This is my first time watching this.
I am a huge fan of the band. It is so painful to watch this now that Layne is gone. 
Watching him sing those lyrics now seems so foretelling.
He did not look well even in 1996 when this was filmed.
RIP to a great talent.
I miss him.
yeah i hear you… it is very sad. what a waste, i love that voice…
ive only seen the vhs version, what are the bonus features on the DVD? i need to get this…
We hardly knew ye, Layne.
It’s a shame, because if he’d ever gotten clean he could’ve had a killer comeback… all that wasted talent and potential.
But it wasn’t to be. I read the article about him in RS after he died… poor guy was pretty messed up. Amazing music he pruduced, though.
I’m gonna listen to the Unplugged album now. Then Nothing Safe. And be all melancholy for a while.
Well, I’ve never seen the VHS version, so I wasn’t sure how it compares. The sound quality is outstanding, but the dvd is pretty bare-bones. The only bonus feature really is this:
It really is one of the best albums. If you’re a fan you may want to check out The Nona Tapes , it’s funny.
Also take a listen sometime to Jerry Cantrell’s new album, Degradation Trip. It’s something of a cross between Dirt and Jerry’s first solo album, Boggy Depot.
Brandocet - I’ve heard about the Nona Tapes. What is it exactly? I heard Jerry Cantrell was in drag in that? :eek:
Yeah, Jerry is “Nona Weisbaum”. It’s short (25 mins) and is set up like an interview. The video for “Grind” is on it as well. It’s cheap, but I’d guess only real fans would appreciate it.
It was the bands first show in 3 years. IIRC, Layne spent most of those 3 years dealing with his “personal problems”.
I would recomend the Music Bank DVD which has all of AIC’s videos. There is even an old documentary which features the band during their Poison wannabe days.
Excellent, Adam ~ I will put that on my X*mas list! 
Viewers of the concert might be interested to note that by 1996 Layne had reached the point where he was buttoning the cuffs on his long sleeve shirts between his thumb and firstfinger on both hands.
Apparently, even then, Layne had used up all of his traditional veins in both arms and had reached the point where he was injecting into the veins on the back of his hands and around his knuckles etc.
In one of his rare appearances after 1996 he was photographed giving the bird to a camera (albeit jokingly) and the puncture marks and bruising around his knuckles then was really shocking.
Oddly enough, at least 50% of Layne’s problem was that he totally addicted to a syndrome they call “enjoying the feel of the steel” - which is a situation where the junkie is pyschologically addicted to the sheer physicality of inserting a syringe into a vein which has temporarily been tourniqueted.
The producers of “The People vs Larry Flint” tell the story of how freaked out they were with Courntey Love’s insistence on using real syringes during her drug scenes in the film. It turns out that Courtney had only recently cleaned herself up from smack in the previous year, but the opportunity to stick a syringe in her arm was so compelling that she almost brought the film to a standstill. It was only after the producers became aware of the “feel of the steel” syndrome that they understood what was at play. Thankfully, they talked Courtney through it.
The sad thing for Layne of course is that he could easily have afforded to have bought enough heroin to just plain smoke it and feed his addiction that way without puncturing his veins all over his body. However, smoking heroin doesn’t provide the massive instant onslaught that intravenous injection provides - and ultimately, it was that concept of “feel of the steel” that he could never quite shake.
Accordingly, if ever there was an invention in human history which has brought as much misery as it did benefits, it’s undoubtedly gotta be the intravenous needle. Veins are fragile things folks. They’re not meant to be punctured you know. In cultures where smoking opiates is common, the rate of overdose is almost negligible compared to places where needle use is common. It’s the general consensus that it’s basically impossible to overdose on heroin if you smoke it.
So check out the video and check out Layne’s sleeves. Then consder something - he only got worse for the next 8 years as he holed himself up in his apartment and just shot up and shot up and shot up. At least he never hurt anybody.
Interestingly, it’s generally agreed that John Frusciantie from The Red Hot Chilli Peppers was just as bad but somehow he pulled himself back from the brink. Apparently the scarring on both his arms is just horrific but he wears his arms uncovered to let people know that you CAN fight back.
Wow, Boo Boo Foo. That was powerful.
I think Layne was actually wearing cut-off gloves in the Unplugged DVD.
I think drug addiction really is a slow suicide for the user.
I believe it’s not so much that they can’t stop as it is that they don’t want to.
You’re right LolaCocaCola he is wearing those cut-off gloves. Take a look at the first time he takes his sunglasses off, man do his eyes look freaky. I guess it’s amazing that he pulled it off–he only screws up a few times.
Right, Brandocet. Plus he had a grey, sickly pallor to his complexion.
Mike Starr was also heavily addicted, which is why he left the band, I guess.