Alice In Chains singer/guitarist William DuVall talked finally meeting Axl Rose at a party in Chicago to wrap up Alice In Chains’ initial run of shows opening for Guns N’ Roses on the ‘Not In This Lifetime’ tour in a new interview with KISW 99.9.
“It’s cool, for the first bunch of shows we did with them on the stadium run, everyone was asking me in every town I’d talk to the radio station: ‘Have you met Axl?’ I was like, ‘No I haven’t actually, I’d like to.’ Then finally last show in Chicago, he had a little gathering, had some people over, I went, he was totally chill, it was great.”
“He definitely has a certain vibe, and certain magic about him.”
“He talks like a regular [guy].”
The Baldy has posted a blog on Alice In Chains’ website last month detailing Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl’s Rose’s penthouse party, and why members of Alice In Chains had to urinate in dumpsters on there way to the party.
Well that was fast.
Just like that, our time in stadiums with Guns N’ Roses is over.
Five shows over the course of 11 days, and now we move on to headline gigs.
But the night isn’t over yet, and I’m at the after party in Axl Rose’s penthouse suite in the Ritz Carlton hotel in downtown Chicago.
And the best part is that I’m sitting in the dining area, just off of the main living room where most everyone else is, and I’m alone typing this into my phone.
So yeah, I’ve somehow managed to find a way to make a party with the singer of Guns N’ Roses into a boring experience for myself.
But at least I made it here.
Sean and Mike & I succeeded in turning a 6 minute walk from the Sofitel to the Ritz into a 35 minute odyssey of wrong turns and confusion.
And what do two sober musicians and one band underling with a bladder full of two apple ciders do when they can’t find a conveniently located bathroom at 2:30 A.M. in downtown Chicago?
Find a row of dumpsters in an alley and commit a misdemeanor.
But enough about public urination. Lets talk about Axl Rose’s after party.
Actually, lets not.
Would you like to know part of the reason I’ve been able to maintain a career in the music business for over 25 years?
I can keep a secret, and I know how to keep my mouth shut.
That can be easier said than done, especially when there’s a blog to be written.
But sometimes you have to know when to shut your big fat mouth and store the good stuff away.
After all, I already told you about peeing in an alley.
What more do you want?
So yes, I went to a party in Axl Rose’s hotel room (I also just dropped his name for the third time in five paragraphs, which is obnoxious).
And there are no big secrets or reasons to keep my mouth shut.
But the less I write, the more you have to use your imagination, so I’ll just say that it was fun, and we were there late.
Being on the road with Guns N’ Roses has also been a lot of fun.
These shows are BIG, and the fans that come out are having a great time, and it was really cool to be a part of it.
And now it’s over, but the ending was a perfect capper on the whole experience.
If someone had told me back in 1987 when I bought Appetite For Destruction that I’d be sitting in Axl’s suite nearly 30 years later, I’d have peed in my pants instead of behind a dumpster in an alley in Chicago.
It’s been a crazy ride…
