9pm Friday night. The support band Sparta finished their set 15 minutes prior and had done a fine job. I am sure we will be hearing more from them. People are still getting beer on the Mezzanine, rolling joints, yapping on their cellphones in the aisles and in my case, the guy next to me was nodding off from one too many bags of tango & cash.

Yeah, the guy beside me was having trouble staying conscious. I asked him how many bags he had done, and he slurred “tha … tha … the … three”. He wasn’t quite drowned, but he was too close for comfort.

He was alone, so I had someone watch him (explaining that he just had too much to drink) while I went up and got as much caffeine as I could to keep adenosine from slowing his heart rate too much. After getting him to chug the stuff he seemed to be feeling a little better and could stand up, and he wandered off into the crowd. That’s the last I saw of him. I sure hope he was able to see the show.

Suddenly the lights went down. Jerry Cantrell came out, followed by Mike Inez, Sean Kinney and William DuVall. The crowd, at least those of us that were there (the turnout was weaker than I had expected) were very excited. Jerry started strumming the opening chords to “Again” and it was on.

I will admit that it took me 15 minutes or so to get over the confusion of seeing a non-Layne-fronted Alice. I haven’t seen AIC since Staley’s death and it was a bit difficult. Especially during “Would?” which now seemed like depressing irony given the history of the song.

That being duly noted by everyone, DuVall was just great. Some people were dicks and shouted “Where’s Layne?” and similar comments. It’s always the drunk fucks. The straight people, people smoking joints or folks that had shot up before the show were really into it. What DuVall is doing is not an easy job given the comparisons that are constantly made, but if we ever want to hear AIC music live again … someone simply has to do it. And they picked the right guy. The vast majority of the crowd really appreciated William and the rest of the band. I was lucky to be in a section of people who were very familiar with AIC, and we were shouting every word to every song. One dude climbed on my back and pumped his fist in the air while shouting along to “Angry Chair” and most people were in 7th Heaven. I was fortunate to be in the front floor section where most of the hardcore fans were, and it was just great.

Every time Jerry took a solo, the crowd erupted. And in about 45 minutes they tore through many of the greats with energy and enthusiasm. I wished the AIC set would have been longer, but since they are putting together an album of new material, I am sure they will be back through with a full 2-3 hour set in the not-too-distant future.

There was also a surprise. Scott Ian (of Anthrax) came out and sat in on “Man in the Box”, layering the riff with Jerry and it sounded incredible.

They ended the set with “Rooster”, and everyone went nuts. Afterward the band stayed onstage a bit throwing picks out and were really cool to the crowd.

I can’t say enough about how great this version of AIC is live. Layne is always missed, but they have carried on the best they could, and the music speaks for itself. The band is still one of the greats. I can’t wait to see a full set show.

It was a good hour until Velvet Revolver came out, and the crowd filled in much more. The floor was packed and most of the level seats had filled in by the time VR was ready.

The lights went out again, and the PA blasted “Straight Outta Compton” by NWA. Unusual, but actually very cool. When the song ended, there was the usual “You wanted the best? Well they couldn’t fucking make it! So here’s what you get. From Hollywood ………. Velvet Revolver!”

Then the curtain came up and they launched into Let It Roll.

Pure energy from start to finish, and most everyone in the crowd knew the words to every song. Even the new material off of Libertad.

VR played a solid 20+ song set, and hit everything that you would expect. They did many Contraband songs, and they were surprisingly heavy on Stone Temple Pilots material covering “Vaseline”, “Interstate Love Song” and “Sex Type Thing”. These songs naturally got overwhelming crowd reaction.

Speaking of the crowd, I was really happy with the crowd that was there. 90% of the floor were extremely into it, and were shouting and screaming and jumping up and down throughout. What it lacked in size, it made up for three times over in energy. I think the band fed off of this as they really ripped into the songs with more energy than they did when I saw them at the Aladdin in 2005. Scott Weiland sounded great, and Duff surprised the hell out of me with his backup vocals. Much better singer than I had remembered. Slash was Slash. What more can you say? Matt and Dave threw it down all night too. The whole band was tighter than a gnat’s ass.

They did a sit-down set where they performed “Last Fight” off of the new album, and a version of “Patience” that excited the crowd.

They did a couple of their usual Guns songs, Mr. Brownstone and It’s So Easy.

After playing about 2 hours, they came back to a screaming encore, and finished up with “Slither”.

It was a great night, and a great show from start to finish.

Vegas crowds really are some of the best, and Vegas concerts usually have a little extra something behind them that is hard to explain.

I personally couldn’t have asked for a better night.

Update: It was just announced that AIC will be playing a full show at The Joint (Hard Rock Hotel) on 10/25/2007. Tickets go on-sale on September 29th. Now I know where I will be on October 25th.

Apparently, last night we were deluged with rain.

I was inside the Mandalay Bay all night, so I was oblivious to what was going on outside.  I saw some flashes of lightning on my way to the show at about 7pm and everything was fine on my way home at about 1:30am … but during the time  I was inside, I apparently missed one of the largest downpours to hit The Strip area in what some of my neighbors are describing as “the largest downpour I can remember”.

I don’t remember a forecast for such a storm, but as has been noted before, Las Vegas meteorologists suck.

I’m sure they are claiming victory because some chance of rain was predicted for last night.

The sun shines on a dog’s ass every now and then, and there is no better example of a dog’s ass than a Las Vegas weatherman.

In about 4 hours, Alice in Chains takes the stage at the Mandalay Bay followed by Velvet Revolver.

This will be my first time seeing Alice since Layne’s untimely and unfortunate passing.

I’m not sure how weird it is going to be to see a non-Layne-fronted Alice, but from what I hear, DuVall doesn’t try to do a Staley imitation … but does the vocals in his own style.

I saw Velvet Revolver at Planet Aladdin two years ago, and of course they were great.

This is about as good of a double bill that you are going to find in 2007. Not counting Britney and Justin of course.

It was just announced today that Chris Cornell is coming back to Vegas (The Pearl) in November, and of course Black Crowes and Collective Soul are next month … and Smashing Pumpkins were last week.

Late summer - late fall seems to be the heavy concert season for 2007.

Is it me, or has The Joint had an unusually mellow year?

Apparently, The Pearl is stealing several shows that otherwise would have gone to The Joint or House of Blues.

Maybe George’s pig is a music fan? (Since there is already a video of George’s pig on this page, I will forgo it in this post … but just this once)

Anyway, since this is also a relatively slow time of year, there are still tickets available for the Velvet Revolver show. Good 100 level tickets too … not nosebleeds.

Call 877-632-7400 to have will-call tickets waiting for you at the Mandalay Events Center. $65-$100.

If you have something better to do in a few hours than see Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Guns N’ Roses on one stage … then my hat’s off to you.

If not, I’ll see you at the show.

I’ll be the white guy in pants and a shirt.

It has been reported that O.J. Simpson is going to have to find a new place to stay in Las Vegas.

O.J is said to have caused a crazy media frenzy at the Palms Hotel and Casino.

Owner George Maloof said that �??It�??s highly unlikely he�??d stay here again, we don�??t need the drama.�?�

I doubt it will make any difference where he stays because the media will always find him that is just the way it is.

While it is tempting to assume that George is taking the high road here, word on the street has it that George enjoyed the publicity that The Palms received during this little escapade, and has only banned O.J. out of concern for the safety of his pig:

Hey Pig, you’re so lucky he likes you!

A car once again plowed into people walking on The Strip yesterday.

There needs to be some sort of barrier, as the “bowling for people” game can really kill a vacation.

This also bolsters my long-held opinion that 95% of the people on the road have no business piloting a 2,000+ lb motor vehicle. I am not kidding. And I think that number is generous.

If you are prone to diabetic episodes, then you are not allowed to pilot a 90HP single engine aircraft over remote desert with no other aircraft within 100 miles of you.

That being the case … why in the fucking fuck are you allowed to pilot a 200HP vehicle along the most densely traveled street in the country mere inches away from other vehicles and pedestrians???

I don’t get it now, and I doubt I ever will.

I guess it keeps the medical profession and insurance companies awash in cash. It has to be lining someone’s pockets, because it makes no sense otherwise.

A car plowed into a crowd on a Las Vegas Strip sidewalk on Wednesday, injuring at least a dozen people and sending seven to the hospital, authorities said.

“A gentleman who we believe had a diabetic episode passed out behind the wheel, ran up on the sidewalk and hit a large group of people,” said Clark County fire spokesman Scott Allison.

He said most of the injuries appeared to be moderate to serious, but two women were hospitalized with head injuries, Allison said.

He said he believed most of the people on the curb between the Harley Davidson restaurant and Planet Hollywood hotel-casino were tourists.

“This time of day, there may have been 25 people on the sidewalk in the area,” Allison said. The crash was reported just after 4:15 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle, which Allison said was a four-door Pontiac sedan with Arizona license plates, was one of the seven people taken to the hospital.