STATE THEATRE • DETROIT, MI
October 4, 1998
Reviewed and contributed by Matt Rouse
I attended the Oct. 4th show at the State Theater in Detroit, MI. There's not a whole lot to say about it that hasn't already been echoed by anyone else who's been to a Jerry Cantrell concert recently. I have to admit that they sounded much better than when I saw them at a warm-up show before the Metallica tour. (Undoubtedly due to all the practice they've had together!) Aside from that, the set list was basically the same. This time around, they played 'What The Hell Have I' and 'Heaven Beside You' along with the other standard AIC selections from Sap, Dirt, and Jar Of Flies. The encore was 'Cut You In' and, of course, 'Brain Damage/Eclipse'. Near the end of the Pink Floyd song, Sean stood up on his seat and revealed to us that he wasn't wearing any pants. (He 'mooned' us...) The girls I was sitting with seemed to like it.
Some people up front had brought in a large paper sign that read "Michael Starr" and during the encore Jerry asked them to pass up the sign and he put it on one of the stack amps. He said "Everyone here knows about our bassist Mike Starr, right?" but didn't say anything else about it. He thanked us for coming out and even complimented the audience on how well behaved they were. There was plenty of crowd-surfing, but nothing got out of hand and nothing was thrown on the stage.
When the show ended, me and about thirty other people gathered by his tour bus waiting for autographs. He came out after about ten minutes and signed jewel case inserts and ticket stubs. He also hugged a bunch of girls who asked him to. Being that we were in Detroit, and we appeared to be a crowd of white kids, a few homeless people started coming up to fans asking for money and passing out papers. One of them made it up to Jerry as he was waiting for someone to hand him something to sign. The guy handed him a paper and asked for "a little love for the homeless". Jerry told him that he wasn't carrying any cash but reached into his pocket and gave the man all the spare change he had on him. The State Theater security guards then escorted the homeless man away, as he was taking up more of Jerry's time than the fans were. When I briefly talked to Jerry, he assured me that they would be back to play for us again.
Overall, an EXCELLENT performance, although I would have liked to hear some new material.
