Jerry Cantrell Plays Alice In Chains Tune for 1st Time Since '90s

Jerry Cantrell figured out a beautiful way to get attention to his 2025 tour kickoff.

Not only did the lead guitarist and co-songwriter of Alice in Chains play some of the old stuff audiences never seem to bore of on 1/31/25, but he dusted off something buried deep in the box.

"Hate to Feel," one of the two tracks off AIC's sophomore smash, Dirt, singer Layne Staley penned. It was a song neither the reimagined group nor Cantrell had performed live since 1993.

“I love those tunes, and I also love the fact that he got the bug to pick up the guitar," Cantrell told Billboard in 2022.

"I remember he showed us those tunes and he was thinking about doing them for a record on his own... Then he played them for us and we were all like, ‘F–k, those are cool. We should do those.’ And he reluctantly agreed. And we cut them, and they turned out to be two amazing songs that very much fit the record, for sure,” the guitarist remembered.

Giving the audience a healthy balance of solo material, Alice in Chains classics, and a handful of tunes from his new album I Want Blood, "Hate To Feel" was one of the last tracks of the main set.

The song with the awkward, herky-jerky time signature was immediately identified by longtime fans of the grunge band.

Cantrell, who had two legendary bassists (Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan and Metallica's Robert Trujillo) appear on I Want Blood, his fourth solo album, also seems to give a nod to Iron Maiden in one of the new tunes, "Off The Rails."

Don't tell Eddie, but that opening riff sure sounds a lot like "Wasted Years" off Maiden's 1986 LP Somewhere in Time.

If you're gonna borrow, may as well poach from one of the best.

It's also a reminder that one of the beauties of Grunge was - as Soundgarden exemplified - how much it was influenced by equal parts punk and hair metal. Alice in Chains just mixed in a bit of opium and darkness.

Most may not remember but Alice in Chains was one of the first Grunge acts to find real commercial success in the early '90s.

Signed to Columbia, it took an agonizing six months for their debut, Facelift to catch fire in 1990. But once "Man in the Box" was released as the record's second single and its video took off on MTV, the LP became the first Grunge album to go gold.

The band would go on to support the album by opening for hard rocking groups like Van Halen, Iggy Pop, and Poison. Not what one would consider perfect matches in retrospect, but it did the job by giving the longhairs a taste of the Seattle Sound that would quickly take over.

At the Niagara Falls gig, Cantrell peppered in songs from his other solo efforts, Brighten, Boggy Depot, and Degradation Trip. So if you check him out on this solo swing brush up on his non-AIC material.

Spoken word version of "It Comes" is available on special vinyl editions of the album.

Jerry is on tour with old pals Filter opening the show.

As they travel around the US, they'll be at Irving Plaza on Wednesday, The Ritz in Raleigh on Valentines Day, and the House of Blues in Vegas next month.

In May he heads to Europe for two months of rock. Go to Jerry's website for tickets.

I Want Blood North American Tour 2025

February 04 - Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
February 05 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
February 07 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore – Silver Spring
February 08 - Bensalem, PA @ Parx Xcite Center
February 11 - Huntington, NY @ The Paramount
February 12 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
February 14 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
February 15 - Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
February 16 - Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom
February 18 - Columbus, OH @ The Bluestone
February 19 - Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
February 22 - St. Louis, MO @ The Hawthorn
February 23 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
February 25 - Tulsa, OK @ Tulsa Theater
February 26 - Houston, TX @ House of Blues Houston
February 27 - San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre
March 01 - Mesa, AZ @ The Nile Theater
March 02 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Las Vegas
March 04 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
March 05 - Ventura, CA @ The Majestic Ventura Theater
March 07 - Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory - Spokane
March 08 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
March 09 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre

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Last updated: 15 Feb 2025, 02:40 UTC

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