Jerry Cantrell - London Review

Earlier this week I found myself in London, once again going to two gigs on the trot. This is something which I have done a lot over the years, but 2025 seems to have been particularly busy for such - and I am starting to wonder if I need to start scaling back somewhat! The amount of travelling and the lack of sleep which come with these longer trips away is starting to have more of an impact - but two nights away is often more economical than one, and I have to remember that I generally look back on such trips with fondness. Even if I am still feeling the effects of my trip away earlier this week, I already know that it was worth it. My previous post on this blog detailed the first of the two gigs the trip took in, which was a potential Gig of the Year candidate thanks to Savatage's first UK show since 2002, whilst this post deals with the second of the two nights - which saw Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell bringing his solo band to the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, just after delivering at Download Festival over the weekend. Whilst Alice in Chains are still active, in recent years Cantrell seems to have dedicated more time to his solo career than the band with which he made his name. Alice in Chains have not released an album since 2018, but Cantrell has released two solo albums in the last handful of years - with 2021's Brighten and 2024's I Want Blood joining the two solo albums he released in 1998 and 2002 during a period of hiatus for Alice in Chains. Since the pandemic, Alice in Chains have toured on and off - but there has been little talk of a new album, with Cantrell instead ploughing much of his energy into the two aforementioned solo albums. With Alice in Chains now seemingly on hiatus again due to drummer Sean Kinney's health issues, Cantrell is likely putting all of his energy into his solo career - and I Want Blood could likely pass as an Alice in Chains album for the most part, even if the more southern rock-inspired Brighten feels a little different. Cantrell's solo albums are very much cut from the same cloth as Alice in Chains, then, so transitioning between the two camps is likely quite easy for him. Cantrell and Alice in Chains have both been regular visitors to the UK over the years. I saw Alice in Chains back in 2019, and they were excellent, and Cantrell last came to the UK as a solo artist in 2022. I did not go to that 2022 show, which was also in London, but when this most recent London show was announced, as it tied in with the Savatage show, I decided to get a ticket. As I had not been keeping up with Cantrell's solo albums, picking up a ticket seemed like an excuse to really kick-start my appreciation of his solo catalogue - and the O2 Forum is generally a pretty good venue as long as you do not try and stand at the back. Following a day in London, then, I headed down to the venue where an already large queue had formed. Thankfully, getting into the O2 Forum is always smooth and quick - so it was not long before I was out of the blazing sun and in the relative cool of the venue, although it soon warmed up as a large crowd turned out to catch Cantrell and his excellent backing band.

Before Cantrell took to the stage, though, the growing crowd was treated to half an hour or so of music from the Australian gothic duo Vowws. Fleshed out by a bassist/keyboard player and a drummer, the duo played a somewhat industrial take on 1980s gothic rock - with off-kilter beats, strange synths, and duelling male/female vocals. Both the guitar player and main keyboard player sang, with perhaps slightly more focus on the latter and her somewhat downbeat vocal style, and this led to some interesting back and forth between the two - whilst jangly 1980s guitar melodies and sparse synth melodies generally made up the musical backing for the vocals. The rhythm section had a bit of  Nine Inch Nails edge at times, particularly the way that the drummer played, but the overall sound was not as spiky nor as metallic - as the duo's sound was generally quite cold and sparse overall. I do not mind the occasional blast of full-on goth such as this, but I do not think that Vowws did all that much for me. I certainly did not hate them, and I found their set quite interesting thanks to the beats and the various synths employed, but the songwriting overall did not feel that tight - nor was it especially melodic. The duo's songs were very downbeat and atmospheric, though, so perhaps writing strong melodies is not really their aim - but it was generally the music rather than the vocal melodies which interested me, although it did not help that the vocals were sometimes a bit low in the mix. It was hard to tell what the crowd at large was thinking about the duo, too. The crowd was generally a pretty rabid one, as was later seen, but during Vowws I am not sure that most really knew what to make of what they were hearing. They did not seem like a natural pairing for Cantrell's brand of grungy hard rock/metal - although the downbeat nature was somewhat comparable it could be said. It probably worked in the duo's favour, too, that they only had half an hour to play with. As such, they were not on stage long enough to really outstay their welcome - and the last couple of songs certainly received stronger receptions than the rest. Perhaps some were coming around to Vowws' sparse, mournful sound after all. I think that it is fair to say, though, that Vowws were not for me - although I appreciated that they were attempting to do something different despite some very clear influences from the past being on display. I am sure that with some crowds they would go down really well - but I am not sure that a rock/metal show was the right fit.

Half an hour following Vowws' set, the lights went down again and Cantrell took to the stage with the four musicians which make up his current live band. As I mentioned earlier, the crowd were rabid - and I was not prepared for how hard some were going to go, especially given how slow much of Cantrell's music is. There was plenty of singing throughout, so there was a strong atmosphere, but there also seemed to be a few in attendance whose only experience of live music was likely their yearly trip out of the house to Download whereby their antics can get a bit lost in the huge crowd. Some did not really know how to behave at a show such as this - and the amount of pushing and shoving going on was not really in-keeping with the overall mood of the night in my opinion. This was particularly apparent from the opening notes of the slow-burning Psychotic Break, which kicked things off. The depressing number from one of Cantrell's older solo albums was, even for him, a mournful way to open a show - but it set a suitable tone before the more energetic Them Bones ramped up the atmosphere. This was the song which the day trippers really went crazy for. It is an energetic rocker, but some treated it as if Slayer were on stage - and it all just seemed bit much really. The song rocked, though, and it was one of six Alice in Chains numbers played throughout the night - with much of the focus instead turned over to Cantrell's solo albums. The song also introduced former The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato - who provided harmony vocals throughout the night and generally took the lead on the Alice in Chains songs. He harmonised well with Cantrell throughout, recreating the albums' vocal harmonies nicely, and the overall sound mix during the show was good. Cantrell sounded strong vocally, and his guitar playing was full of the dirty, bluesy power he is known for - whilst his band was gritty when needed and more subtle elsewhere. More anthemic solo numbers such as Vilified and Cut You In brought the best out of the band, with Stone Sour's Ray Mayorga (drums) in particularly standing out thanks to some powerful and hard-hitting drumming - whilst slower pieces such as Atone and Siren Song allowed for a more dynamic approach. Man in the Box later roused the day trippers back to life, too, as they only seemed really interested in the Alice in Chains classics - although in fairness the aforementioned Cut You In, which was a single back in the day, and the bassy rumble of I Want Blood also elicited strong reactions. The atmosphere was good and appreciative throughout, with those who were interested in everything singing along, whilst the over-the-top boisterousness was largely reserved for the Alice in Chains numbers - which I think says it all really. Even really downbeat Alice in Chains numbers like Down in a Hole had some near me jumping around like monkeys in the zoo - and it started to become really annoying being constantly bashed into whilst dirgy grunge ballads filled the room. I have to look past this, though, because Cantrell and his band put on a strong showing - and the main set closing with the more melodic Angel Eyes and the evergreen Would? really showcased his talents. A three-song encore followed, with a somewhat rare outing of Alice in Chains' Hate to Feel kicking it off - before the more country-tinged Brighten and the classic Rooster brought Cantrell's 90 or so minutes on stage to a close. The setlist was:

Psychotic Break

Them Bones [Alice in Chains material]

Vilified

Afterglow

Atone

Siren Song

Man in the Box [Alice in Chains material]

Cut You In

My Song

Off the Rails

I Want Blood

Down in a Hole [Alice in Chains material]

Had to Know

Angel Eyes

Would? [Alice in Chains material]

-

Hate to Feel [Alice in Chains material]

Brighten

Rooster [Alice in Chains material]

Despite the behaviour of a few, I had a good time with Cantrell and his band on Tuesday night in London. Whilst I would consider myself more of an Alice in Chains fan than a fan of Cantrell as a solo artist, I have been really enjoying diving into his solo catalogue over the past few months - and he remains a great songwriter that straddles genres with ease. The setlist was great, covering all of his solo albums and some Alice in Chains classics - and the show was certainly worth the effort, even if Savatage the night before is always going to overshadow it.