"I dunno", I replied, "Sixty?"
When I told her we were going to see ALICE COOPER, she asked me how old he was.
"I dunno", I replied, "Sixty?"
Well, to be honest, I simply don't know how old the man is, but let me tell you, he can still fire up a rock and roll crowd like it's nobody's business.
I went into the showroom at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY expecting something huge from Alice. After all, it was mere days before Halloween, and I knew Alice was the king of the gruesome spectacle stage show. It seemed to me to be a perfect combination. As the room went dark and a wave of enthusiasm went through the crowd, I sat back and waited for this one old dude to take me on a journey into the darkest reaches of rock and roll.
YIKES!
Much like Alice's music and persona, Alice's stage set up was pretty damn creepy. Mutilated bodies hung askew and dangling on poles and spears, and skeletons hung from the rafters. The whole thing had an Asian design to it, to fit in nicely with his new album concept, "Dragontown". In fact, each and every corner of the stage was covered with SOMETHING creepy, almost as if Alice had walked into one of those "Halloween Headquarters" stores where 99% of everything is rubbery and gruesome, and said "yeah, set up the band right about here". Call it a "Where's Waldo" of things dead and bleeding.
Alice took the stage in his traditional flamboyant manner, and proceeded to take the crowd through a few high energy tunes off his latest two releases "Brutal Planet" and "Dragontown". Long gone are the original lineup of band members from the 70s (rumor has it they are off making music with ex-Blue Oyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard), and while I couldn't tell you the names of Alice's new band (2 guitarists, a bassist, and 2 drummers), they pounded new life into the old Alice classics like I never expected to hear. They were young, full of life, and worked nicely behind the shock-rock King. They took the stage wearing black hoods and capes, and wore an ever changing assortment from the wardrobe department, from the macabre to the just plain goofy, and they never missed a beat. Alice's latest single "Triggerman", as well as a few others from the new albums, including a show-stopping performance of the frantic "Lost in America", sounded great, as well as a coffin-load of Alice classics from the 70s and 80s, including......
As for Alice, the man is all over the place, and not once did he break a hip (although he did carry a crutch during "Eighteen". I think that's pretty damn funny). He is a master showman with a flair for blood and guts, and all that fun stuff. Throughout the show he was constantly at battle with a VERY hot and scantily clad young thang, who poped up from song to song in various guises. First appearing as a samurai sword wielding Asian warrior babe, she is slain by Alice in a sword battle. Later popping up as "Nurse Rozetta", in the song of the same name (one of my favorites from 1978, and most unexpected) she torments Alice while he twists and turns his body to escape from a straight jacket he has been strapped into. Alice of course, escapes, and she is killed once again, this time strangled with Alice's straight jacket arms.
And the show goes on from one frightful scene to the next, each song is performed perfectly, with loud but crystal clear sound quality, and each one using a different prop on-stage, adding scene after scene to the whole storyline. During "Teenage Frankenstien" Alice gathers up body parts that are strewn about the stage and places them in a weird machine with a glass door. His "monster" is finished, except for the head. Naturally, Alice is grabbed by executioners in hoods and placed into the guillotine later in the show. In a scene that is pretty damn convincing from the viewpoint of the audience, Alice is decapitated. Some creepy dude runs around with his head, blood dripping, as the band goes into some very TIGHT instrumental versions of "I love the Dead" and "Black Widow". During this the hot babe emerges again, this time as a naughty giggling "little" girl (with GREAT legs, of course) and plops Alice's head on the shoulders of the monster in the case. With a flick of the switch and a shower of sparks, Alice is brought back to life, emerging in stunning white suit with tails and a top hat.
My only disappointments with the show are really just nit-picky things, as it WAS just a fabulous and fun time. First off, there was no boa constrictor, which I thought was Alice's live trademark. I was truly hoping to see it break loose and go on a killing spree, which would result in *ME* being wrapped up and having to be pried loose with a crowbar, but alas, maybe next tour. The other fault I found with the show was the selection of the acoustic ballad. Alice has scored HUGE with 3 acoustic ballads, "How you gonna see me now", "You and me", and the huge, mega-hit "I Never Cry", 3 tunes which are near and dear to my black and shriveled heart. Sadly, Alice chose to do an acoustic tune that may have been new, and while I *DID* like it VERY much, I would much rather have heard one of these classic. The band used this ballad to launch into the haunting "Only Women Bleed" which was one of the standout songs in the set list.
Playing for 2 hours straight without a break, Alice finished up the set with an unexpected cover of the Hendrix classic "Fire". Not one to normally do covers, this song seemed both out of place and TOTALLY cool at the same time. Alice has a real flare for the feel of the tune. Leaving the stage, the band came back for 2 encores, one of which was an AMAZING way to end the show on a high note........
The first encore was "Elected" from 1973's "Billion Dollar Babies". This featured Alice in a shirt made up like an American Flag, strutting the stage making campaign promises, which of course, included doing unsavory things to Osama Bin-Laden with sharpened instruments. The song concluded with George "dubya" Bush himself (goofy caricature mask, naturally) passing the American flag to Alice, who led the crowd in singing "God Bless America".
The second encore was the real showstopper, as Alice dusted off "Department of Youth" from 1975's "Welcome to my Nightmare". As he sang and bantered with the crowd on this anthemic favorite, it took the show's energy to a new level. The kicker was the last line in the song. During the "who's got the power!?" ending of the original track from 1975, it was funny to hear on the Lp the final question of the song "and who gave it to you?" answered back with a chorus of "Donny Osmond!". Of course, those were 1975 lyrics. Alice, sporting a black shirt which bore the words "Britney wants me.........." on the front, and "DEAD" on the back, asked the same query to which he received the answer, "Britney Spears!!!". Again, out popped the hot babe on the upper rising platform, decked out in full Britney Spears garb and microphone, who dances and sings in seductive Britney Spears style to Alice.
Alice, with a look of disgust, pummels her brutally, then chases her offstage with a large war halberd. He emerges at the end of the song with Britney's head, impales it on a spear, and plods offstage. An ending fit for a horror show.
And yet there was so much more. I didn't even touch upon the two headed baby (one "normal", one a wolf-baby) that Alice lullabies with "Dead Babies" and then kills. There just isn't enough time to get into the Halloween story Alice used to introduce his band members. And I haven't even begun to tell you about the HUGE balloons filled with dollar bills that fell over the audience, only to have Alice reach out with a rapier and burst them over the crowd, showering them with money. The show featured every theatrical trick in the book, all set to 30 years worth of Alice Cooper that we have grown to love.
I don't know how *you* celebrate Halloween, but *I* hope he comes back next year.
Of course, he will be a little older, and his joints and bones I'm sure will ache even more when he is done showing us the twisted and vile visions that he conjures up, but I don't care if he comes back a great grandfather, I am going to do my best to worship in his presence once again.
Alice, we love you, man. Feel free to come back and hurt us anytime.
Dr. Torgo