Everybody Loves Our Town_ An Oral History of Grunge - Mark Yarm [112]
I think Jerry Cantrell thought I was there to pretend that I was cool, because there were a lot of people that were there that shouldn’t have been there. There’d be like random chicks. So I think it got confused that I was there for the wrong reasons, and Jerry brought it up. He asked me why the fuck I was there. It was as simple as, “My fucking keyboard player is dying in there, asshole!” That normally will spark some confrontation. Basically, I think I lunged at him. And I think Jeff and some other guys and my guitar player Rick got in between us. I was pretty stoned at the time.
XANA LA FUENTE I had this thought recently: Sometimes I wish I would have never called anyone and told them he was there. Because of that scene there. A lot of people didn’t deserve to be part of that. There were a lot of groupies showing up.
BRUCE FAIRWEATHER It happened on a Friday night, before cell phones. I was on Orcas Island with some friends of mine and didn’t find out what happened until I got back on Sunday. I went over to Kelly’s, and everyone else was there. I said, “What’s going to happen to the band? What’s going to happen to the band?” and “Andy’s going to be all right. He’s going to pull through.”
But when I saw him at the hospital the next day, I was like, “Fuck. Who cares about the band?”
XANA LA FUENTE I knew he was gone. His mom kept saying, “When he wakes up, we’re going to kick his butt.” I’m like, “You don’t get it. He’s not waking up.”
KEVIN WOOD They had to do some tests to see if he could possibly come back—a brain scan after his brain stopped swelling. But he was deprived of oxygen too long for him to have any hope of recovery.
STUART HALLERMAN Soundgarden was at L’Amour in Brooklyn, and somehow the tour manager was on the phone talking to Andrew’s girlfriend. He’s like, “I’m not gonna tell Chris till after the show, because I don’t want to ruin the show for him, but Andrew’s in a coma.” We did tell them after the show, and Susan was out with us, and she started plying herself and Chris with liquor to dull the pain a bit. Driving back to Manhattan, Susan was like mumbling and falling over in the van. It was maybe the only time I’ve seen Susan drunk. The band played the last show of the tour in Hoboken the next night, and Chris and Susan flew out and got to the hospital.
XANA LA FUENTE I wouldn’t let them unplug him until Chris Cornell got there. Andy’s parents were getting pissed at me. They kept going in and saying their good-byes, and they wanted it over with. I was like, “We gotta wait for Chris,” and Soundgarden had been on tour, so we were waiting for him to fly from like Chicago or something. I kind of threw that at Chris: “I got a lot of shit for keeping him on life support when everyone already said good-bye, waiting for you.” It wasn’t right of me. I was just mad at the world.
I made Andy’s hair into three braids because that was the Malfunkshun number, three. I made it into three braids, and I cut it off. I still have it. Me and Brian were the last ones in there.
KEVIN WOOD When they pulled the plug, me and my brother Brian were there, and that’s about all I remember. It was such a traumatic experience. We stood by his bed and watched the heart meter slowly stop, and then, boom, it was over.
DAVE REES I went over Regan’s the day Andy died. We decided we’d make a tape for the service, so we drove down to Stone Gossard’s parents’ house and got the tape deck that we’d use to make it, and in the deck was the rough mix of Apple. So that was an emotional listen, to hear that for the first time on the day he died. It was so bittersweet. I was amazed at Andy’s vocals and his songwriting ability. It was Regan and I think Mara West, one of Andy’s old friends. We basically just sat there and cried and no one said a word for the entire day.
KELLY CANARY When Andy died, everybody was like, “I’m gonna get my shit together.” People had their come-to-Jesus