Cinco de Mayo is cause for a certain type of celebration in downtown Los Angeles. But on that same night, a different sort of celebrating was going on in The Belasco Theater. A celebration of the genius and music of Jerry Cantrell.
Granted, this was just a stop on his tour to support his latest album, Brighten. For those not in the know, Cantrell is the founder, main songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead singer of Alice in Chains. The harmonized vocals between the late Layne Staley and Cantrell helped to define the band’s sound and differentiate them from the other Seattle groups. That sound was presented in full force inside intimate setting of The Belasco.
Cantrell’s touring band is beyond tight. There were four-part harmonies coming from a thunderous seven-piece band. Cantrell was of course on lead guitar and vocals. Backing vocals came from Greg Puciato. Also on guitar was Tyler Bates with pedal steel provided by Michael Rozon. Rounding out the group was Gil Sharone on drums, George Adrian on bass, and Jason Achilles on keyboards.
A big reason why the band felt so tight was that Brighten was produced by Tyler Bates and much of the group (including Puciato, Sharone, Bates, and Rozon) played on the album. Brighten is only Cantrell’s third solo album outside of Alice in Chains and his first since 2002.
The mix of six songs from Brighten along with AIC cuts had the show feeling fresh and familiar at the same time. But whether the song was brand-new or a decades-old classic, they were undeniably Cantrell. Switching from Les Pauls to G&L Rampage to Tele Style to Flying Vs, he showed why Guitar World ranked him the 37th "Greatest Guitar Player of All Time." It was obvious Cantrell was enjoying himself and he even threw in a bit of the intro to UFO’s “Rock Bottom” for fun before one of the encore tunes.
The entire crowd was also in on the fun all night long. It’s a fascinating situation to hear a joyous sing-a-long to some of the darkest songs ever written. But on May 5, the Belasco couldn’t contain “No Excuses,” “The Rooster,” “Would?” and “Man in the Box.” The streets of downtown Los Angeles were covered with the thick sound of Jerry Cantrell’s music and deeply penetrated by his lyrics. It was definitely a different, but more than welcome way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Setlist
Photojournalist - Los Angeles
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