Lots and lots of people have come out to Alice In Chains shows over the years.
And if you were down front, a lot of you folks that came to a show over the years have caught a Jerry Cantrell guitar pick.
But I bet none of you have ever actually caught Jerry Cantrell.
Well, I did, literally, and you should all be thankful.
This white-knuckle thrill ride of a story took place on our tour bus after the show in Virginia Beach.
And although it was a quick 5 second incident, I’ll do my best to stretch it out to overdramatize what was actually a pretty minor event.
Anyway, here’s the story of how my cat-like reflexes saved not only Jerry Cantrell, but the future of rock n roll for Alice In Chains fans everywhere.
We were leaving the venue and got caught in the post-gig traffic jam, so the bus wasn’t really going all that fast.
But you don’t have to be going all that fast to for something dangerous to occur.
And that’s what happened.
We were moving along at a slow, leisurely pace, when all of a sudden a car cut into our lane forcing our driver to slam on the brakes.
I was sitting on the couch up front nearest to the driver, Sean was on the couch opposite of me, and Jerry and Mike were both standing up, with Mike behind Jerry near the kitchen area.
When the driver hit the brakes, Mike managed to steady himself by grabbing the kitchen counter, but Jerry had nothing to grab.
That’s when my dormant superhero powers kicked in.
Jerry came flying up the front lounge area, with nothing between him and the front of the bus except me.
I leapt off the couch, braced myself for impact, and caught him in both arms.
Have you ever told what you thought was a great story, but then you got to the end and realized that you didn’t really have a proper ending?
Sorry about that.
Because that’s pretty much the story.
I caught Jerry, and I also think that Sean may have caught a bottle of ketchup that was sliding off the table.
So I saved an acclaimed musician who has written some of our generation’s most iconic songs, and Sean saved a condiment.
It was a bus ride that will go down in Alice In Chains history.