Live Review : Hollywood Vampires + The Jesus And Mary Chain @ AO Arena, Manchester on August 18th 2026

If there was an award for the oddest tourmates of the year then it would surely go to this pairing of rock and roll supergroup Hollywood Vampires and Glaswegian indie rock trailblazers The Jesus And Mary Chain. Hollywood Vampires frontman Alice Cooper has form for this though as he has toured with some unlikely bands over recent years. Canny bugger that he is, he tours with support bands who have a sizeable yet different fan base to him, which likely helps to boost ticket sales and has the added bonus of him picking up some new fans along the way. Sometimes it works beautifully; both The Stranglers and The Cult drew a decent number of their own fans and went down a storm with the entire audience. At other times it can be pretty abject; Primal Scream went down like a lead balloon and the atmosphere was pretty deflating. The jury is out on which camp The Jesus And Mary Chain will fall into.

Indie rock may be a tough sell for primarily a rock crowd but The Jesus And Mary Chain immediately show they are up for the challenge with the opening ‘jamcod’. This is dark indie rock of the eighties variety, rather than the poppy nineties variant, with solid basslines, tight drumming and swirling psychedelic guitars which load up on the distortion during the choruses.

The heavier, darker material is well received by the crowd. ‘Head On’ is driving, dark rock which hints at what Billy Idol could have been if he’d stayed resolutely underground whilst the excellent ‘In A Hole’ is dirty and fuzz laden. Simone Marie Butler (formerly of Primal Scream) joins them on stage for ‘Venal Joy’ and she adds some soul which complements Jim Reid’s characterful gloom and contrasts with the muscular post-punk.

Even the more indie sounding numbers like ‘Some Candy Talking’ and ‘Just Like Honey’ impress with their mixture of sweetness and sorrow. ‘April Skies’ has a Velvet Underground feel whilst ‘All Things Pass’ borrows from one of the bands they influence, Ride, but both balance power with hooks and melody.

‘Reverence’ ends the set on a really powerful note with its psych groove. They are really impressive and get a surprisingly good reaction from the crowd. It definitely goes down as a success.

There are a number of notable names in Hollywood Vampires’ line up. Shock rocker Alice Cooper is the frontman and he is backed by a trio of guitarists in Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, producer Tommy Henrikson (who also plays in Cooper’s solo band) and Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp. A cinematic intro video sees animated undead avatars of the band rising from the grave before the band take to the stage. Johnny clearly receives the biggest cheer when he appears.

The first five numbers are mostly original tracks but Alice’s fingerprints are all over them. ‘I Want My Now’ is sleazy rock and roll with a garage rock edge which could easily have appeared on any of Alice’s last few solo records. ‘My Dead Drunk Friends’ marries Aerosmith’s bluesy rock with Cooper’s theatrical schlock rock, and the “we drink and we fight and we puke” mid-section is good boozy fun. However, ‘Raise The Dead’ and ‘The Boogieman Surprise’ sound like Alice offcuts, not good enough for his solo albums. A stellar version of ‘I’m Eighteen’ shows the gulf in class between their original material and the classics. He is still the consummate showman despite his advancing years, although vocally he doesn’t always convince.

The remainder of the set is mainly cover versions alongside a few choice cuts from their main bands, with the four members taking turns at lead vocals. These covers range from rock standards to obscure, deep cuts.

Johnny takes over lead vocals a number of times with varying degrees of success. The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’ is given a theatrical, grandiose makeover with Depp attempting to mimic Lou Reed’s deep vocals, and it is as awful as it sounds. His voice is much more suited to the uptempo punk of ‘People Who Died’ which is great. The video showing all the rock and rollers we’ve lost over the years is cool too. It’s a  shame that the crowd have to be coaxed into life by Alice. “This is the part where you clap” he says sarcastically as he berates the crowd.

Joe takes to the mic for Johnny Thunder’s ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory’ but it lacks the kinetic heartbreak of the original and is shambolic. For large portions of the set, it could be anyone on lead guitar as the playing lacks his usual swagger and flair. On material he is more familiar with, he rips it up. ‘Walk This Way’ and ‘The Train Kept A Rollin’ are fantastic whilst lesser known Aerosmith cut ‘Bright Light Fright’ is white hot.

Tommy takes lead vocals for a great ‘Highway To Hell’ and he shows that he is probably the best singer in the band. He really pulls his weight on the backing vocals too, doing a good  job of replicating Steven Tyler on ‘Livin’ On The Edge’ as Alice doesn’t really have the range to do it justice. Tommy does all of the heavy lifting on rhythm guitar too meaning that any shortcomings Johnny may have on guitar aren’t noticeable.

Regular set closer ‘School’s Out’ is as good as ever and it sees a number of huge balloons thrown out into the crowd whilst Alice bursts them with his cane whenever they make their way back to him. This extended version also includes an excerpt of ‘Another Brick In the Wall’ and the obligatory band introductions, and ends the set on a high. The final encore of ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ gets all of the crowd singing along but it still feels a bit insubstantial to close the set. It’s a real mixed bag but overall it’s flawed but fun.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Hollywood Vampires + The Jesus And Mary Chain