Staring out over a sold-out crowd, William Duval, along with the rest of his bandmates from 90s grunge band Alice in Chains, stood preparing to open their set.

Thousands of devoted fans from all ages and backgrounds flooded the floor and packed into seated sections, each screaming in anticipation for the show to begin.

Initially formed in 1987 in Seattle, Washington, the band has been through a lot over the past 30 years. Their original lead vocalist, Layne Staley, died from a drug overdose in 2002 which put the band on hiatus for a few years.

Leading up to Staley’s death, their music took a more depressed, rather than intense tone which created an era of music for the band that will forever be iconic and remembered by die-hard fans.

Since then, Duval has taken his place on vocals and the band’s newer music has returned to the intense headbanging style that the group began with.

The band opened their set with an earlier song, “Bleed the Freak,” and immediately, Washington D.C.’s Anthem turned into a scene from the video game Guitar Hero.

Heads began to rock back and forth while many other fans threw their hands in the air and moved them to the beat of the music. Only a couple songs passed before an intense mosh pit broke out which, for those unfamiliar, is basically a tornado of humans aggressively bouncing around and running into each other.

Surprisingly, people of all shapes and sizes joined in, not phased by the risk of injury at all. Witnessing such an event for the first time was quite the spectacle as fans became consumed by the music and naturally moved out of passion for its intensity.

The show continued to play a balanced mix of both new and old songs. When classics such as “Would?” and “Man in The Box” were played, the older demographic of the crowd went wild as they reminisced in memories of their teenage years.

Younger fans were equally aware of the older songs as they danced to the beat and chanted the lyrics just like the adults around them. The venue turned into a melting pot of people from all different cultures brought together by pure adoration and passion for one of the all-time classic rock bands.

Alice in Chains certainly was not your typical concert experience, but the energy of the building was electric and made for a memorable experience.

Finding an event where thousands of people completely let go and let the music move their body is rare in today’s society where people are more focused on taking videos or checking their phone instead of experiencing the music the way it was intended.

Seeing this band live is a must for anyone interested in rock or simply interested in trying new things.

UMBC has once again been named to the Forbes 2018 Best Value College list, a ranking that combines factors relating to quality of education and affordability. While UMBC’s 2017 ranking in the 200 of universities nationwide was strong, on this year’s list UMBC has moved up by an impressive 80 spots, now ranking 118 among top universities nationwide for value.

The Forbes profile makes mention of UMBC’s unique academic offerings, such as game development, Asian studies, and Naval science, balanced with a vibrant student life and athletics. It also notes the bwtech@UMBC research park, and its internationally lauded incubation programs, as an area of distinction, and highlights UMBC’s strong partnerships with NASA, the U.S. Navy, and others.

In addition to this recent honor, UMBC was again named to Business First’s 2018 list of top public colleges and universities in the United States.

UMBC ranks as number 54 out of 485 public four-year institutions, based on 22 metrics that assess academic excellence, affordability, diversity, and economic strength, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Business First ranks three Maryland colleges and universities among the top 75 public institutions in the nation. The others, in addition to UMBC, include the University of Maryland, College Park and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Announcing the URCAD Selfie Contest Winners for 2018!

Best Overall Selfie - Frank Gorelik, with Mentor, Dr. William LaCourse, Joshua Wilhide, laboratory manager of the Molecular Characterization and Analysis Complex at UMBC (and skeleton), “Development of a Method for Quantitating Caffeine in Tea” ($50 gift card to the UMBC bookstore!)

Best Selfie with Presentation - Trevor Pitts, Mai-Han Trinh, Kavita Kumar, with Mentor, Dr. Simon Stacey, “A Behavioral Approach to Measuring Empathy” ($25)

Best Selfie with Mentor - Nida Yousfi, Zachary Pohuski, Hannah Paul, Zulkarnain Choudhury with Mentor, Galina Madjaroff, “Supporting Caregivers and Car Recipients after the Inset of Cognitive Impairment with Home-based Technology” ($25)

Best Selfie with Family Member - Matthew Kane and Mom, “Scratching the Surface of Bahama Oriole Pine Forest Nesting” ($25)

Get your selfie stick ready for next year- URCAD will be on Wednesday, April 24, 2019- See you there!

Student Disability Services would like to remind students who are approved and utilizing the note-taking assistance accommodation this semester, that they need to download their notes from our Accommodate system. Notes will not be available in Accommodate after the last day of class, 05/15/18. If you have any questions or need assistance in downloading your notes, contact us at sdsnotetaking@umbc.edu or 410-455-2459.