The 2018 Layne Staley Tribute Show was held last Friday at the Showbox in Seattle, the same night that Alice In Chains were performing at the Crocodile. Jar of Flies were the featured act. You can watch video of Layne’s mother Nancy singing Mad Season’s classic “Wake Up” in the Instagram album below.
J.T. Phillips from Jar of Flies discussed the show in a Northwest Music Scene interview.
“It’s an incredible honor. It’s important to us as fans and individuals to recognize our love of that (Alice in Chains) music and to have Nancy’s support. The fan response is great. They reach out to Nancy through her website from all around the world, to tell stories of how Layne has touched them. She’s got books of baby pictures from fans who called their kids Layne or had some connection with him.
The fan response is what drives it. For years, the tributes that we’ve done have had people from (as far away as) Israel come into town, just because of their connection to the music. Because we can do it here in Seattle, we have that very special connection – the music history. We’re able to perform it well and people get lost in the moment. I always love when people say, “That reminds me of” – boom! Wow, the stories that come after that are incredible, like: ‘I remember seeing them in 1988 at the Central. It was a great show. We were packing up and all of a sudden, there was Layne and we gave him a ride home.’
We get fantastic stories of what happened. We get to see all these things – these connections that people have, and we’re a conduit to making that happen. We’re here because we’re fans of the music and we’re able to introduce that on a stage that allows people to have memories. It’s awesome to see Alice in Chains. I love to go see them even today.”
