March 12th, 1975 - the album 'Welcome To My Nightmare' was released 45 years and one day ago. [I was tardy, and missed it yeaterday!] This was Alice's first solo album, and has become the most-represented album in his live sets. It was the first 'proper' concept album he released, although many others were to follow. It's in my top 5 Alice albums, and (in my opinion) certainly one of the ten greatest albums ever released
The live tour was ground breaking in its scope. It was the first time that a rock concert had mixed music, dance, mime and theatrics to any extent. The set included towers, spider webs, a toy box and an oversized bed which slid out onto the stage. There was a revolutionary projection screen which had slits cut in it, allowing Alice and the dancers to jump in and out of pre-recorded film footage projected behind the band. No one had seen anything like it before, certainly at a rock concert.
During these shows, the album was performed in full, interspersed with a few band classics which were cleverly bookended by versions of 'Years Ago'. 'Some Folks' featured Alice and the dancers performing in skeleton costumes illuminated on the dark stage by fluorescent lights. 'Black Widow' had two spider's hanging from a rope web and attacking Alice. He serenaded Sheryl on the bed before she danced across the stage where he caught her and killed her, only for her to magically transform into a full size dummy he could throw around for 'Cold Ethyl
Possibly the most memorable effect was the giant cyclops costume used although it's severly limited range of movements could be comical, especially when seen on film later
