I spoke to Alain for a bit last night after the Coachella set. He was, first and foremost, EXTREMELY apologetic about the Las Vegas show cancellation. He was very aware of the great distances and expenses some fans had traveled/spent and couldn't apologize enough. He really wanted to play the House of Blues and spoke of how great he knew the sound, etc. would have been there. The good news is, at least for those who didn't travel such great distances, that they have 3 extra days in their tour at the end of December and plan on returning to Las Vegas and playing the HOB at that time.

As far as the Coachella performance was concerned, Alain explained about the fact that when he picked up his guitar on stage, it was the first time since the back spasm. Alain likes to play a little bit before any performance and didn't get the chance to at Coachella, as they arrived from LA shortly before they went on. He thought they played quite well (as I agreed) but that the whole Las Vegas/no warm up thing kind of threw them because the rhythm/groove they had gotten into from the previous shows was kind of thrown.

As anyone who's met Alain will tell you, he's very dedicated to putting on a good show and playing well. Unfortunately, he took the thrown objects which hit him at Coachella somewhat personally as he believed they were thrown by angry Las Vegas victims. I assured him that the crowd was not entirely there for Morrissey and that the other "element" present at the show was most likely responsible.