadie dude came out with another setlist and Jerry joked, "Remind to talk to you after the show!" and then he did that little laugh of his. And then the guy came out again with another setlist later on in the show and Jerry said, "I love you, man" and patted him on the head.
The show was over and I got the last Jerry Cantrell poster hanging on the wall. It's really spiffy, I'm gonna frame it. I also got a Flight 16 poster. I bought two Boggy Depot shirts, the one with Jerry loading a gun and on the back it says Dickeye and the other says Boggy Depot then lists prices and on the back lists all the songs. That's about it. I didn't meet Jerry but it was a helluva good show. And in my many years of concert going, I can honestly say that was the best :)
Reviewed by Gemma Tarlach
From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online • October 5, 1998
Most of Milwaukee missed it. Too bad.
Only a few hundred people were on hand to enjoy one of the year's most satisfying rock performances when Jerry Cantrell took to the stage at the Modjeska on Saturday.
Cantrell, the once (and future?) guitarist and creative force of the dormant Seattle grunge band Alice In Chains, packed his hour-plus set with some things old, some things new, some things borrowed and some things blue.
He focused on material from his recent solo debut, 'Boggy Depot', but dipped frequently into his old bag of Alice tricks, including the fan favorites No Excuses and Got Me Wrong. Even after his second encore, a faithful cover of Pink Floyd's Brain Damage/Eclipse, the audience was screaming for more, prompting Cantrell to jump into the crowd to shake hands and pass out guitar picks.
The picks were an appropriate gesture -- many fans in the mostly 20-something crowd had their air guitars out all night. Cantrell certainly has the guitar-god look down. With his Les Paul slung low and frequent tosses of his long blond hair, the guitarist could have descended into parody if he didn't have the goods to back it up.
From blues-tinted wails to chords so texturally rich you heard them in 3-D, Cantrell demonstrated the fine art of showing your stuff without showing off.
Cantrell's talents aren't limited to the fretboard. He's also a crafty songwriter who's able to crank out hooky songs, from the off-kilter stoner grooves of his hit single Cut You In to the sly and twangy Between.
Cantrell's more-than-able backup band included Alice bandmate Sean Kinney on drums and former Queensr˙che six-stringer Chris DeGarmo, who managed to sneak in a few nimble-fingered licks without stealing Cantrell's spotlight.
The only flaw in Cantrell's set was not of his doing. A sound problem during the opener, My Song, shut him out of the mix entirely, but was quickly corrected.
The question Cantrell is often asked -- whether Alice In Chains will be a band again -- is no longer relevant. Jerry unchained is more than worth the price of admission.
Opening act Flight 16 will hopefully pick up a few pointers on the road with Cantrell. The British quartet played a seemingly endless set of generic post-grunge rock that failed to generate any energy. The band's noble attempt at some interesting vocal harmonies and a funky bass line were buried under formulaic riffing and overloud drums.
Cold, Florida's latest entry into the alterna-metal category, fared better than Flight 16. The band's sound ranges from borderline thrash to moments of creepy guitar-driven surrealism that won a positive reaction from the crowd.
