The Alice Cooper Thread

[Susan Foreman]

Alice has now finished the UK leg of the tour. Next stop: North America, with shows scheduled to run between November 3rd (Florida) and November 30th (Illinois). Then there is a break until February 2020 for the Australasian leg, followed by the 'Rock Meets Classic' tour in Germany in March 2020

From all reports, the UK shows were a total success, with people saying it was the best tour since 1988's 'Live...In The Flesh' dates. Both The MC50 and The Stranglers came in for considerable praise as the best support bands for a long time as well

Here are the reviews:

Review: Alice Cooper at Manchester Arena > Music Reviews > Music | Purple Revolver - "To say an Alice Cooper show has energy is an understatement...The energy of Alice and the entire band, especially guitarist Nita Strauss, didn’t wane once. Nita was twirling around the stage while still hitting every note and nailing several incredible solos...Alice Cooper puts on a show like no other, full of the most creepy, hectic fun imaginable and it’s not one to be missed...In a crowd consisting of the elderly, children and everything in between, many of which wearing a lot of eyeliner regardless of age or gender, it’s impossible to not feel that Alice has created a place for all his fans to come together no matter who they are to dance together, sing together, and not laugh as each other’s eyeliner slowly migrated further and further down our faces."

Alice Cooper Manchester review – a potent brew of sex, death and pantomime villainy | The Guardian - "It’s hard to believe that when Alice Cooper emerged in the early 70s, his horror makeup, songs about sex and death and theatrical hangings were seen as a threat to the moral fibre of society. Today, while the shock-rock pioneer’s vast influence stretches from punk to “antichrist superstar” Marilyn Manson, he’s more pantomime villain than shocking. Where Cooper once channelled the feeling of unease in the post-summer-of-love era, these days his show is considerably more “He’s behind you!”...It’s still a great night out...Cooper’s deathly croak may have lost a smidgeon of its power but he looks even more as if he has been recently exhumed from the nearest cemetery...He is part-ham, part-showman, the Phantom of the Opera reincarnated as a rock god"

Review: Alice Cooper at Manchester Arena | Manchester Evening News - "The shock and awe might seem tame in 2019 but what doesn’t hold back is the music - the rock and roll that Alice Cooper serves up is superb."

Macabre music of Alice Cooper thrills thousands of fans at P&J Live | Aberdeen Press And Journal - "Part concert, part stage show, part macabre musical, it was a performance quite unlike any other...While multiple costume changes are more associated with pop divas, the veteran showman appeared in a variety of curious outfits – even donning a Scotland football shirt at one stage."

Review: Shock-rocker Alice Cooper wows fans at monster gig | Society Aberdeen - "Halloween arrived early in Aberdeen, as Alice Cooper christened the city’s new P&J Live venue with its first big rock show...Where an Alice Cooper show differs from others is in the eye-popping presentation and theatre of it all. From confetti filled balloons to being strait jacketed and beheaded, it was a visual treat...This was a classic rock masterclass. Superb."

Review: Alice Cooper at Brighton Centre | The Argus - "Alice Cooper has been performing for more than 50 years and still continues to put on one of the greatest touring rock shows in the world... And while he still sounds every bit as you would expect, you can tell Alice is in his seventies. His voice is still grizzled and ear grabbing but there are pauses for breath that you think he may not have needed to take ten or 15 years ago... Across a 50-year career Alice has set the bar extremely high for theatrical shows, and on this tour that was his downfall. He has done so much, “died” so many times in stage and brought so many fireworks in the past that tonight just could not live up to that. But make no mistake, Alice Cooper still puts on one of the best rock shows you’re likely to see."

Alice Cooper brings pure rock theatre to Brighton | Brighton And Hove News - "Alice is always the showman and the dearly beloved fans gathered here tonight to witness his all-new show were certainly not left disappointed! Considered by some as the greatest ringmaster in rock and deliverer of the best rock show in the world, Brighton music punters were certainly not going on their journey home in silence as there would be much to discuss about the evening’s portrayal of dark humour..The Brighton Centre was witness to Alice’s blend of horror film and vaudeville rock for around two hours and it was at time just like witnessing a play with loud music. Ever the showman, he indulged in several (expected) costume changes and even donning a straight-jacket for a majority of the unsettling track ‘Steven’"

Gig review: Alice Cooper at First Direct Arena, Leeds | Yorkshire Post - "An hour-and-a-half’s worth of significant guitar shredding has just about crested to a naturally expected crescendo, as the king of shock rock boogies his way from left to right. Under bright lights, with confetti canons already unfurled, it has been an evening of hard rock pantomime, played with a tongue-in-cheek sensibility...Across the night, it’s an effective 50-50 split down the middle between group and solo cuts, delivered with all the panache come to be expected...By the time School’s Out closes out proceedings, it feels like the maddest am-dram musical in the world, staged with excellent professionalism and a circus ringmaster who won’t be going quietly into that long night."

Alice Cooper at the O2 Arena | The Up Coming - "Alice Cooper doesn’t fail to deliver sensational proto-goth power...Most of the songs are backed by stage theatrics that resemble a particularly bloodthirsty pantomime, especially when a selfie-taking young girl is dramatically murdered by a masked killer who then prowls the stage in (He’s Back) Man Behind the Mask. But this is what Cooper’s audience has come to expect, and they would most likely be disappointed without it. And this is exactly what Cooper delivers across the set – an undeniably crowd-pleasing performance."

Guillotines, straight jackets and demonic babies: Alice Cooper, Birmingham - review | Birmingham Express And Star - "You always know what you’re getting with Alice Cooper. And he never disappoints...With each song, Alice brought something different to the stage - from hellish characters, to harmonicas and maracas, and an array of costume changes. Even for those who didn’t know all the songs, there was never an opportunity to be bored...A superb show from one of rock’s finest - my only complaint was that it seemed to go by in no time at all. Ol’ Black Eyes is showing no signs of slowing. And long may it continue."