Hollywood Vampires + The Jesus And Mary Chain 19th August 2026

Live from the Utilita Arena, Birmingham

© Andy Balcam, Balcshootsbands

Swathed in fog, backlit and resolutely stationary The Jesus and Mary Chain deliver their timeless, hypnotic anthems to an already busy Utilita Arena. The stark monotone backdrop and atmospheric coloured smoke provide the perfect dramatic visual accompaniment to their swirling, driving tunes.

Rooted to the back of the stage the band mine the deep seam of their 4-decade-plus career pulling songs from all 8 studio albums including a brace each from their classic debut Psychocandy and most recent release Glasgow Eyes.

The appearance of the band’s occasional support DJ Simone Marie Butler on three songs sprinkles a little stardust on top of William Reid’s probing, slashing guitar lines and his brother Jim’s distinctive vocals. 

Their 50-minute set builds to a thrilling climax courtesy of the thunderous Just Like Honey and a caterwauling Reverence where the backlights dive and whirl through the smoke and Jim reports that he ‘wants to die like JFK’. Not sure you do mate.

Interesting, then, that Hollywood Vampires, a band that bases it’s set around songs originally recorded by their dead friends, would seem positively jolly by comparison.

The Vampires explode onto the Birmingham stage with a electrifying triple whammy of I Want My Now, Raise The Dead and Alice Cooper classic I’m Eighteen. The lights are now fully ablaze and the huge electronic back screen pops and sparkles with animation.

Cooper commands the stage and snarls into his microphone. Perry & Depp, two men who defined the very concept of ‘cool’ for their respective generations, prowl and weave. The whole band smashes into My Dead Drunk Friends and the Boogieman Surprise. 

Despite a setlist that reads like that of a Saturday night pub band Hollywood Vampires throw the kitchen sink at their cavalcade of cover tunes. Johnny Depp leads the band through Venus In Furs and People Who Died – both dispatched with huge heft courtesy of the three guitars, keys, bass and one of the world’s great rock drummers.

Highlights are many, not least the mahoosive fang-in-cheek inflatable dentures that appear during Who’s Laughing Now.

For me the set peaks with the band’s truly devastating take on Killing Joke classic The Death And Resurrection Show. Depp employs his acting skills to great effect on the demented vocal whilst Chris Wyse and Glen Sobel propel the song and Buck Johnson’s growling Hammond swells provide additional grunt.

Tommy Henriksen does a great job paying homage to Malcolm Young and Bon Scott on a roof-raising Highway To Hell before the endgame of Walk This Way, School’s Out and encores Train Kept A Rollin and Hi Ho Silver Lining finish the fanatical crowd off completely.

Just a really great night!