jerry plays arizona

Last night, I saw Jerry's show at the Nile Theater in Mesa, Arizona. I was so blown away, it was the best small club concert I have ever been to. I stood basically in the second row, which was 5 or 6 feet away from the stage.

The concert opened with the Swarm, who put on a impressive show. As reported earlier, the lead singer was a little over the top but it worked for them. I thought the guitarist was what really made this band. This guy has real potential to become a major guitarist. Unfortunately, this club had lousy acoustics or I just was too close to the amps because it was really hard to hear the vocals. I could not hear alot of the song titles.

When Jerry finally hit the stage, the audience went nuts. He opened the show with 3 new songs from his upcoming cd. Not being familiar with the new stuff, I know he played "Castaway" and "Atone" but I do not know the name of the other song, He introduced some Seattle Mariners players in the corner of the stage, they were in Mesa for Spring Training.

Next, he broke into a bunch of Alice in Chains songs. This made the crowd go even crazier to hear such killer songs. He played "Brother", "No Excuses" and "Got me Wrong". Jerry seemed very pleased with the crowd's enthusiam, especially when a mosh pit broke out during "Ain't Like That". The audience sang so strong on the AIC songs, it was apparent the band was really getting into the crowd.

He did not play any songs from "Boggy Depot", which was the only disappointing part of the show. He performed the song "Angel Eyes", which I realy loved. The majority of the music played was AIC songs, with "Would"and "Man in the Box included.

If you get the chance to see Jerry on this tour, do it or you will be missing a rare initimate moment with the 90's most influential guitarist.

The day Jerry played Arizona with Nickleback. He also did a radio show at 98KUPD in Tempe. I tried very hard to get into this show. Never won one of the pairs of coveted tickets.

Another AZ fan, I've come to meet named Eden. Her husband had won tickets to see Jerry in Las Vegas. They were in invited to the radio show. They were so gracious to allow me to display their photos on the top of this page.

Jerry was an hour or so late coming to the station. I am glad that I did not go down to the station. Non winners were allowed to hang around outside to hear. Since it was 110 degrees that day, I would have had a heat stroke.

Jerry played "Solitude", "Angel Eyes" and "No Excuses" (dedicated to Layne). He screwed up the beginning of "Angel Eyes". He started over and was very funny about it. It was an all acoustic set. It sounded fantastic! I am glad that he had three guitars playing. It sounded very full. I think they played a great set despite the extreme heat that day.

This day was very hot. The first day over 110 degrees for the year. We sat in the shade and watched the opening acts.

Course of Nature and Default played before Jerry came on. CON played when it was still very sunny out. I think they put on a great show in spite of the heat and the sun blinding them. I did not like Default as much.

I loved the severed hand backdrop Jerry was using. It glowed like an xray when the lighting was turned on. The stage was set with really cool pink and green lighting.

When Jerry came out. I started screaming my head off and so did a lot of the audience.

The band sounded so solid after playing many shows together. Much more polished then when I had seen them the previous year. I loved that Jerry uses three guitars. It give a much richer and full sound.

This show kicked ass! I did not stay for Nickelback . I did meet William from CWTF and Jerry's touring band after the show. He was the most gracious person. We talk a bit about the radio show . He took a picture with me before heading back to play with Jerry and Nickelback. It was very cool!