Degradation Trip - Promotion and Touring

Promotion and Touring

Two singles were released off the album, "Anger Rising" and "Angel Eyes." The former debuted in April 2002 and had a music video which gained the album substantial coverage on MTV2. The acoustic ballad "Angel Eyes" surfaced on radio in September. MTV2 also aired short segments of a primitively animated Cantrell discussing various aspects of his music and personal life. Prior to the release of Degradation Trip, "She Was My Girl" appeared on the soundtrack, Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man.

With his album still being shopped around to labels, Jerry Cantrell began a national club tour with a show in his new hometown, San Francisco, California, in January 2001. Supported by Comes With the Fall and Swarm, he recruited M.I.R.V. guitarist Brian Kehoe to join himself, Bordin, and Trujillo on stage. The three bands performed together from March 13 to April 5. Comes With the Fall, a young band whom Cantrell admired dearly, would continue touring with him into the following year and even participate during his sets, which included both solo work and Alice in Chains songs.

Cantrell, who recently signed with Roadrunner, performed at the 16th annual South by Southwest music conference in March 2002. In support of his new album, Cantrell embarked on a two-month North American solo tour beginning April 20. Despite the death of Layne Staley during this time, Cantrell opted not to cancel any shows, stating, "The shows I played between the time I got the word about Layne and Layne's funeral were very important to me in terms of being able to continue on. It's one of those things where if you take a break and allow things to settle in, it might be harder to get up again." William DuVall of Comes With the Fall, who performed Staley's vocals during concerts, elaborated on this emotional period:

"I lost my grandfather in the same week, so Cantrell and I both hit the road with immense personal losses dogging us. There were times on stage—there was one show in Charlotte where it was just so heavy. I’m holding back tears onstage, and Jerry would start crying onstage too a lot at that point, and a lot of times we would just look at each other when we were singing the stuff because it was the only way... it was heavy. I can’t quantify it really in words."

That summer, Cantrell toured with Nickelback, whom he had befriended at a Roadrunner Records Christmas party, and played in select cities with Creed. However, Bordin and Trujillo were occupied recording Ozzy Osbourne's latest album, forcing Comes With the Fall to both perform as Cantrell's band and open for him in October. The solo musician found himself ironically opening for bands that his previous elder group, Alice in Chains, had undeniably influenced. Regarding the tours, Cantrell expressed enthusiasm toward Nickelback, a Canadian band with high admiration for Cantrell. During some shows, Cantrell also joined Nickelback to play the Alice in Chains song "It Ain't Like That" together, as documented on Nickelback's Live at Home DVD. However, Cantrell also noted his annoyance toward Creed's indifference and lack of friendliness while touring with them.

Cantrell also took part in the Canada's Edgefest. One particularly heated show forced Cantrell to swap places with Sevendust who were having trouble crossing into Canada, and postponed their slot. The sudden inconvenience led to technical problems with Cantrell's set and a rift between the two parties; his guitar shorted out early on, and he later tripped on a microphone cord before angrily ending his set early. Cantrell then gave the crowd a disparaging remark about the upcoming Sevendust. Lajon Witherspoon, frontman of Sevendust, then spoke out during their set: "When Jerry Cantrell says fuck Sevendust, I say fuck you, Jerry Cantrell. I hope you heard me, Jerry Cantrell." However, Sevendust's spokesman soon after claimed that the two parties had apologized over the misunderstanding and that Cantrell was largely just upset over the technical difficulties. Further details revealed that Sevendust's bus broke down on their way to Ontario and that they waited two hours for officers to clear them to cross the border.

After opening for Nickelback and Creed, Cantrell began a headlining tour on October 9. This included Comes With the Fall, Mad at Gravity and Diesel as openers. After an October 23 show in Portland, Oregon, Cantrell passed out from extreme exhaustion and dehydration. This caused the cancellation of two shows in Seattle, Washington and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He continued touring on October 27.