Having been absent from the UK for the last couple of years, it was an absolute pleasure to welcome Chris Jericho and his rabble rousing marauders back, as Fozzy lay waste to the Chalk, a small, intimate Brighton club. Before the tour, Rich Ward spoke to MetalTalk about the band’s love affair with the UK, and this was fully in evidence tonight. “The first time we came over to the UK, it was like we had visited a different planet. The love was on a different level.”
Fozzy
Brighton Chalk – 6 February 2026
Words: Adrian Stonley
Photography: Robert Sutton
Brighton’s Chalk is the perfect place to get up close and personal. This was the first night of the Eyes On You Tour, and from the moment Chris Jericho bounced onto the stage, it was as though they had never been away.
There is always a good time to be had with Fozzy, and the band, as well as Jericho, know how to uplift and entertain. Let’s be honest, whether wrestling or fronting Fozzy, Chris Jericho has always been the ultimate performer.
These dates were very much an extension of the 25th anniversary tour, and despite new material forthcoming, this was predominantly a greatest hits set and the perfect introduction to the band for those who had never encountered them before.
Opening with their latest single Fall In Line, the band threw down the gauntlet to the rabid throng. Hit the first chord and open up the mosh pits.
Tonight was a full-on cacophony and good time hell-raising rock ‘n’ roll.
One Crazed Anarchist perfectly summed up the intent and feeling in the club tonight. With Jericho strutting the stage, bare-chested and bedecked in sparkling jackets, he was not exactly your typical Heavy Metal frontman.
Yet he has the ability, not only as a performer but also as a songwriter, to really get down and dirty, into the nitty-gritty depths of daily life and wring out the angst that everyone feels. It does not matter if you are young or old. There is always something here to grip hold of and relate to.
When Fozzy are delivering, life seems far better and with songs such as Lights Go Out they have Big Songs with Big Choruses.
Are they a gimmick? Absolutely not. But saying that, they also do not take themselves totally seriously. A long-term staple of their set has always been a cover of Abba’s SOS. The perfect pop to rock anthem. This is the way it should always have been played, and with a club full of Metalheads singing along to every word, you realise that for many, Abba will always be a guilty pleasure.
However, the Metal is still there for all to wallow in. Opening up the pits, there is nowhere to hide as they tear into Nowhere To Run, Army Of One and Sane. Pure perfection.
But they still know how to deliver. After a sweat-drenched set, they return for a two-song encore. First up, Judas, which has the whole club bouncing, before closing out with a referenced homage to Ozzy Osbourne with the second cover of the night, Crazy Train.
What a way to finish the night. If you have tickets for this tour, then you are in for a treat. If you do not, then shame on you, as this was something else.
