Jerry Cantrell Launches I Want Blood North American Tour

02-01-2025

(Speakeasy) Alice In Chains star Jerry Cantrell kicked off his first North American tour in support of his recently released album, I Want Blood, last night in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The tour launch coincides with the arrival of a deluxe version of the nine-track collection.

Featuring spoken word versions of each of the songs on I Want Blood, the Cantrell-narrated pieces also feature their own unique score with contributions from producer Joe Barresi, engineer Maxwell Urasky, Greg Puciato (Better Lovers, The Black Queen), Roy Mayorga (Ministry), Gil Sharone (Stolen Babies, Team Sleep), Rani Sharone (Stolen Babies), George Adrian (The Maybirds), composer Vincent Jones, and producer Michael Rozon.

"I wanted to do something special and I've never done a spoken word recitation of the lyrics, and I thought it might be kind of cool to have it on the B-side of 'Vilified,'" Cantrell recalls in a recent interview with Scott Lipps. "I thought maybe it needs some music or something, and I was sitting there with Maxwell Urasky, my demo partner. He's a really talented musician, and he said 'Let me mess around with it for a night.' He came back the next day with that piece of music, and it sounded killer. I brought it in to Joe Barresi and he said, 'Man, you should do this with all of them.' I got this creative stew going of sending the lyrics out to people, having them come up with the music, and sending it back. We ended up with nine pieces of really interesting takes on the lyrics, but the music is done by creative partners of mine, and it has nothing to do with the real music, so it is truly a standalone piece."

I Want Blood was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, Calif., and features contributions from Duff McKagan (Guns N'Roses), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Greg Puciato (Better Lovers, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan), Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, Stolen Babies), and Lola Colette.

An animated video series featuring graphics from Boy Tillekens can be viewed below.

tour dates:

January 31 Niagara Falls, ON Fallsview Casino Resort
February 1 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
February 2 Portland, ME Aura
February 4 Boston, MA Citizens House of Blues Boston
February 5 New York, NY Irving Plaza
February 7 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore - Silver Spring
February 8 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 1 Mesa, AZ The Nile Theater
March 2 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues Las Vegas
March 4 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
March 5 Ventura, CA The Majestic Ventura Theater
March 7 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory - Spokane
March 8 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
March 9 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre

May 31 Padua, IT Hall
June 1 Milan, IT Magazzini Generali
June 4 Krakow, PL Mystic Festival
June 6 Berlin, DE Columbia Theater
June 7 Nüremberg, DE Rock im Park
June 8 Nürnberg, DE Rock am Ring
June 10 Zagreb, HR The Culture Factory
June 12 Nickelsdorf, AT Nova Rock Festival
June 13 Hradec Kralove, CZ Rock The People
June 14 - 15 Donington Park, UK Download Festival
June 17 London, UK O2 Forum Kentish Town
June 19 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
June 20 Dessel, BE Graspop Metal Meeting
June 22 Clisson, FR Hellfest Open Air Festival
June 24 Paris, FR La Machine du Moulin Rouge
June 25 Nijmegen, NL Doornroosje
June 26 Hamburg, DE Gruenspan
June 28 Oslo, NO Tons of Rock