Motley Crue and Alice In Chains: Reality vs Fantasy of The Rock & Roll Lifestyle

May 7, 2014 in Raleigh, NC

Motley Crue: The Dirt. A very graphic reality TV show in book form.

I'm currently reading Motley Crue's book The Dirt and it's so informative, gross, graphic, sad and motivating that it is really hard to put down. This book should be read by anyone that has illusions about how glamorous the rock and roll lifestyle really is. All aspiring band members and the women who want to be groupies/girlfriends/wives should absolutely read this book.

Today,  I read this book still on my natural musical "high" of attending my first Alice in Chains concert in Raleigh on May 7. That concert was the first concert since seeing Collective Soul at the April 2009 Dogwood Festival in Fayetteville, NC that I watched a major band that I loved play live in concert.

 For the couple of years, I haven't been to a lot of concerts (no one I really wanted to see or spend precious money on the tickets). So seeing Alice in Chains was a huge event for me.

Everyone seemed to have a great time at the AIC concert. Most people have their dreams of what it is really like to be in a band or date a band member. After reading the Motley Crue book, I got a big dose of reality that the fantasy in my head is very far from the truth.

Being in a band is a lot of hard work for a lot of years. If you are extremely lucky to make it, you have to do even more work to stay at the level of success you obtained while being under a lot of pressure to achieve even more success.

Having reached success, the excesses of having a lot of money and fame come into play. Young good looking men in successful bands will have no shortage of women who will do anything, anyway, anywhere, etc. To be honest, I have never been so grossed out by how abusive and disrespectful Motley Crue was to the women they slept with. The book is very graphic depiction of how the guys really did not care about most of the women or themselves for that matter.

I was so thankful that I in the past when I met band members (Slaughter, Matt Sorum and local bands), I always acted respectfully to myself and to the men. I never wanted to be the notorious groupie bands could write dirty things about in their autobiographies. It should go without saying NOT every guy in every band is like the members of Motley Crue. There are a lot of wonderful healthy smart musicians who love their girlfriends/wives and their families.

Everyone has to make the right choices for their lives. It's human to make mistakes, learn from them and focus on living the best life you can. I keep thinking how much time the members of bands wasted in their youth. Life is so precious. The way you treat your body in your youth will have an impact on your health when you are older.

Jerry Cantrell looked amazing at the recent concert. To be honest, there have been times in the past when looking at Jerry in pictures and videos, he looked a lot older than he is. We have all seen how rock stars mostly do not age very well. The harshness of an addictive lifestyle and life on the road.  It was so great to see him looking so strong, happy and well at the concert. It is never to late in life to improve your health.

Every band has dirty laundry (love that song btw) and Alice in Chains has chosen to be mostly quiet about the details of their wild youthful days. It is interesting to see Jerry and Sean duck and dive around questions about their young crazy days in the band. Good times and bad times. Life Lessons learned the hard way and sadly too late for some members of the band. But of course I would love to know more behind the scenes stuff about AIC.

Standing in front of that stage watching Alice in Chains play, I was impressed by how healthy and strong they looked. Jerry has had struggles with his health and addiction through the years. I was definitely motivated and inspired to continue to improve my health. The band Alice in Chains is a group of men that overcame a lot of hardships in their lives and stayed true to their passion for music.

 I always feel a sense of pride knowing this about my favorite band.

I'm going to write more about Alice In Chains and other bands on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

Jerry Cantrell Is Not Only A Great Guitarist But A Cool Guy

This is the best my poor little camera could do. Jerry looked and played amazing that night.

I wish I had be able to meet Mr. Jerry Cantrell but I felt like I got a really good understanding about how he feels about his music and his fans. On May 7, 2014 in Raleigh NC, I was blessed to be able to attend my first Alice in Chains concert.

When I bought my ticket for Alice in Chains in  early February of this year (in a snowstorm), I knew I was excited about seeing an awesome band but I never knew I was also going to learn about hard work and having a passion for your life's work.

A lot of people have seen and heard Jerry Cantrell play on videos or on the radio. You really do not get a real true sense of how good he is until you see him play live. Jerry was playing because he loved what he was doing and because he really wanted to share his love of playing with his fans.

He played with such passion and determination. After years and years of playing the same songs over and over, you would think he would be bored or phone it in. I went to a John Mayer concert once where he started off one of his popular songs by saying "Well lets get this over with." Not joking. That was twelve years ago and I still remember Mayer making me mad with that careless comment.

I still cannot believe all the things that lined up my life in order for me to be able to end up standing in the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium watching and listening to one of my favorite bands of all time. I learned about setting a goal and overcoming a lot of obstacles to reach that goal. All the time I have been obsessed with this band, I never EVER thought I would be able to see them live much less watch them perform up close. Incredible.

One of the big reasons, I love Alice in Chains is they have a very public history that involves many personal tragedies. This band picked themselves up personally and professional then evolved into a new version of the band. I am so proud of their persistence and resilience. They are completely passionate and professional when it comes to their music and their legacy.

Jerry's guitar solos were an absolute treat to watch. He really got into "Man In The Box." After playing that same song thousands of times, I could see he got completely in to his rock it hard as he could zone. I just stood there in awe just trying to absorb it all.

More Alice in Chains blog posts to come.


Check out my earlier post where I "stalk" the AIC tour buses. No. Nothing like that happened :)

Have you been to any Alice in Chains concerts? Will you be attending any of the shows on their Spring Tour?

Thanks for reading!

Alice in Chains - I Am A Fan Girl But Not That Kind of Fan Girl

Fancy tour buses with the sides extended out for extra interior room.

This is the low key hiding in the bushes view of the buses. Just joking. I didn't hide.

Yes. I am a fan girl. I have no problem admitting it. These are photos of the Alice in Chains tour buses. I was very blessed to be able to attend the Alice in Chains concert in Raleigh, NC May 7, 2014 at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. They ROCKED! It was an amazing show.

But this is a bit of the before-the-show-I-hope-it-get-a-peek-at-the-band thing I go through every time I go to see  a concert. I've always been very interested in the behind the scenes activities that happen before and after every concert.

First things first. No I did not see the band or crew anywhere near the buses. There was a highly observant security guard that made me not want to make any casual approach towards the cool expensive looking shiny buses.

Second. I would have just wanted a humble autograph on a piece of paper not any body parts. Brought my Facelift cassette liner so the band would be amazed at how cool I am  and then joyfully sign it. Nope that didn't happen either.

I quickly gave up gawking at the buses and the one tractor trailer. Were there more trucks somewhere else because Katy Perry had sixteen big rigs for her tour?

After the concert, the idea is to head around to the back of the venue and hope to see the band coming out to go to the limo or the buses. A few people did this but not very many. I just stood over to the side to see what would happen.

 I was standing with another woman far away from building and I turned to her and said "I don't want to be that girl who is creeping around the buses hoping to see the band.." We both laughed.

The limo drove off and the buses stayed. We waved at the stretch limo - do not know if the band was in there or not.

Then I walked the three blocks to my car. There was no way I was going to pay seven dollars for parking.

Oh yeah, the concert was AWESOME! I will be posting a couple of blog post about it in the next couple of days.