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Published: October 23rd 2006
Just got back from spending a few days in the North Myrtle Beach, SC area. Specifically, we rented a cottage at Cherry Grove Beach. It was a great place, complete with hot tub and ping pong table, and was just a short walk from the beach. The weather was spectacular. The first day was warm, humid, and a little hazy. The following days were nice with less humid conditions, comfortable temperatures, and a little breeze. The beach was especially nice. We were at the north end of Cherry Grove. The timing of the low tides in the early afternoon allowed us access to an area that provided great views of the adjacent tidal marsh and undeveloped island to the north. Check out the beach video above!
An interesting thing was noted while we were there. In the cottage, and almost everywhere we went, we saw a large number of what I call "negative signs". These are signs that command you not to do something, and usually not preceeded by a "Please". These usually involve things that most people, using common sense, wouldn't need to be told anyway. I guess negative signs are a part of life and a necessity. However,
what was noticeable was the amazingly high concentration of them in this area. Check out the signs video above!
The highlight of the vacation was going to an Alice in Chains (AIC) concert at House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach. AIC is one of my favorite bands of all time. They were one of the first influential grunge bands to emerge out of Seattle in the early 90s, though AIC had more of a hard rock flavor than some of the other notable grunge bands. Their repertoire included multiple platinum albums, hit singles, and videos. The band did not tour much, apparently due to lead singer Layne Staley's fragile condition related to his apparent heroin addiction. In 2002, Layne passed away from a drug overdose. This, along with fellow band member and main songwriter Jerry Cantrell's release of several solo albums and tours, would have supposed an end to any future AIC recordings and tours. However, earlier this year, AIC decided to launch a tour with replacement singer/guitarist William Duvall accompaning Cantrell and other members, Mike Inez and Sean Kinney. How was the show? Fantastic. Quite simply, they rocked out in a big way. No doubt that Layne
was missed, though, and the concert included a moving tribute to Layne which consisted of a montage of photographs, videos, and music. Layne will not be forgotten by the fans, but William Duvall proved that he has what it takes to help AIC move forward. This concert was one of the best that I have ever attended. AIC has an incredible collection of great songs, which run the spectrum from hard-driving numbers like "Again", "We Die Young", and "Dam that River", to name a few, to softer melodic material such as "Brother", "Heaven Beside You", and "Down in a Hole". Of course, they played their big hits, which included "Man in a Box", "Would?", "Rooster", "No Excuses", etc. Their showmanship and musicianship were also impressive, and they were clearly having as good a time as the audience, which jumped around, moshed a little, sung the songs, and cheered loudly. After the show, I walked around to the back of the venue where the tour busses are parked, knowing that catching a glimpse of the band members, and perhaps meeting them, was a possibility. After standing around alongside several dozen other hardcore fans behind a yellow rope for a few minutes,
William Duvall walked outside towards a bus entrance. The crowd recognized Duvall and started cheering. Duvall looked over, aborted his original intention to enter the bus, and began walking toward he crowd. The crowd responded by cheering even more loudly. At this point, I'm thinking how great it would be to be Duvall. To have people cheering your presence, wanting to talk with you, meet you, take pictures with you, compliment you, get your autograph, etc. It's got to be a great feeling. I shook his hand and told him he did a great job. I wished I had had my camera. A few minutes later, Cantrell emerged from backstage, the crowd cheered, and he walked over. I was also able to shake his hand, along with drummer Sean Kinney. These guys seemed genuinely nice, and appreciative of their fan support. AIC is back.
Over the course of the few days that we spent in the Myrtle Beach area, we managed to walk on the beach, take some pictures, play tennis, golf, and ping pong, eat at Hooters and Outback, and go to a great concert. It's great spending quality time with great friends at a fun place.
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Aicgoddess
non-member comment
I like it!
Being from the Myrtle Beach are and now living in NW north Carolina i miss home. I went backfor that AIC concert and it was really awesome! I loved the videos, the "signs" is kinda funny. Keep Rockin!