06 November 2012 (gig)
06 November 2012
Tonight is the final show of Alice Cooper’s Annual ‘Halloween Night of Fear’ tour and the legendary rocker has brought Duff McKagan’s Loaded and Ugly Kid Joe with him.
The all seated venue does no favours for Loaded and while they put on an energetic show the crowd reaction is pitiful. This is through no fault of the band who fire out track after track of solid material before wrapping up with Guns n Roses classic ‘It’s So Easy’.
When Ugly Kid Joe take to the stage no one remains seated, though this may have something to do with frontman Whitfield Crane’s insistence that “This is a rock show, get up, I’m being serious, get the f*** up”. It’s clear as soon as they burst into a furious V.I.P that the crowd didn’t need telling to stand up though, everyone is jumping to their infectious grooves.
With the band recently back in action after an all too long split, Crane jumps around the stage seemingly getting rid of 20 years of built up energy. At one point he runs through the crowd with the spotlight struggling to keep up with him before standing on a seat to belt out ‘Panhandlin’ Prince’.
The band tears through an 8 song set including a crowd pleasing ‘I’m Alright’ from their recent E.P before wrapping up with fan favourite ‘Everything About You’. It’s great to see this band back together and while they may be older, they seem to have more energy than bands half their age, a triumphant set.
There are few rock artists out there that can claim to be as influential as the legendary Alice Cooper and as he arrives on stage to a shower of sparks there are even fewer artists that put on a show like this man. With his best album in years under his belt, Alice Cooper is more popular than ever right now and with a set mixing the best of the new album and his classic material it’s easy to see why. They may be getting old but the crowd still love the theatrics that accompany many of these tracks and the one of the biggest cheers of the night is reserved for the huge Frankenstein’s monster that accompanies ‘Feed My Frankenstein’.
One notable absence was the guillotine that usually is wheeled out to behead Cooper and it’s one of a few things that make this seem a tamer show than usual. While the theatre setting may have hindered the support acts it is where Alice Cooper works best; intimate yet large enough to bring tonnes of pyro. A section towards the end is dedicated to rock legends of 70’s that are no longer with us including John Lennon and Keith Moon with covers of their respective bands being played. The highlight of this section is a rousing rendition of ‘My Generation’, while a version of ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles narrowly misses the mark.
No doubt it’s his own material that remains the high point of the set and as he finishes the show with the superb ‘Poison’ the crowd start their chant for the most famous Alice Cooper song of all. The band return onto the stage for ‘Schools Out’ complete with Duff McKagan and Whitfield Crane to draw the show to a satisfying end complete with fireworks. There are countless imitators out there but no one will come close to the show that Alice Cooper delivers.
