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90The Last Real Performance of Alice In Chains
“Nutshell” – Alice In Chains (1996, MTV Unplugged, Brooklyn Academy of Music)
Performed during what would become their final full concert with Layne Staley, this version of “Nutshell” captures Alice In Chains at a pivotal and quietly devastating moment. Taped in April 1996 for MTV Unplugged, the show marked their return to the stage after a long absence—and effectively served as their swan song. The band would not tour again in Staley’s lifetime.
Musically, this rendition holds close to the original arrangement from Jar of Flies (1994), but the Unplugged setting shifts its texture. Jerry Cantrell’s minor-key voicings remain intact, with Mike Inez’s fretless bass adding tonal depth. Sean Kinney plays with restraint, using brushes and a compact kit to preserve the track’s fragile atmosphere. The overall effect is stripped down, but not minimal—every element is intentional and balanced.
As both performance and document, this version of “Nutshell” now reads as an epitaph—less a highlight than a summation. Its quiet endurance mirrors the band’s own trajectory: brilliant, fractured, and inevitably finite.
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