I got to the venue a half hour before show time and was ushered in to meet Chuck with a smile across his face. Things can be a little intense before shows but the crew and band were relaxed as could be. More suprising to me, rather than paying me and sending me on my way, they treated me like a guest.   I’ve been backstage enough to know it’s usually better to hang out after a show, unless you’ve run out of smokes I guess.

   Maybe Chuck welcomed me because we had mutual friends. I told him I previously met AIC at the Rainbow Room in LA after an OWL (Chris Wyse - bass, Ryan Brown-drums and Brad Ackley – guitar) show where I played roadie at the Viper Room..

   Chuck took me into the production office where I saw bassist Mike Inez warming up with a baseball bat, weight and all. ‘Yeah, it really helps warm up the fingers’ he told me. Then we discussed Chris Wyse’s upright bass playing and European tour they shared with Chris and The Cult.

   We crossed the hall to the band’s dressing room and I was standing behind Jerry Cantrell as he was putting into an ice bucket. I was told there was money on the line, so I bit my tongue. Jerry made the final putt and victoriously crossed to the other side of the room opposite the bubble hockey game. Chuck introduced me as the guy who brought the Marlboros and I reached across the bubble dome to shake Jerry’s hand, a bit awkward but there was no way I was going to miss that handshake. ‘I nearly talked with you at NAMM but you were pretty busy’; I said. I decided not to challenge Jerry to a game since Ryan warned me not to ever play air hockey with him.   Jerry, I’ve been told, is very competitive so I figured I would have no better chance at bubble hockey.

     Then phenomenal singer William Duvall looked at me like he knew me, ‘I met you at the Rainbow Room a couple years ago’ I said and he acted like he remembered although I can’t imagine he really did. We took a picture and it was back to the production office to await the hoodie Chuck had arranged to give me. ‘Would you like a seat’ he said.  ‘Sure’, so he stopped working, grabbed the radio and got me a ticket plus an all access wristband so I could go anywhere I wanted.

   Feeling it was too close to showtime to hang I let Sean Kinney pass without saying a word so as not to break his concentration and I left to check out the Deftones.   Then I took my seat for the show with my hoodie as cushion. Fortunately there were some cool guys in my row so I didn’t feel like I was at the concert alone.

     AIC can be dark and brooding or light and mysterious at the flip of a switch. What exactly are they singing about? I don’t think you even have to know the lyrics to understand the mood.   Listen to DIRT alone in the dark in the fall on a cold night, Halloween if you dare. I did, it scared the bejeezus out of me and I loved evey minute of it!

     Great art is interpretational and the coolest thing about AIC is they never try to rob their audience of an emotional response to their music by telling what their songs are about. For me AIC is like a medievel bloodletting releasing the evil spirits into clear view so there’s nothing to fear anymore. After the exorcism there is room enough for my soul to flourish.

Deoxygenated blood is blue and only oxygen turns it red, while black is the harbinger of death. On AIC’s stellar release Black Gives Way to Blue, what makes the transformation possible…HOPE!   Hope for the chance to live another day and that tomorrow things will get better.   Keep breathing and someday there will be life.   AIC literally made it from black into blue, keep breathing fellas, red is just around the corner.

My adventure with AIC reminded me that whatever path I choose, there will be pain and detours but if I follow my heart there is a good chance I can get where I am headed. Music can be enjoyable, escapist, thrilling, exciting and cathartic. On a rare occasion, if you’re lucky you may even find redemption and go home with a nice hoodie.