The Set
by Colin Griffith
Almost no one bought tickets until that day, the day they heard that Alice In Chains was opening for MotorHead in Seattle. Who knows how it happened? But it did.
The doors opened at seven, the crowd gathered at six. Alice In Chains used to play here. “What songs would they play? They can only play so many? So no encore? I don’t see how they could? But how long do they get to play? We don’t even know!”
The doors opened the crowd rushed in, the band had yet to take the stage. Five minutes passed, the crowd ordered drinks while some went to smoke cigarettes. Ten minutes! Can you not wait ten minutes! Five more minutes passed, Layne came out on stage followed by the band.
“Bury me softly in this womb…”
“Down in a hole first? Is this the only song they are going to play?”
“Shhhhh!”
“Holding red flowers in a tomb…”
The performance was perfect and the audience started to leave, as if they expected no further songs. The band had been hired to play five songs, so they began the next one.
“Time to change has come and gone, watch your fears become your god… it’s your decision.”
The crowd began to drift back in as the guitars set the rhythm in. “It’s your decision…”
Smiles on their faces the crowd began to gleam as the lights lit the room. “You feel the fire that burned us all, when you lied… to feel the pain that spurs you on black inside…”
That is when the crowd turned around to leave again, thinking that they had seen it all.
“And hear you stand before us all and say its over.”
Hearing those lines the crowd began to return to the theatre. The rest of the song was a tug of war between the band’s desire to play and the crowds desire to smoke, drink, or fuck.
“No one plans to take the path that brings you lower…”
“It’s over…”
The crowd stood stupefied. The band had one moment to grab their attention and seize it firmly in their grasp; No Excuses!
“It’s alright, there comes a time, got no patience to search for piece of mind…”
They crowd began to groove and shake as they finally found the rhythm. “Every day its something hits me all so cold, you find me sitting by myself, no excuses that I know…” People began to dance wildly knocking over beers spraying the liquid all over the room.
“Trained in blue, I bleed for you, you think its funny well you’re drowning in it too.” People began to swear at each other over the spilled beers and incessant indoor smoking.
“Every day its something hits me all so cold, you find me sitting by myself, no excuses that I know…”
People started to fight, something needed to be said to bring them back!
“Leave our rain, a cold trade for warm sunshine…”
That line brought the people together, so they could prepare for the next song.
“Yeah, hey, I, want to travel south with you.”
“I won’t, won’t prevent safe passage here.
They hugged and they cried as the band sang with the crowd joining in.
Once more Layne stood centerstage and belted out, “Yeah, hey, yeah, tears that soak a calloused heart.” That was it! That could have been the show but the song was not finished.
“I stay away…!”
And they continued, following the rolling rhythms of guitars riding the bass.
The band sang again, “Why you act crazy?”
The whole crowd sang with Layne, “I stay away…! I stay away…! I stay away… I stay away!”
The crowd could have died right with the end of the song, but the contract said one more. There was only one choice.
“Hey, I ain’t never coming home.”
People put their arms over each others shoulders and swayed side to side for the first two verses of the song, just listening and embracing one another.
“Misery so hollow…”
As the swaying continued no one talked. No one asked if the band was going to be able to keep this together, to pull this off. No one said a word, but a few sang.
“It hurts to care I go now.”
The crowd stopped swaying, they stopped moving entirely. Then, the guitar rolled in, gently and smoothly, but hard as rock! The harmonica sang the tale and the people danced.
“Oh forgot my woman, lost my friends, things I’ve done and where I’ve been…”
They began to chant, “Home! Home! Home!”
“Yeaaah, take me home!”
“Home!”
“Take me home!”
“Home”
“Take me home.”
“Say goodbye don’t follow…”
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